designing for people with cognitive disabilities at uxpa 2013

Designing for Peoplewith Cognitive Disabilities in Language and Literacy

Yulia Nemchinova, DCD

Northrop Grumman and University of Maryland University

College

UXPA 2013, Washington DC

Who Has Cognitive Disabilities

Seven percent of the population in the US have some type of cognitive, mental or emotional impairment. (Census 2010)

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Clinical Diagnoses

Attention disordersTraumatic Brain Injury (TBI)Developmental disabilitiesCognitive issues related to agingLearning and language

disabilities, including dyslexia

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Functional Impact

MemoryAttentionProblem solving Language and readingMathematical thinkingVisual and spatial perception

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Why Are We So Behind?

Cognitive impairments are often:InvisibleDifficult to diagnoseNot universally definedNot willingly disclosed andCan be combined with other

disabilities

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A Bit of History

Willowbrook State School

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When Users Encounter Obstacles…

Lack of confirmation that their action was correct

Cannot find and review features

Cannot recover from errorsCannot find landmarks Do not have enough time to

complete tasksCannot save their work at any

time…

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When Users Encounter Obstacles…

It is a work around for most users

It is a real showstopper for many users with cognitive impairments

What can we do?

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Support Assistive Technologies

Screen readersScreen magnifiersVoice recognitionSoftware for reading & writing

help

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Universal Design

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Universal Design

Assist most usersOne implementation

Universal Design: Navigation

Consistent navigation and designFlat architectureFunctioning Back buttonLimited the number of links per

pageStandard behavior for links

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Universal Design: Content for Mobile

Direct access to contentLimited content to processAvailability on any screen size

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Language & Literacy

Clear and simple text6-8 reading level Short pages, paragraphs and

sentencesSingle column of contentShorter words are not always

better comprehended

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Dyslexia

http://youtu.be/8m1fCz3ohMw

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Targeted Support

Universal Design: Navigation

Consistent navigation and design on every page

Flat navigational architectureFunctioning Back buttonLimited the number of links per

pageStandard behavior for links

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Mobile or Slimmed Down Access

Direct access to contentLimited content to processAvailability on multiple electronic

devices

Finnish Usability Study

An investigation how students with cognitive disabilities use computers

Participants: students with mild intellectual disabilities, limited reading and writing skills

Application: a familiar (used for about 1.5 year) email application

Method: an informal walkthrough with elements of contextual inquiry

Recommendation: inclusion of users with cognitive problems as participants as well as reviewers

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Usability Testing

Usability studies with cognitively impaired people are extremely rare

User testing is neededThere is no substitution for actual

users with disabilities

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Take Aways

Think universal designExplore possibilities for user

testingApply language and literacy

guidelines

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The Future: GPII

Global Public Inclusive Infrastructure (GPII): http://gpii.net/node/108

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Thank you!

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References:

Bergel, M., Chadwick-Dias, A., & Tullis, T. (2005). Leveraging Universal Design in a Financial Services Company. Accessibility and Computing, 82.

Bodine, C., & Lewis, C. (2004). Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) for the Advancement of Cognitive Technologies. Accessibility and Computing, 80.

Cole, E. (2011). Lessons Learned and Challenges Discovered in Developing Cognitive Technology for Individuals with Brain Injury. Proceeding of CHI 2011.

Czaja, S. J., Gregor, P., & Hanson, V. L. (2009). Introduction to the special issue on aging and information technology. ACM Trans. Access. Comput, 4.

Fernando, S., Elliman, T., Money, A., & Lines, L. (2009). Age Related Cognitive Impairments and Diffusion of Assistive Web-Base Technologies. Universal Access in HCI, Part I, HCII 2009 (pp. 353-360). Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

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References (contd.):

Francik, E., Levine, S., Tremain, S., Roberts, E., & Bayha, B. (1999). Telecommunications Problems and Design Strategies for People with Cognitive Disabilities. Annotated Bibliography and Research Recommendations, World Institute on Disability.

Gordon, W. A., & Nash, J. (2005). The Interface Between Cognitive Impairments and Access to Information Technology.

Gregor, P., & Dickinson, A. (2006). Cognitive difficulties and access to information systems – an interaction design perspective.

Hagood, K., Moore, T., Pierre, T., Messamer, P., Ramsberger, G., & Lewis, C. (2010). Naming Practice for People with Aphasia in a Mobile Web Application: Early User Experience. ASSETS: ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies, 273-274.

Hanson, V. L. (2009). Cognition, Age, and Web Browsing. Universal Access in HCI, Part I, HCII 2009, (pp. 245-250). Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

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References (contd.):

Jansche, M., Feng, L., & Huenerfauth, M. (2010). Reading Difficulty in Adults with Intellectual Disabilities: Analysis with a Hierarchical Latent Trait Model. ASSETS’10,. Orlando, Florida, USA.

Judson, A., & Nicolle, C. (2004). Internet accessibility for people who use augmentative and alternative communication. Conference Proceedings -- International Society for Augmentative & Alternative Communication, 181-186.

Keates, S., Kozloski, J., & Varker, P. (2009). Cognitive Impairments, HCI and Daily Living. Universal Access in HCI, Part I, HCII 2009 (pp. 366-374). Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Lepistö, A., & Ovaska, S. (2004). Usability evaluation involving participants with cognitive disabilities. NordiCHI '04. Tampere, Finland.

Lewis, C. Cognitive and Learning Impairments.

Lewis, C. (2008). Cognitive Disabilities. In The Universal Access Handbook.

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References (contd.):

Lewis, C. (2006, May-June). HCI and Cognitive Disabilities. Interactions , pp. 14-15.

Lewis, C. HCI for People with Cognitive Disabilities.

Lewis, C. (2006). Simplicity in cognitive assistive technology: a framework and agenda for research. Univ Access Inf Soc (pp. 351-361). Springer-Verlag.

Moffatt, K., & Davies, R. (2004). The Aphasia Project: Designing technology for and with individuals who have aphasia. Accessibility and Computing, 80, pp. 11-17.

Poncelas, A., & Murphy, G. (2007). Accessible Information for People with Intellectual Disabilities: Do Symbols Really Help? Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities. 20, pp. 466-474. BILD Publications.

Poulson, D., & Nicolle, C. (2004). Making the Internet accessible for people with cognitive and communication Impairments. Universal Access in the Information Society, 3(1), 48-56.

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References (contd.):

Redish, J. (., & Chisnell, D. (2004). Designing Web Sites for Older Adults: A Review of Recent Literature. AARP.

Rowland, C. (2010). Accessibility: The Need for Champions and Awareness in Higher Education. Educause Review, 45(6), 12.

Rowland, C. (2010). Transforming the Institution. Educause Review, 45(6), 14.

Savidis, A., & Stephanidis, C. (2004). Developing Inclusive e-Learning and e-Entertainment to Effectively Accommodate Learning Difficulties., (pp. 42-54).

Solheim, I. (2009). Adaptive User Interfaces: Benefit or Impediment for Lower-Literacy Users? Universal Access in HCI, Part II, HCII 2009 (pp. 758-765). Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Summers, K., & Summers, M. (2005). Reading and Navigational Strategies of Web Users with Lower Literacy Skills. Proceedings of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 42.

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References (contd.):

Vigouroux, N., Rumeau, P., Vella, F., & Vellas, B. (2009). Studying Point-Select-Drag Interaction Techniques for Older People with Cognitive Impairment. Universal Access in HCI, Part I, HCII 2009 (pp. 422-428). Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Walser, K., Quesenbery, W., & Swierenga, S. (2008). Designing for Cognitive Disabilities. UPA 2008 – The Many Faces of User Experience. Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

WebAIM. (n.d.). Cognitive and Learning Disabilities Literature Review. Retrieved from WebAIM Web Accessibility in Mind: http://webaim.org/projects/steppingstones/litreviewsummary

WebAIM. (n.d.). Steppingstones Project on Web Accessibility and Cognitive Disabilities in Education. Retrieved from WebAIM Web Accessibility in Mind: http://webaim.org/projects/steppingstones/steppingstones