Types of impairments to design for

Understanding how people with disabilities interact with interfaces helps designers create accessible solutions. It’s important to recognize that impairments can be both permanent and contextual, affecting anyone, at any time, depending on their environment or situation. Let's define key impairment categories:

• Visual: Ranges from mild (needing reading glasses) to severe (total blindness). Visual challenges can also be contextual, such as trying to read a screen in very bright sunlight or in a dark room. Color blindness affects color perception, requiring interfaces to convey information beyond color alone.
• Auditory: Varies from mild age-related hearing loss to complete deafness. Auditory impairments can also occur in noisy environments where it’s difficult to hear audio cues or video content. This makes transcripts and captions essential for accessibility.
• Mobility: Affects body movement and fine motor skills. Impairments can be temporary (broken arm) or permanent (paralysis). but can also arise contextually, such as when someone’s hands are full and they can’t easily interact with a device. Assistive technologies and adaptable interfaces help address these needs.
• Neurological/Cognitive: Includes inherited or acquired conditions (epilepsy, dyslexia, autism) affecting learning, memory, or concentration. Cognitive challenges may also be influenced by factors like fatigue or stress, impacting how users process content and making clear spacing and typography crucial.