Disability Types
To create an accessible design, keep the needs of people with these disabilities in mind.
Users Affected
Colorblind
- May not be able to differentiate one color from another
- Can't understand information that is conveyed using only color
Low Vision
- Needs to be able to zoom into content to enlarge text without the content breaking — responsive sites are great!
- Has trouble understanding relationships between elements if related elements aren't close together
- Has a harder time reading text when contrast is low
Blind
- Interacts with all content using the keyboard and a screen reader
- Requires text alternatives to understand visual information, like images
- Navigates through pages using headings and landmarks
- Relies on programmatic labels and associated text to understand things like forms and dynamic content
Cognitive
- Needs more time to find information and fill out forms
- Understands content better when language is simple and direct
- Understands content better when text is reinforced by images, audio and video
- Finds it easier to navigate the site when page layouts and navigation are simple and clear
Deaf
- Needs synchronized captions to understand video content
- Needs transcripts to understand audio content
- Relies on accompanying text, visual or tactile cues to understand audio cues
Mobility
- Often uses a keyboard, switch, or other device to access content — must be able to interact with all elements without a mouse
- Wants to tab through focusable elements on the page in a logical order
- Uses skip links to efficiently skip repeated blocks of text
- May need more time to fill out forms and to interact with content
Elderly
- Vision, hearing, and mobility get worse with age
- Often has one or more disability, but may not use assistive technology