I’ve been living in the world of digital accessibility for over a decade now. I know so much about helping people who are blind, deaf and/or mobility impaired. But the area I’m weakest in, is cognitive disabilities. And, let’s be honest, that topic can feel overwhelming. Where are the lines about what is possible and reasonable to do for cognitive disabilities? Who can I turn to when I have questions on this topic?
One of the visionaries in the field of digital accessibility and cognitive disabilities is Lisa Seeman. She is really helping me understand that the time has come to further our research in this area. Why now? Because cognitive disabilities are more prevalent than all the other disabilities put together. We’ve spent over ten years focusing on blind, deaf and mobility/dexterity. Yes, at first the concept of cognitive disabilities may feel intimidating, but stop and remember when someone first told you that a blind person could use a computer and we needed to make our sites accessible to screen readers. That was pretty mind-boggling too. We didn’t let that challenge stop us, now did we?
Let’s stop being blind and deaf to the opportunities that await us in the realm of digital accessibility for people with cognitive disabilities.
I (along with a bunch of my coworkers) have been starting to get really excited about the opportunity for improvement in this area. We have so much to learn, but I am pumped about all the potential good we can do!