Southwest Educational Development Laboratory
Volume 8, Number 3, 2003
Meeting the Needs of Your Audience: A Word from the Director
Making Materials Useful for People with Cognitive Disabilities
Interview with Tia Nelis, Self-Advocate
OHSU Center on Self-Determination
→ Web Accessibility For People With Cognitive Disabilities: Universal Design Principles At Work
Taking Steps: The Center on Human Policy's Work to Enhance Accessibility
Selected Resources for Modifying Materials for People with Cognitive Disabilities
NIDRR Grantee and Staff Recognition
By Neesha Mirchandani
President, NIYA
The concept of universal design developed by the late Ron Mace, an architect and designer with a disability, revolutionized the way we think about accessibility. Ron proved that when you make something in the physical world more accessible to people with disabilities, you are actually making it more accessible to everyone. So, when I see petite woman with a stroller using a ramp, a delivery person using a curb cut, or a little child reach the light switch, I think, Ron must be smiling from beyond!
Sadly, most Web sites in the virtual world do not incorporate universal design principles. Web accessibility is still about "complying" with standards. Many of the enforced standards are designed around the needs of blind users or people with restricted hand movements. While these groups are extremely important, staff of the ADA Insights project believe that the needs of people with cognitive disabilities have not received enough attention and decided it was time to change that.
NIYA, a non-profit with a Web accessibility practice, was contracted to undertake a redesign of the ADA Insights Web site: http://www.adainsights.org/ with a focus on making the Web site more usable. This was a wonderful opportunity to break new ground in the area of Web accessibility, as ADA Insights is committed to supporting the civil rights of people with disabilities. This article highlights the newly-developed cognitive disability features of the ADA Insights project Web site
ADA Insights is based at the Sheps Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where it provides important research related to enforcement of Title I of the ADA. This NIDRR-funded project was previously known as the ADA Enforcement Project. As staff at NIYA planned the new ADA Insights Web site, we decided to approach accessibility a little differently:
People with a variety of cognitive disabilities may be grouped into a category, but their individual needs are very different, depending on their disability. Someone with mental retardation will not have the same needs as a person who has attention deficit disorder, or autism. In the ADA Insights Web site, we tried to address some of these needs in a meaningful way.
The Internet evolved haphazardly, with many types of Web browsers, different programming languages, and standards. All of these can make Web accessibility cumbersome and technically difficult. For example, a new technology that is helpful to users who are blind is not very compatible with older Web browsers. As a person making strategic decisions related to your Web site, you should be aware of these challenges. Most of these issues can be resolved if your Web programming and design team is committed to accessibility.
When it comes to design considerations, there are three simple rules that help make a Web site more accessible for people with cognitive disabilities:
Let's explore these three concepts in more detail.
Using complex language on your Web site may make it inaccessible. For people with certain cognitive disabilities, this is like putting up a sign saying, "Please leave, you're not welcome here."
Common problems on Web sites are the use of legal jargon, professional buzzwords, or wordplays. Do not assume that all visitors have an equal command of the English language. This not only affects people with cognitive disabilities, but in today's global world, it also makes the Web site inaccessible to people for whom English is a second language.
Sometimes complex content cannot be avoided, for example, if your site offers legal information. But you should make an effort to make the key concepts of the site accessible to everyone. One approach is to provide a glossary of terms to help people understand the more complex ideas.
If your organization serves many stakeholders with diverse needs, consider offering information tailored to their needs in separate sections. ADA Insights chose to create Web pages for their key stakeholders: the disability community, lawyers, policy makers, families and support individuals, and the general public. The additional benefit of this universal design element is that a lay person does not have to sift through pages of legal mumbo-jumbo, and an ADA lawyer doesn't waste time reading a basic "How to file an ADA Complaint" article. To help people with cognitive disabilities find what they need on the Web, staff from NIYA reviewed with ADA Insights staff the types of questions that people with disabilities asked about filing ADA claims.
Complex design elements can also create confusion. Blinking images, pop-up advertising, and other visual distractions can be problematic for people with cognitive (as well as visual) disabilities.
To make it easier for people with cognitive disabilities to find what they need on your web site, it is very important that your site has key navigation in the same location on each page. It should be consistent to avoid the frustration that can be caused by going to a Web site and seeing four links on the left, three on the top, five at the bottom. All of them lead to important sections of the Web site - and yet, as a novice visitor to the site, one has no idea how all that information fits together and where you should go first. For people with certain cognitive disabilities, this is the equivalent of twenty people yelling at them at the same time. Their first reaction may be to leave the room… in this case, your Web site!
A detailed site map helps orient visitors so they are able to find the information they need within a click or two. This is a big asset to anyone wanting to find information in a hurry, but it is really crucial for some people with cognitive disabilities who may benefit from assistance in processing complex information. For an example of a detailed site map, see http://www.adainsights.org/sitemap.html. Every level of the ADA Insights Web site can be explored from this page.
Is an image equal to a thousand words? Indeed, if you are someone who doesn't readily understand words and sentences but processes images with ease. This is an area that has not received much attention in the sphere of Web accessibility. We know we should make images accessible to screen readers (used by people with vision impairments) by using "Alt-text" image descriptions. But how often do you hear about providing functional and descriptive images to help people who process information visually?
One can buy CDs with thousands of images and photos, or custom graphics can be designed for your Web site. NIYA created illustrations to communicate key aspects of the ADA Insights guide, The ADA and You: What to do When an Employer Discriminates Against You Because of Your Disability (Moss, Ranney, & Gunther-Mohr, 2002). The guide is grounded in research findings from the ADA Insights project (see References). The information provided in the guide can help people with disabilities to file an ADA complaint in a way that improves their chances of a successful outcome.
The ADA Insights Web site demonstrates an initial attempt to be more responsive to the needs of people with cognitive disabilities, and additional work needs to be done in this area. We welcome a dialogue with self-advocates to hear more about their needs and the problems encountered on the Internet.
We are very proud of the ADA Insights Web site and the innovations and strategic thinking we were able to include, and hope it inspires others at the forefront of disability studies to be more responsive to Web accessibility issues.
REFERENCES
Moss, K., Ranney, L.M., & Gunther-Mohr, C. (2002). The ADA and You: What to do When an Employer Discriminates Against You Because of Your Disability. Chapel Hill: ADA Insights.
Moss, K., Swanson, J., Ullman, M., Burris, S., (2002). Mediation of Employment Discrimination Disputes Involving Persons with Psychiatric Disabilities. Psychiatric Services, 53(8), 988-994.
Moss, K., Burris, S., Ullman, M., Johnsen, M., & Swanson, J. (2001). Unfunded Mandate: An Empirical Study of the Implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Kansas Law Review, 50(1), 1-110.
Ullman, M. D., Johnsen, M. C., Moss, K., & Burris, S., (2001). The EEOC charge priority policy and claimants with psychiatric disabilities. Psychiatric Services, 52(5), 644-649.
© Neesha Mirchandani, July 2003 Neesha Mirchandani is the founder and president of NIYA. She can be reached at info@niya.org. Based in Raleigh, North Carolina, NIYA, http://www.niya.org/, is a non-profit focused on solutions to human and environmental problems. NIYA (a word coined to symbolize the healing of the planet and the human race) is currently researching and developing "Accessible Templates" to make it easy and affordable for organizations to meet accessibility standards.
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