Designing for Cognitive Disabilities
Tolu Adegbite
Product Designer
Over 1 billion people in the world have a disability, and out of all these disabilities, cognitive disabilities are the most common. “Cognitive disability” is an umbrella term for many conditions, which all have unique symptoms. Yet, many of the web accessibility discussions we have do not involve people with cognitive disabilities. We tend to have discussions about color blindness, blindness, and motor skills much more often. This talk will introduce cognitive disabilities and how we can better accommodate them through design. By the end of this talk, you will be able to identify a cognitive disability, and numerous strategies to make your designs more accessible to people with disabilities.
Tolu is a product designer and accessibility specialist with a background in front-end web development. She is currently designing (remotely) at Shopify. Tolu is passionate about using design as a tool for a more equitable society, and enjoys sharing her exploration of this (in the form of articles) online. She is also passionate about seeing the design industry become more diverse and representative of BIPOC and people with disabilities. Tolu is Based in Toronto, and outside of work, she enjoys tending to her plants, writing about inclusive design and learning about astronomy.
