comments on Making Content Usable for People with Cognitive and Learning Disabilities

comments on draft of  Making Content Usable for People with Cognitive and Learning Disabilities

from Nancy Ward, self advocate; Ben Genzel, multiple brain injury survivor; Clayton Lewis, Coleman Institute on Cognitive Disabilities

Submitted by Clayton Lewis

General comments: Nancy, who is a veteran of years of cognitive access discussions, and I reviewed the bulk of the document. We were both very impressed both by the content and the format. The use of personas, and the many concrete descriptions, are both excellent features. We feel the document is a wonderful step forward for COGA, and we congratulate those who have contributed to the effort. Ben, who is new to WAI and its work, and I reviewed the brain injury persona and associated scenarios.

An issue that Nancy and I found in many sections, so will express once here, is the use of descriptions of capabilities, where needs are meant. Compare:

"I need symbols to help understand essential content, such as controls and section headings." (from sec 3.1.3)

with

"I know how to use all the controls and the effects of each action." (from sec 3.1.2)

We feel that the first example expresses the "need" much more clearly than the second, which actually describes not the need, but what would be true if the need were satisfied.

We recommend an edit to put all of the needs descriptions into needs form.

A general issue that Ben identifies, that may not be fully in scope for this document, but might be included as background, for example in one or more of the scenarios, is this. People with cognitive disabilities often struggle, with limited or no support, to acquire and configure the technology they need to access the Web. For these users, cognitive accessibility is a necessary but not sufficient condition for actual access. Those seeking to support people with cognitive disabilities via Web content, including policy makers, need to be aware of this problem. Similarly, many users will not be able to configure a text to speech tool. A site that aims to support people with cognitive disabilities could incorporate this facility directly.

Relatedly, Ben notes that people with cognitive disabilities often need human assistance to negotiate problems they encounter, for example in navigating a large site. Gregg Vanderheiden's "rainbow" model (see e.g. https://trace.umd.edu/publications/modality-translation-services-on-demand) envisions a tiered structure of supports for users, in which the most difficult problems fall through to a method for requesting support from a human being. This is another matter that people seeking to support users with cognitive disabilities may want to address, when designing their services.

Ben further suggests that site designers could consider whether they can detect user confusion or frustration, by analyzing user interaction patterns, and proactively offer assistance. For some users, recognizing that they need help is itself a difficult feat.

Another suggestion from Ben: An "I'm lost" key could be useful. It would differ from a "help" key in that it would emphasize explaining where one is in a complex task, but explanations of controls or features.

Specific comments:

"breadcrumbs" meet a key need for Ben, but he doesn't know the pattern by that name; nor does Nancy. Include an explanation when first introduced, and refer to the explanation in other places where the concept is used.

Sec 3.3.2 We're not clear what "implied content" means.

Sec.3.4.1 re "I want long numbers that often have spaces, like credit card numbers, divided into chunks. That way I find it easier to check it.": the hyphens that divide numbers need to be big

Sec 3.5.1 Ben seconds this one. Nancy suggests replacing "easily restore the context" by "easily understand the context". Some of the entries here seem a bit repetitive, and could perhaps be consolidated.

Sec. 3.6.1 The heading "Previous steps" could perhaps be replaced by "Remembering what was entered in previous steps can be difficult"

Sec 3.6.2 replace "I need the login process that does not " by "I need a login process that does not "

Sec 3.6.3 replace "voiceXML menu" by just "voice menu". Many readers won't know what voiceXML is.
replace "I want it to be simple, to go back every time I make a mistake" by "I want it to be simple to go back when I make a mistake"
the item "I want the best practices for usability to be followed." seems out of place, as a rather abstract statement among more concrete or specific ones

sec 3.7.2 replace "I need "easy to use" gestures on a touch screen that do not confuse me (or the possibility of alternative access)." by "I need "easy to use" gestures on a touch screen that do not confuse me (or the possibility of alternative access)."
replace "personalize using my own" by "personalize the page using my own symbols"
replace "For example, I find graphs much easier to understand than the same information in an article or academic paper" by "For example, I find graphs much easier to understand than the same information presented in text in an article or academic paper"
replace "I need text to speech support, with synchronized highlighting, so I can follow as I go" by "I need a tool that can read text to me aloud, with synchronized highlighting, so I can follow as I go"

add "I need to be able to make my reminders loud."

Sec 3.7.3 is a little thin. Some of the content from 6.10.6 could be used to flesh it out.

sec 3.7.5 suggest replacing "Explanations for unusual controls in a form I find easy to use (such as a video or text)." by "I need an interface that doesn't require me to use unusual controls that need explanations for me to use them."

Sec 3.8.1 replace "I need to be able to express my ideas without so many words" by "I need to be able to express my ideas without typing so many words"

Sec 3.8.2 Section should say that pages shouldn't do anything to block extensions and addons.
replace "I need my add-ons, API's and extensions to work " by "I need my add-ons and extensions to work " (many readers/users don't know what an API is) Explaining what an "extension" would be good.

Sec 4.2.2.2 In "Use common visual hierarchy, design elements, affordances, and patterns that are familiar to most users." the concepts of visual hierarchy and affordances need explanations for some readers. Perhaps: "Visual hierarchy" means dividing material into groups, in such a way that it is easy to see which material belongs to each group, and "affordance" means the way the appearance of something like a button suggests what action you can perform on it.

Sec 4.2.2.4 replace "Uses common design patterns" by Use common design patterns"
explain ARIA

Query: is "A platform specific user interface design" appropriate for the Web? Anyway, some readers will not know what "platform specific" means.

Sec 4.2.2.5 replace "When deciding pages" by "When designing pages"

Sec 4.2.3: this material seems to already have been covered in the sections above

Sec 4.2.3.6 replace "When all links on a page have keyboard focus the focus indicator looks the same." by "The keyboard focus indicator for links should look the same for all links."

Sec 4.2.4.4 replace "(example: hidden behind accordions or a previous page)." by (example: information about previous steps is on previous pages, or has to be revealed by using a control) {some readers do not know what "accordion" means in this context.)

Sec 4.2.5.2 seems to repeat earlier material, but does make some new points. Would consolidation be possible?

"Making all the borders of controls clear other than textual links;" is confusing. How about "Making the borders of controls clear (though
links in text don't need borders if identified properly.)"

Sec 4.2.5.3 the definition "Controls are parts of web pages that do something, e.g. a link, button, checkbox." is good, but should be given earlier in the text.

some material in this section seems redundant with earlier material

Sec 4.2.6.2 Nancy seconds these recommendations!

Sec 4.2.6.3 We're not sure what is meant by "Controls that affect only one section of a page is confusing." Perhaps "If a control on a page operates only on part of the page, it can be hard to tell what it will affect and what it will not. Clear borders, and grouping of things on the page, can help indicate what control will operate on what."

4.2.6.4 replace "Pages with scroll bars close together that impact different content areas." by "Pages with scroll bars close together that impact different content areas can be confusing. Use grouping, spacing, and borders, to show what controls what."

Sec 4.2.7.5 replace "Provide symbols besides key texts, headings, media sections, contact us and help" by "Provide symbols next to key texts, headings, media sections, "contact us" buttons, and help buttons."

Sec 6.1.4 replace "daughters bank" by "daughter's bank"

Sec 6.3.3 what is an ejournal? Perhaps restate the example so as not to require this term?


Sec 6.3.4 replace "emails and newsletter " by "emails and newsletters "
replace " to try and scan read and skip through" by "to try and scan and skip through"

Sec 6.8.1 replace "Maria Scenario 1: Finding Key Information on Dynamic Websites" by "6.8.1 Maria Scenario 1: Finding Key Information on Websites where Information Appears and Disappears", and replace "a lot of dynamic elements" by just " a lot of elements". (many readers don't know what "dynamic" means.)

Sec 6.8.2 simplify "inhibits her brain from producing the cells necessary to form new memories" to "inhibits her brain from forming new memories"

Sec 6.10 Ben appreciates this section, and feels it does a pretty good job of describing some of the challenges of brain injury survivors. There is a matter that is alluded to in Sec 6.10.5 that Ben suggests adding to the top level description, after "larger places, documents and websites.": "Tom often feels that his reserve of mental energy is small, and easily used up, so that after dealing with one problem he may feel unable to tackle another."

The problem of getting lost in a complex site, mentioned in the top level description, rings true for Ben. He generalizes this to include keeping track of what one is doing in complex tasks. A scenario focussed on this problem specifically would be helpful, bringing out how important it is for Tom to have the steps of tasks clearly presented, and a mechanism like breadcrumbs that helps Tom keep track of where he is in a task with multiple steps.

Because of the problem of limited reserves, mentioned earlier, Ben also emphasizes the importance of keeping tasks as simple as possible. "It can't ever be too simple," he says.

Sec 6.10.2 Ben suggests that word completion or prediction should be mentioned as a helpful feature here.

Sec 6.10.3 Ben says that being able to easily shift to a larger font can help when text is hard to understand. That is, trying to read smaller type takes up mental energy that isn't available for trying to understand what is being said.





Clayton Lewis
Professor of Computer Science
Co-Director for Technology, Coleman Institute for Cognitive Disabilities
University of Colorado
http://www.cs.colorado.edu/~clayton