Considerations for Cognitive Accessibility

By cognitive accessibility, we mean making sure that materials are formatted in ways that do not present extra obstacles to students struggling with learning disabilities (such as dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, written language disorder), mental health concerns (such as anxiety or depression which can impede learning by impeding executive function and other impacts), and neurodivergence (such as ADHD or autism).

As with most other accessibility concerns, Universal Design for Learning (UDL principles) apply clearly here. When it comes to instruction in general, provide multiple modes for students to encounter the same information (reading, video, lecture, practice) and give instructions in multiple ways as well. Here are some key principles when it comes to creating these materials.

Choice

Allow students choices of how to access a text whenever possible — that is, allow students to access materials in whichever way works for them. For instance, you might allow a student to choose to listen to the audiobook version of a novel rather than requiring them to read a hard copy and provide instructions on how to cite an audiobook.

When using a handout or working on an in-class assignment, allow students the choice of typing on an electronic handout or handwriting on a printed copy.

The general principle is to provide information, assignment instructions, and any materials in multiple forms whenever possible (or requested).

Customization

One way to give students more choices is to present them with materials that allow them to customize them on the user’s end. For instance, rather than using PDFs or paper handouts, which may be easier to keep as static and properly formatted documents, distributing readings as editable Word Documents or Google Documents, (or lectures as PowerPoints or Slides) allows students to make changes in appearance to their own copies — such as customizing the font, size of text, colors, filters, etc. Presenting information on webpages also works, as many browsers offer customization add-ons, extensions, and other tools that students will likely be familiar with applying.

Images and Visuals

To help make sure that items are accessible visually, we have discussed elsewhere the importance of things such as alt text, and not relying on color to convey meaning.

With that said, visuals can help readers scaffold the content being presented, charts and tables help convey information in an alternative format, and colors can help some readers to see connections and understand concepts more easily.

The rule with visuals is not to avoid using them — but to use them wisely, use alt text appropriately, and not rely only on the visuals to convey the information. You might use color to help group concepts together, for instance, but you should also use words to present the information.

Organization

Finally, a well-designed document conveys the organization visually as well as through other means. For instance, while it is important to use Styles for writing headings and conveying information in a way that screen readers can help users navigate a document, it is also important that the formatting of the styles appears different for different heading levels and between heading levels and body text. See resources on general document design for more details  (such as The Non-Designers Design Book by Robin William and the “Four Principles of Document Design” chapter in Howdy and Hello).

In general, make sure there is enough contrast between parts, that different levels of heading and text look different, and that the writing and paragraphs tend to be shorter chunks with clear topic sentences and transitions that convey the relationships between parts.

According to the Faculty Guide at Texas A&M University Disability Resources, about 2500 students per semester use their services, and a huge number of those students (and a large section of students with unreported difficulties) are students with “invisible” disabilities that impact their learning patterns, strengths, and weaknesses.^[1] Many of these principles for cognitive accessibility are less about making the materials for instruction available for students to use, and more about ensuring that the materials will make learning as easy and effective as possible.