Participatory Design for Cognitive Accessibility of Web-based Interactive Systems
Adrian Wegener · 2024 · Proceedings of the 21st International Web for All Conference (W4A) · doi:10.1145/3677846.3679053
Summary
This doctoral consortium paper outlines a PhD research program aimed at addressing the significant underrepresentation of cognitive accessibility in web accessibility research. The author notes that while cognitive disabilities account for a 28% share of disabilities in Germany, less than 15% of accessibility research focuses on cognitive impairments, and WCAG itself includes criteria where fewer than 12% address cognition. The project adopts a function-based model of disability rather than a medical/diagnostic model, drawing on the WHO's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) to focus on specific cognitive functions — particularly attention and focus — rather than diagnoses. The research centers on Wickens' Human Information Processing Model, which positions attention as an overarching resource that influences memory, perception, decision-making, and response selection, making it a high-impact target for improving interactive system design. The author identifies two key research gaps through an exploratory literature review spanning approximately 378 sources: (1) a lack of understanding of how to apply participatory design to inclusively engage people with cognitive limitations in web system design, and (2) a lack of tools empowering users with cognitive limitations that also enhance usability for the broader public.
Key findings
The proposed PhD project outlines four planned studies. First, a systematic literature review on cognitive accessibility in interactive systems to formalize and cluster existing knowledge, identify trends and underrepresented topics. Second, a participatory study on tools and methods for focus in interactive systems, involving three groups (n=4-7 each): people diagnosed with focus impairments like ADHD, undiagnosed users with lower focus ability, and those with higher focus ability — chosen to create a representative user base around focus as a cognitive function. This study includes focus groups to understand current tool usage, barriers, and assistive strategies, plus design fiction workshops to explore future scenarios including highly generative UIs that adapt individually to each user. Third, the already-completed universal web accessibility feedback form (published as a companion W4A 2024 paper), which will be extended from its current focus on visual impairment to cognitive accessibility. The author emphasizes open science approaches for accessible research dissemination and follows the principle of "nothing about us without us" by involving people with cognitive limitations throughout all production phases.
Relevance
This research agenda addresses a critical blind spot in accessibility practice. Most web accessibility efforts disproportionately focus on visual and motor impairments, yet cognitive disabilities affect a larger share of the population and are growing due to increased recognition of conditions like ADHD, autism, and age-related cognitive decline. The function-based approach — targeting specific cognitive functions like attention rather than diagnostic categories — is particularly promising because it benefits everyone, not just people with diagnosed conditions. Attention and focus challenges affect neurotypical users too, especially in distraction-heavy digital environments. For practitioners, this work signals that cognitive accessibility will likely receive increasing attention in future WCAG iterations and accessibility regulations. The research is at an early stage (doctoral consortium proposal), so concrete findings and tools are still forthcoming, but the framing and methodology provide a useful model for how the field might approach cognitive accessibility more systematically.
Tags: cognitive accessibility · participatory design · attention · focus · ADHD · web accessibility · user-centered design · inclusive design
Standards referenced: WCAG · ICF