Some of the hardest barriers on the web aren't about seeing, hearing or moving. They're about reading, remembering,
concentrating and working things out. They affect people with dyslexia, ADHD, autism, learning disabilities,
memory loss, dementia, brain injury or anxiety. They also affect anyone who is tired, stressed, ill,
distracted by a child, or reading in a second language.
The demos on this page are all forms for an imaginary government grant. Each one makes the job harder than it needs to be.
WCAG 2.2, Success Criterion 3.3.2 (Labels or Instructions), Level A:
Labels or instructions are provided when content requires user input.
WCAG 2.2 also added 3.3.7 (Redundant Entry, Level A) and 3.3.8 (Accessible Authentication (Minimum), Level AA),
which say users shouldn't have to re-enter information or solve a memory or puzzle test to log in.
How the simulation works
Dyslexia: letters inside words swap places as you read. This is one way people with dyslexia
have described reading, but dyslexia is different for everyone, and for many people it's more about how slowly and
tiringly words are decoded than about letters moving. Treat it as a way to feel the effort, not as an accurate picture.
Distractions: notifications pop up in the corner every few seconds, like a phone that won't stop buzzing.
This gives a feel for how hard it is to concentrate with ADHD, or in a noisy office.
The simulations only affect the demo apps. The tasks, answer buttons and explanations stay readable.
Try each task with the simulations on. Then turn them off and try again. Which barriers are still there?
Dyslexia:
Plain language
1. Who can apply?
Task: Aoife is 24 and lives with her parents. Her mother gets the State Pension, which is a "qualifying payment".
Can Aoife get the grant?
ELIGIBILITY. Entitlement to the Household Heating Support Grant (HHSG) shall be contingent upon the applicant satisfying the means-tested criteria prescribed in Part 4, Section 14(3)(b) of the Social Support (Consolidation) Provisions, as amended from time to time, save where the applicant is ordinarily resident in a household in which another adult member is, or would upon application be, in receipt of a qualifying payment within the meaning of Schedule 2, in which case the applicant shall be deemed ineligible for the purposes of this Section, unless the said household does not constitute the applicant's principal private residence or the applicant can demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the Deciding Officer, that he or she maintains an independent household notwithstanding shared occupancy of the dwelling, in which event the provisions of subsection (5) shall apply mutatis mutandis. For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in this Section shall be construed as conferring an entitlement on any person who is not otherwise eligible under the Provisions.
The answer is in there, but it's buried in a single 160-word block with one sentence of more than
130 words, double negatives ("ineligible ... unless ... does not"), legal jargon, and justified text that leaves uneven gaps
between words. Small text and tight line spacing make it worse. Justified text is especially hard for many people with dyslexia.
WCAG 3.1.5 (Reading Level, Level AAA) suggests a simpler version when text needs more than about a lower secondary
school reading level. You can see a plain-language version in the fix at the bottom. (The grant is made up.)
Memory
2. Log in
Task: log in using the details on the sticky note.
Customer no. 4471 0928 3365 Password: Sunflower82
Counting along a word to find the 3rd, 6th and 9th letters means holding the word, your place and
the count in your head all at once. That's very hard if you have dyslexia, dyscalculia or a poor working memory.
Pasting is blocked, so a password manager can't help. The customer number box only takes 12 characters,
so if you type the spaces shown on the note your number is silently cut short.
The error doesn't say which part was wrong, and three mistakes lock you out.
WCAG 3.3.8 (Accessible Authentication (Minimum), Level AA) says logging in mustn't depend on remembering,
transcribing or working something out unless there's an alternative, and that includes allowing paste.
Time limits
3. Your details
Task: fill in every field and submit. The clock starts when you click into the form.
You have 45 seconds, shown in tiny grey text in the corner. There's no warning when time is nearly up
and no way to ask for more. When it runs out, everything you typed is thrown away.
People who read slowly, have to look things up, use assistive technology, or get interrupted can't finish in time.
WCAG 2.2.1 (Timing Adjustable, Level A) says users must be able to turn off, adjust or extend a time limit,
and 2.2.6 (Timeouts, Level AAA) says to warn people about timeouts that lose data.
Error messages
4. Check your identity
Task: enter any date of birth, the PPS number 1234567T and any mobile number, and get the form accepted.
The form has secret rules: the date must be written like 23-04-1990 with dashes, the PPS number
must be in capitals with no spaces, and the mobile number must be 10 digits starting with 08, with no spaces.
None of this is explained. When anything is wrong you get one vague message, you aren't told which field is the problem,
and everything you typed is cleared. Every attempt means typing it all again from memory.
WCAG 3.3.1 (Error Identification, Level A), 3.3.2 (Labels or Instructions, Level A) and 3.3.3 (Error Suggestion, Level AA).
Distraction
5. Contact us
Task: find out what time the office closes on Saturday.
Apply before 31 December! Don't miss out!
Sam from Support
Hi there! Can I help you with anything today?
The information is on one slide of a carousel that moves on every 2.5 seconds and can't be paused.
If you read slowly, you can't finish the slide before it changes. Meanwhile a banner flashes, and a chat window slides up over the
content with a tiny close button, then comes back. Anyone who finds it hard to filter out distractions has to fight the page
to read one sentence. Moving content can also make people with vestibular disorders feel sick.
WCAG 2.2.2 (Pause, Stop, Hide, Level A) says anything that moves or updates automatically for more than 5 seconds must be
possible to pause, stop or hide.
The fix
Say it plainly, explain the rules, and forgive mistakes
Here are demos 1 and 4 again, rebuilt. Keep the simulations on and try them.
Who can get the grant
You can usually get the grant if your household income is below the limit.
You can't get it if another adult in your home already gets a qualifying payment.
A qualifying payment is a weekly payment from the government that already includes some help with heating costs. For example:
the State Pension
Disability Allowance
Carer's Allowance
Only one person in a home can get help with heating, so the grant doesn't pay twice.
There's one exception. You may still get it if you live independently in a shared home. For example, you pay your own bills and buy your own food.
We'll ask you about this in the form.
What changed, and what else you can do:
Plain language: short sentences, everyday words, one idea per paragraph, and headings. Say what people can do before the exceptions.
Readable text: left-aligned, not justified. Comfortable text size, line spacing of at least 1.5, and lines of no more than about 70 characters.
Explain the format before people type, and accept as many formats as you can. Spaces, dashes and lower case shouldn't be errors.
Specific errors: say which field is wrong and how to fix it, next to the field and in a summary at the top. Never clear what people typed.
Don't rely on memory: allow paste and password managers, don't ask for "the 3rd and 6th characters",
and fill in anything the user has already told you (3.3.7 Redundant Entry).
Time limits: avoid them. If you must have one, warn people before it ends and let them extend it with one click. Save their progress.
Movement: no auto-advancing carousels. If something moves, give it a pause button, and respect the prefers-reduced-motion setting.
Be consistent: keep navigation and buttons in the same place on every page (3.2.3 Consistent Navigation), and make help easy to find in the same place (3.2.6 Consistent Help).