Icon Progress Bar/Navigation (built in browser, hidden in app)

Module 2 Cognitive

Cognitive disability covers a very broad range of conditions involving a person's ability to process certain types of information. They include (but are not limited to) intellectual disabilities, learning disabilities and disorders, and autism.

Cognitive disabilities can range from mild to profound, and may be congenital or acquired. While diagnoses such as Down Syndrome, autism, or traumatic brain injury are appropriate in a clinical context, for purposes of universal design for learning it's much more useful to look at the functional aspects of the various disabilities. Individuals with functional cognitive disabilities may have deficits or difficulties with:

• Attention
• Problem-solving
• Reading
• Language
• Memory
• Math
• Visual comprehension

Learners with attention disorders typically have difficulty staying focused on a task, and are highly susceptible to distraction. For these learners, text that scrolls independently, pop-up windows, and items that flash or move can prevent them on concentrating on content.

Difficulty with language comprehension and reading may include problems with reading and with understanding spoken language, especially non-literal usages like idioms or sarcasm. Note that while graphics pose a problem for blind and low-vision users, they can be extremely helpful to those with language comprehension issues. This is why the principle of multiplicity--presenting the same material in different formats--is so essential to universal design.

Learners with mathematical and visual comprehension difficulties may have trouble interpreting diagrams or equations, and will benefit from verbal explanations of the concepts they represent.

Issues with problem-solving may make complex site navigation or unforeseen obstructions overwhelming for some learners. Site errors such as broken links may be very frustrating, and some gamification techniques may not be appropriate for learners with problem-solving difficulties.

Memory-related disabilities can interfere with the individual's ability to work on multiple aspects of a problem at once: keeping one part of a problem in short-term memory while working on the other part. They may also involve remembering navigation paths, or with transferring information from short-term to long-term memory. Learners with memory issues benefit from simple and clear design and the use of scaffolding Links to an external site. techniques to support learning.

This page shows a simulation of what it's like to have dyslexia. Links to an external site. How difficult is it for you to understand? What factors do you think affect the ease or difficulty? 

Watch

Challenges and Solutions