All Supplemental Guidance to WCAG
Design Patterns for People with Cognitive and Learning Disabilities
These Design Patterns provide practical guidance on how to better meet the accessibility requirements of people with cognitive and learning disabilities.
The Patterns are organised into the following “Objectives”:
- Use Clear Words
- Use a Simple Tense and Voice
- Avoid Double Negatives or Nested Clauses
- Use Literal Language
- Keep Text Succinct
- Use Clear, Unambiguous Formatting and Punctuation
- Include Symbols and Letters Necessary to Decipher the Words
- Provide Summary of Long Documents and Media
- Separate Each Instruction
- Use White Spacing
- Ensure Foreground Content is not Obscured by Background
- Explain Implied Content
- Provide Alternatives for Numerical Concepts
- Ensure Controls and Content Do Not Move Unexpectedly
- Let Users Go Back
- Notify Users of Fees and Charges at the Start of a Task
- Design Forms to Prevent Mistakes
- Make it Easy to Undo Form Errors
- Use Clear Visible Labels
- Use Clear Step-by-step Instructions
- Accept different input formats
- Avoid Data Loss and “Timeouts”
- Provide Feedback
- Help the user stay safe
- Use Familiar Metrics and Units
- Provide Human Help
- Provide Alternative Content for Complex Information and Tasks
- Clearly State the Results and Disadvantages of Actions, Options, and Selections
- Provide Help for Forms and Non-standard Controls
- Make It Easy to Find Help and Give Feedback
- Provide Help with Directions
- Provide Reminders