Investigating Information Search by People with Cognitive Disabilities
Ruimin Hu, Jinjuan Heidi Feng · 2015 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing · doi:10.1145/2729981
Summary
This empirical study investigated how people with cognitive disabilities navigate websites with different content structures and use search engines to find information. Twenty-three participants with various cognitive disabilities (primarily Down syndrome, but also cerebral palsy, autism, and others) completed 15 information search tasks across three conditions: browsing a deep structure website (4 levels with 4 choices each), browsing a broad structure website (2 levels with 16 choices each), and using a search engine. The researchers created a "Mini-Library" website containing 256 book descriptions organized according to both structures, with content at a grade 3-6 reading level and design following cognitive accessibility guidelines (simple language, high contrast, consistent layout, no scrolling on navigation pages). Tasks varied in difficulty from finding any book in a category to answering specific questions requiring comprehension of book descriptions. This study addressed a significant gap in the literature: while prior research consistently showed broad structures work better for neurotypical users (fewer clicks, less cognitive load), no controlled study had examined whether this finding applies to people with cognitive disabilities. The functionality-based recruitment approach focused on participants with difficulties in problem-solving, attention, memory, reading, or writing rather than specific diagnoses.
Key findings
The results challenge conventional web design wisdom that favors broad, shallow structures. The broad structure produced significantly higher failure rates (46.7%) compared to both the deep structure (29.3%) and search engine (18.5%). There was no significant difference between the deep structure and search engine conditions. Participants overwhelmingly preferred the search engine method—in free-choice trials, 44 of 69 searches used the search engine, compared to 16 for deep and only 9 for broad. When participants selected incorrect categories while browsing, recovery was much harder in the broad structure: only 18% of detoured searches in the broad condition eventually succeeded, compared to 67% in the deep condition. Pages with 16 links caused information overload—participants were slower to read links, more likely to forget visited pages, and confused by similar category names. Under the search engine condition, the primary causes of failed queries were recognition failure (41%—participants entered appropriate keywords but couldn't identify the correct result), typos (33%), and overly broad or redundant keywords (36%). Notably, 94% of recognition failures went undetected by participants, who ended tasks unaware they had selected incorrect information. Participants also relied almost exclusively on the "Back" button for navigation rather than the more efficient "Home" button, viewing the sequential path as "logical" and "safe."
Relevance
This research has direct implications for designing websites and applications for users with cognitive disabilities. The key takeaway is that design patterns optimized for neurotypical users may not work—and can actually harm—users with cognitive disabilities. For web designers and developers, the findings suggest: (1) prefer deeper structures with fewer choices per page over broad structures with many options, even though this requires more clicks; (2) implement robust search functionality with spell-checking and clear error messages, since participants were capable of effective keyword searching when supported; (3) limit links per page to reduce information overload and confusion between similar categories; (4) make the "Home" button prominent and visually distinct to encourage more efficient recovery from wrong paths; (5) use breadcrumbs to provide clear navigation context. For search engine designers, the recognition failure finding is particularly important: users often ended up with wrong information without realizing it. Search results should be presented in ways that help users with cognitive disabilities verify they have found what they need—perhaps through more visual cues, clearer summaries, or confirmation prompts. The high rate of typos also suggests spell-check with clear feedback is essential for this population.
Tags: cognitive disabilities · information search · web navigation · website structure · search engines · Down syndrome · information architecture · usability
Standards referenced: WAI · W3C