Areas of accommodation
It may be a daunting task to consider all forms of disability, but to simplify matters, consider these four basic groupings: sight, hearing, mobility and cognition. The first two of these are sensory, dealing with how information is conveyed to the user. To some degree, the designer can grasp the meaning of being blind or deaf, and can turn off the computer monitor or speakers in order to experience being blind or deaf. In cases of people with very low vision or hearing, many of the techniques of accommodation will be the same.The last two areas of accommodation, mobility and cognition, involve the processes of interacting with the technology in providing feedback, being able to discern how the system works, and navigating through the menu system.
Each of these four areas requires some general considerations which will be covered in greater detail later in sections covering individual design element.
This section will breifly outline some of the issues: