In this blog, we look into ways that digital accessibility can assist people with Cerebral Palsy in gaining independence within their everyday lives.
Understanding Cerebral Palsy
Across the world, it is estimated that approximately 18 million people are living with Cerebral Palsy (CP). In the UK alone, it is the most common physical disability in children, with 1 in every 400 being born with CP.
No two people experience CP in the same way. Along with it physically affecting individuals, it often coexists with other disabilities such as visual impairments, deafness, learning disabilities, and epilepsy. Due to this, there is a lot to consider when creating accessible platforms that empower users to have an equal digital experience.
Organisations that prioritise their users and digital accessibility will:
- Help people with CP to perform daily activities. In turn, improving their independence.
- Ensure that young people all have equal access to learning experiences and opportunities as their peers.
- Enhance communication, which enables users to express themselves effectively, gain any required support, and contribute to society.
- Aid in completing job-related tasks within the workplace and improve employability.
Building websites which are inclusive for physical disabilities
Often, individuals with CP have difficulty moving their arms, wrists, hands or fingers. Due to this, some users can struggle to use a mouse when accessing the web. Therefore, websites being compatible with assistive technologies is a necessity.
To assist mouse users, the styling on clickable website features (such as buttons) require consideration. To aid with this, adequate spacing in between features and sufficient padding will enable items to be more easily selectable.
Users with limited movement in their hands and fingers often rely on the use of a keyboard to navigate a website instead of a mouse. Luckily, testing your website’s accessibility with a keyboard requires no special tools, other than a keyboard itself. However, there are certain adaptations that may need to be made to help keyboard-only users when online.
This includes checking that using a keyboard alone:
- The tab order on items, such as menus, are in a logical order.
- All features and links can be accessed, closed, completed, and operated.
- That skip navigation is available to enable users to bypass large menu items.
- Active focus states are present, enabling users to see where they are on a page when tabbing through navigation elements.
Other people with CP may prefer to use different devices or software instead of a mouse or keyboard. This is why a website needs to work fluently with assistive technologies, such as eye-tracking software or voice command to replicate the use of a mouse/keyboard. Sites that are inclusive of speech input software also enable users to complete online actions, such as filling out forms, without needing to type.
Protect Cerebral Palsy users who have epilepsy
Epilepsy is common in people with Cerebral Palsy, with 15-55% of people being affected by the condition. In fact, children with CP are likely to have at least one or more seizures during their lifetime. Therefore, it’s crucial to make sure your platform doesn’t contain flashing, strobing, or blinking content to protect users who have photosensitive epilepsy. If you do have this content, be sure to issue warnings prior to any media and ensure that these features do not automatically play.
Content considerations to assist visually impaired and blind people with Cerebral Palsy
Some users with CP may have a Cerebral Visual Impairment (CVI) due to damage to the visual processing area of the brain. Even if the eyes themselves are healthy, this can cause problems for users in various ways, such as having difficulty tracking objects, focusing, seeing clearly, or interpreting visual information properly.
For people with a slight visual impairment, simple considerations can really assist users to read your content. This includes making sure that your site:
- Has clear typography.
- Is using sufficient colour contrasts.
- Allows for page magnification.
Whilst people who have low vision or are blind may need the use of a screen reader, also known as text-to-speech software, to interact with a site. People who use this form of assistive technology to navigate a platform will need keyboard accessibility.
To aid screen reader users, provide:
- Alternative text that describes an image or gives an action.
- Descriptive link text to give users context when navigating.
- Any information that is text-based as an image or video, such as a chart, on the web page itself.
- Structured heading levels.
Ways to support Deaf and hard of hearing users with CP
Although hearing loss is more common in children with CP, it can range from partial to complete hearing loss in one or both ears.
To assist these users on your websites ensure:
- Accurate captions are on video files.
- Podcasts include transcripts.
- High-quality audio is used with media.
- Alternative contact methods are included, such as online forms.
You can also consider translating your content into British Sign Language (BSL).
Supporting CP users with learning disabilities
Cognitive impairments are also common in people who have CP, with nearly half of children having a learning disability. This can result in some users requiring user-friendly language to understand and digest content, extra time to complete actions, and useful prompts and guidance when undertaking online tasks.
How HeX can help organisations in becoming inclusive
As no two experiences are the same with Cerebral Palsy, there’s a lot to consider in making your content accessible. A good starting point would be taking a free usability check. Our health check will assess if your website works with assistive technologies, and that your content is easy to see, navigate, and understand. We’ll even show you first-hand how your platform performs on varying devices and software.
Sign up for your free assessment today, or get in touch with our accessibility experts for further advice.
