In the context of web accessibility, cognitive accessibility refers to designing digital content and interfaces so they are understandable, easy to navigate, and usable for people with cognitive disabilities or learning disabilities. Cognitive accessibility addresses challenges related to information processing, memory, attention, comprehension, and decision-making, which is especially important for users that have conditions such as ADHD, dyslexia, autism, memory impairments, mental health conditions, or executive dysfunction.
While my posts primarily focus on accessibility for visual impairment (especially low vision accessibility), learning about cognitive accessibility has helped me become a better writer and has influenced several design updates and features on Veronica With Four Eyes. Here is how I optimize my website for cognitive accessibility, with actionable tips that can be implemented on blogs or other websites.
Using a simple blog theme
When I redesigned my blog in 2017, I wanted the new design to be simple yet bold and colorful, so that it could more easily be used by people with low vision. While I have made minor design changes over the years to improve accessibility and readability even more, Kale Pro has several features that already align with best practices for cognitive accessibility:
- A responsive layout with a single-column mobile design that can be viewed on any device
- Clear, easy-to-read fonts for titles, posts, and headings
- Images contain alt text that can be read for additional context on what is in an image
- Lots of white space throughout the design
- Options for keyboard access
- No auto-play content/ability to turn off auto-play for post slider
If a user has dark mode enabled on their device, my website displays a simplified color mode with a black background and inverted post images that minimize the use of the color white.
Related links
- How To Improve Your Blog Theme For Visually Impaired Users
- How To Make Tumblr Themes Accessible For Low Vision
- Six CSS Accessibility Tweaks I Made For My Website
Avoiding popups and advertisements
One of the most frustrating things for me is when I visit a new website and am bombarded with pop-up windows asking me to subscribe for more posts or to join some form of mailing list. It’s even worse when I close all of those pop-ups only to have advertisements that obscure the content of the page I’m reading, or the advertisements contain videos with flashing lights. I do not display any advertisements or pop-ups on my posts (or anywhere else) as I want to make sure that readers can easily access my posts without distraction.
Instead of a pop-up, I have an option for people to subscribe to my blog in the main menu, which opens a new page and tells users how their data will be used.
Related links
Structuring posts with titles and headings
Each of my posts have a distinctive title and heading structure so that users can easily navigate between sections and focus on what they are reading. While I originally structured all of my posts with screen reader users in mind, I’ve updated some of my headings in posts so that they help more with comprehension and following along with the text, instead of only writing a few words. I wrote more in-depth about heading structures for documents in a post about creating take-away documents with Microsoft Sway, which is linked below.
Some posts also have summaries that I have manually written. While I don’t use AI tools to write my posts or generate summaries, people that use AI tools for reading can access my posts and generate summaries if needed.
Related links
Providing multiple ways to find content
Instead of having users scroll through an endless blog feed with hundreds of posts to find what they are looking for, my website has several options for users to find and engage with content on my website, including but not limited to:
- A search bar for finding a specific post or post topic
- An easy-to-navigate category page
- Post tags linked at the bottom of every post
- The option to explore blog posts sequentially
- Outside of the website, users can view posts on dedicated Pinterest boards
- A random post on refresh page, which helps users find content they many not otherwise have noticed!
Besides giving users the option to find content in a variety of ways, my posts can also be read with a variety of assistive technology, including screen readers, simplified reading displays like Immersive Reader, or other reading tools.
Related links
- Follow Me on Pinterest
- How I Use Microsoft Immersive Reader With Low Vision
- Customize Microsoft Edge Accessibility For Low Vision
Adding definitions of terms and abbreviations when relevant
When writing for Veronica With Four Eyes, I want to ensure that my blog posts could be read by a variety of different audiences, including students, families, educators, accessibility professionals, and people who just want to learn more about low vision. Since it’s impossible for me to know what a reader’s experience is with assistive technology prior to coming on my website, I assume that my readers have limited knowledge on the topic and make sure to add definitions of terms and abbreviations whenever relevant in a post. I also have a pinned post on my homepage about common assistive technology tools that are used by people with low vision.
Related links
- A to Z of Assistive Technology For Low Vision
- A to Z of Assistive Technology for Reading Digital Text
Giving links meaningful names
When someone is helping to guide me somewhere, I find it helpful for them to say specific places and directions, such as “the door to building 36 is on your left” or “we’re going to this restaurant now.” It’s not very helpful for someone to tell that the door I am looking for is “over there” or to hear a generic description of a building, as I have no idea where “over there” is and I generally like to know where I am going. The same applies to web links— telling someone to “click here” isn’t overly helpful if they have no idea where “here” is and have no idea where the link will take them. For this reason, I give all of my links meaningful names so that the user knows where a link will take them, and if it will take them to another website. I also give links their own section in my posts so that users can decide whether they want to learn more about a given topic or skip the links.
Related links
- How To Be An Effective Human Guide For People With Vision Loss
- Purposes of Media Descriptions for Visual Impairment
Simplifying post graphics
When I experienced a vision decline, I noticed that my previous style of colorful blog post graphics with multiple colors was difficult to see and was visually overwhelming/visually cluttered, so I started updating posts to have solid colored graphics instead. I still use “colorful” backgrounds (no neutral colors), but the graphics for Pinterest and featured images are now a mix of white overlay, black text, and one solid color. The images are inverted in dark mode to have a black overlay with white text and one solid color.
The vast majority of my posts do not have any additional images, and I do not add decorative images on any pages.
Text-only website mode
Cognitive accessibility is a spectrum. While some users prefer to use pictures or visual landmarks, others prefer text-only interfaces that are simple and that hide pictures. Within the navbar, users can enable a text-only view that hides all images on Veroniiica and displays the image alt text in its place. All post titles appear as a single-column list, instead of the grid-style layout. If desired, users can toggle text-only mode on or off in the navbar to display images again.
Summary of how I optimize my website for cognitive accessibility
- My blog theme is simple and consistent so that users can easily identify posts and pages, with clear and easy to read text
- I do not have any pop-ups or advertisements on my website, as they can be distracting or difficult to close
- My posts are structured with titles and headings so that users can easily focus on what they are reading
- There are multiple ways to find content on my website, including category pages, tags, and the search bar
- Whenever I use specific assistive technology or disability terms or acronyms, I define them in the text
- All links have descriptive and meaningful names so users know what page the links go to
- I have solid colored backgrounds for images, including the featured image and Pinterest graphics for each post so they are easier to recognize.
- Text-only mode hides images and decreases visual complexity so users do not have to look at pictures to navigate the website.
Published February 18, 2021. Updated January 2026