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2. Know Your Users Graduate student Online class Has a disability Asked more time with his projects Written work is incoherent Large fonts 3 3. The outcome? 4 4. Designing for People with Cognitive Disabilities in Language and Literacy Yulia Nemchinova, DCD Northrop Grumman and University of Maryland University College UXPA 2013, Washington DC 5. Expectations Web Applications Kiosks In-person Phone Print Publications 6 6. Who Has Cognitive Disabilities Seven percent of the population in the US have some type of cognitive, mental or emotional impairment. (Census 2010) 7 7. Clinical Diagnoses Attention disorders Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Developmental disabilities Cognitive issues related to aging Learning and language disabilities, including dyslexia 8 8. Functional Impact Memory Attention Problem solving Language and reading Mathematical thinking Visual and spatial perception 9 9. Why Are We So Behind? Cognitive impairments are often: Invisible Difficult to diagnose Not universally defined Not willingly disclosed and Can be combined with other disabilities 10 10. 11 11. A Bit of History Willowbrook State School 12 12. When Users Encounter Obstacles Lack of confirmation that their action was correct Cannot find and review features Cannot recover from errors Cannot find landmarks Do not have enough time to complete tasks Cannot save their work at any time 13 13. When Users Encounter Obstacles It is a work around for most users It is a real showstopper for many users with cognitive impairments 14 14. What can we do? 15 15. Support Assistive Technologies Screen readers Screen magnifiers Voice recognition Software for reading & writing help 16 16. 17 17. 18 18. 19 19. Universal Design 20 20. Universal Design Assist most users One implementation 21 21. Universal Design: Navigation Consistent navigation and design Flat architecture Functioning Back button Limited the number of links per page Standard behavior for links 22 22. Universal Design: Content for Mobile Direct access to content Limited content to process Availability on any screen size 23 23. 24 24. Language & Literacy Clear and simple text 6-8 reading level Short pages, paragraphs and sentences Single column of content Shorter words are not always better comprehended 25 25. Dyslexia http://youtu.be/8m1fCz3ohMw 26 26. 27 Targeted Support 27. Universal Design: Navigation Consistent navigation and design on every page Flat navigational architecture Functioning Back button Limited the number of links per page Standard behavior for links 28 28. Mobile or Slimmed Down Access Direct access to content Limited content to process Availability on multiple electronic devices 29 29. 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 30 30. Usability Testing Usability studies with cognitively impaired people are extremely rare User testing is needed There is no substitution for actual users with disabilities 31 31. Take Aways Think universal design Explore possibilities for user testing Apply language and literacy guidelines 32 32. The Future: GPII Global Public Inclusive Infrastructure (GPII) 33 33. 34 34. Thank you! 35 35. References: 36 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. 36. References (contd.): 37 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. 37. References (contd.): 38 Jansche, M., Feng, L., & Huenerfauth, M. (2010). Reading Difficulty in Adults with Intellectual Disabilities: Analysis with a Hierarchical Latent Trait Model. ASSETS10,. 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. Lepist, 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. 38. References (contd.): 39 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. 39. References (contd.): 40 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. 40. References (contd.): 41 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