A Fresh Look at Accommodating Cognitive Disabilities

Hello Everyone
I’m just getting back to the gl list after being away for quite some
time. Wendy suggested at CSUN that I offer some input into the
discussion on guidelines for accessible design practices that
accommodate cognitive disabilities. It turns out I have some
experience on the topic <grin>.

Over the past week I’ve had a chance to go through the last month or
so of discussion, and have managed to gathered a few thoughts. There
are many more than I care to post as a list message, so I’ll point to a
URL.

http://snow.utoronto.ca/web-savvy/resources/wai_newgl.html

The draft suggests a model for developing content authoring
guidelines to promote accessibility for those with cognitive
disabilities. The WCAG are interpreted in a cognitive model.

Many of the ideas I talk about, and the basis for the model, are the
result of a web-based course I’ve spent the past several years
developing. The ultimate goal of the course is for participating
teachers to develop and pass on process-oriented learning skills to
their students. Though originally aimed at developing adaptive
behaviour in students with learning disabilities, the skills learned can

be equally effective for other students.  The site is created to be
navigable in a variety of ways, and presents materials in multiple
formats, among many other accessibility features.

http://snow.utoronto.ca/Learn2/introll.html

Good to be back!

Greg

Received on Saturday, 22 April 2000 21:10:30 UTC