Cognitive Disabilities

These include, but are not limited to, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), intellectual/learning disabilities (e.g. Down syndrome), mental health disabilities, memory impairments, speech impairments, multiple sclerosis and seizure disorders.

Summary of Best Practices

• Use images and diagrams, audio and video to support textual content
• Avoid using bright contrasting colors against each other
• Provide descriptive and informative headings
• Provide descriptive and informative links
• Follow a linear and logical layout; don't create busy layouts
• Use proper semantics (e.g. paragraphs, headings, lists, tables)
• Keep text aligned to the left
• Don't underline non-links
• Don't write in all uppercase
• Keep content short, clear and simple; use simple sentences and lists
• Use plain English, not figures of speech or idioms; define your jargon first

Stories of Web Users from W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)

• Ian, data entry clerk with autism: Ian is autistic. He has difficulty understanding online content and layouts that change often, including carousels, pop-up ads, and videos that play automatically.
• Sophie, basketball fan with Down syndrome: Sophie has Down syndrome. She sometimes has difficulty comprehending content, especially when it includes acronyms, abbreviations, and unfamiliar words.
• Stefan, student with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and dyslexia: Stefan has dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), both of which make it difficult to focus on and read online content.
• Elias, retiree with low vision, hand tremor, and mild short-term memory loss: Elias has low vision, a hand tremor, and short-term memory loss. Combined, these traits make using digital technology difficult, although consistent layouts and being able to adjust text size help.