Good web accessibility practice is far from widespread on the Internet. But even when a site meets all Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), we are still lacking in guidance and evidence about how website accessibility is affected by cognitive impairments - in particular living with a diagnosis of dementia. If you add to this the plethora of smart home products now available to 'simplify' our daily routines, then you introduce another area of technology from which people living with dementia may be excluded.
How to do we address this gap in knowledge? Well the simplest and most effective way is to ask the people themselves. As designers and developers we crave usability feedback to refine our products, so why not use this tried and tested approach.
We are looking to crowdsource views on the issue of digital / general tech accessibility for people living with dementia, as well as family members and carers. From this feedback we can build up a better picture of where we are, in terms of making products more accessible, and also put in place a roadmap of what needs to be done.
You can contribute to this is numerous ways
- Twitter - Tweet me @dementiamap or use the hashtag #a11y4dementia
- Email - if you like stuff a bit more longform, send some considered thoughts to alastair@alastaircox.com
- Github - if Github is your thing, just create an issue directly in this repository
- Face to Face - if you recognise me in the street (or at an event), collar me and get your tuppence worth in