Cognitive Disability

There are two reasons for considering cognitive disability in HCI education:

because some of our students may have some sort of disability or syndrome
because they need to design systems for other people who may be

However, as with physical disability, considering cognitive disability reminds us that every student and every user thinks differently, we need to educate and to design assuming this. Furthermore under stress, when tired, when aging, we are all likely to experience various forms of reduced cognitive functioning - reduction in short term memory, ability to reason clearly etc.

This page was originally created to support "the right mind?" my SIGCHI Bulletin Column on HCI Education in Jan 2001, but I try to keep it up-to-date.

General resources

World Wide Web Consortium - Web Accessibility Initiative
NCDDR - National Center for the Dissemination of Disability Research: General site about disability research. See particularly a 2003 editorial about "Web Accessibility for People with Cognitive Disabilities"
Disability and Information Systems in Higher Education (DISinHE): A project funded by the UK Higher Education Funding Councils
(Note in the UK Higher Education refers to University level education)
One output of DISinHE is the National Internet Accessibility Database: this lists references to many resources hardware, software, educational materials etc.
IHM-HCI 2001 Tutorial - Enabling technology for users with special needs - 11th Sept. 2001, Lille
CHI 2006 Workshop on Designing Technology for People with Cognitive Impairments - 22nd April 2006, Montreal
LD Online: Extensive resource site on learning disabilities managed by WETA the Washington area US public broadcasting station. The most relevant part of the site is LD in Depth, a categorised resource listing, which includes a section on postsecondary education as well as other resources.
Disability Net: UK-based micro-portal on general disability issues with classified directory, forums etc.
Disability Network: US-based support site with chat rooms etc, mainly focusing on physical disability, but with some good links.
Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disability: Broad ranging journal dealing with many aspects of developmental disabilities health, cognitive issues, social support, family lfe, etc. As well as backgorund informationon intellectual and develipment disability, some articles directly related to educational issues, for example, acinle of articiles in vol 31(4).

Accessibility articles and sites

Information on accessibility for cognitive disabilities has grown considerably since this page was first created in 2001.

An Accessibility Frontier: Cognitive disabilities and learning difficulties: Discusses particular web based accessibility issues and practical advice. The page has varios options to change its style so it is a 'living' example.
UUGuide: Universal Usability web site devleiped by students at University of Maryland. Includes section on cognitive disability with overview of state-of0the-art and useful rfeference list.
WebAIM - Web Accessibility in Mind: General accessibility web site including section on design considerations for cognitive disability and a dyslexia simulator
Report on Cognitive Disability and the Web: produce by group at University Teeside working in issues of disability in higher education

Aspergers and Autism

Although Asperger's was first identified in 1944 it was only given an official diagnosis by the American Psychological Association in 1994. Consequentially information is relatively rare. However, after dyslexia, it is probably the cognitive disability we are most likely to encounter at University level.

Asperger's Syndrome Information Package: Substantial information page produced by the Autism Society of America
Asperger's disorder homepage (www.aspergers.com): by Kaan R. Ozbayrak, University of Massachusetts Medical Center
terse but useful factual infornation about Asperger's and extensive links page
New Scientist interview 14th April 2001: Simon Baron-Cohen from Cambridge University Autism Research Centre talks to New Scientist about new theories of Autism spectrum and work on adulty diagnosis including their 10 test for Asperger's

Dyslexia

British Dyslexia Association: The main British organisation dealing with dyslexia including educational information. The site is sadly still 'half built' - in particular, sections for categorised information and web links are not ready, but there is a FAQ with some info.
The International Dyslexia Association: An international charity and main dyslexia organisation in the US with extensive web site. The IDA was formerly called "The Orton Dyslexia Society", named after Samuel Orton, who was an early worker on dyslexia.
Dyslexia Action: Another UK educational charity. Biggest UK based dyslexia teaching organisation. Site has good links, but principally aimed at school age teaching.
A Framework for Understanding Dyslexia: UK Dept. for Education and Skills guidance for post-16 education and training.
Dyslexia the gift: Commercial web site of Davis Dyslexia Association International. However, has a number of freely available reports etc.
Adult Dyslexia Organisation: UK support and research charity. Their activities including research an accessibility for dyslexia and was reported in a UsabilityNews article "Dyslexia List launches with Major Research Programme into Accessibility Guidance"
Web accessibility for dyslexia: Several sites offer advice including Manchester University "Web Accessibility for Dyslexia", Accessibility101 "Designing for Dyslexia", e-bility "Enabling the Internet for people with dyslexia" and dyslexic.com "Accessibility Statement"

Williams Syndrome

Williams is a single gene disorder, like Down's Syndorme, unlike Autism and Aspergers, which have no simple cause. From a Williams is linked with both specific cognitive disability and also physical symptoms.

Genetics of Williams Syndrome: information about the genetic cause of Williams part of the Genetics Science Learning Centre
(The GSLC web page spells Williams with an apostrophe. As far as I can gather the spelling without is more common, and I assume correct.)
Williams Syndrome Foundation (UK) - information
Wiliams Syndrome Association (US)
Comprehensive WS Home Page: Williams Syndrome Foundation (US)
Different Minds, an article about Williams Syndrome