Understandable Archives

‘Redundant Entry’ requires websites to auto-fill or provide information that’s required more than once in the same process.

Introduction

When a user is following a multi-step process, they may need help if information is asked for on more than one step of the process.

Requiring users to remember, re-type or replicate information within a process may be difficult for some users due to the cognitive requirements. Users with memory issues or who experience cognitive fatigue will benefit from fields auto-filling with information entered previously.

How to Pass ‘Redundant Entry’

If a process requires information that a user has previously provided to be entered again in the same process:

auto-fill the information; or
make the information available to select.

Exceptions

Where re-entering the information is essential

If the re-entering is required for security
When information entered previously is no longer valid

‘Redundant Entry’ Tips

A browser’s auto-fill feature is not sufficient.

Your website doesn’t need to retain information between distinct sessions for a user.

Making information available could include auto-filling, providing drop down options or a check box to copy across previous responses.

Introduction

Although it can be important to authenticate users, those with cognitive impairments may have difficulty with remembering passwords or typing in one-time codes.

Some users will be unable to recall a password or series of gestures to access their accounts and require help or alternative means to authenticate.

This builds on Accessible Authentication by removing the exceptions around identify objects or non-text content the user had provided.

How to Pass ‘Accessible Authentication (Enhanced)’

If you are authenticating a user, avoid:

asking for a memorised password; and
requiring them to type in certain characters; and
making the solve any kind of puzzle, calculation or test.

Exceptions

You can ask a user to complete a cognitive test if you also provide:

an alternative authentication method that doesn’t require a test; or
help for the user in completing the test.

‘Accessible Authentication (Enhanced)’ Tips

Where you use multi-factor authentication, each stage of the process must comply.

Password recovery processes must also meet this guideline.

Personal information such as an email address or phone number is fine to use, as this is consistent across all website and unique to the user.

Supporting password autofill and password managers is providing help.

Further help could be allowing copy and paste into password fields to reduce re-typing.

Enable users to toggle hidden characters on and off, for example when typing in a password.

Avoid asking for certain characters from a password as this means the user cannot use copy and paste.

You can send an authentication link to a user and skip the need for passwords.

Introduction

Although it can be important to authenticate users, those with cognitive impairments may have difficulty with remembering passwords or typing in one-time codes.

Some users will be unable to recall a password or series of gestures to access their accounts and require help or alternative means to authenticate.

How to Pass ‘Accessible Authentication’

If you are authenticating a user, avoid:

asking for a memorised password; and
requiring them to type in certain characters; and
making the solve any kind of puzzle, calculation or test.

Exceptions

You can ask a user to complete a cognitive test if you also provide:

an alternative authentication method that doesn’t require a test; or
help for the user in completing the test; or
a test which requires the user to identify objects; or
a test which requires the user to identify non-text content they provided previously.

‘Accessible Authentication’ Tips

Where you use multi-factor authentication, each stage of the process must comply.

Password recovery processes must also meet this guideline.

Personal information such as an email address or phone number is fine to use, as this is consistent across all website and unique to the user.

Supporting password autofill and password managers is providing help.

Further help could be allowing copy and paste into password fields to reduce re-typing.

Enable users to toggle hidden characters on and off, for example when typing in a password.

Avoid asking for certain characters from a password as this means the user cannot use copy and paste.

Introduction

Users with cognitive impairments, visual disabilities, mobility or motor issues may have difficulty using components if they are hidden until hovered over by a mouse pointer or focused on through keyboard navigation.

Controls that are hidden or displayed on focus but then disappear can be difficult for users to find, remember or use. Similarly, users who rely on speech to navigate can often only use a component if they can speak its name.

By making controls visible, or by allowing users to make controls visible, these issues can be avoided.

How to Pass ‘Visible Controls’

Ensure that the information needed to identify controls and components is available when the controls are needed. Note: This doesn’t mean that controls must be visible all the time.

Alternatively, make controls available through an entry point that is always visible – for example a menu button.

You can also pass by enabling users to make the information persistently visible. For example, a control at the top of a page could toggle all components to ‘visible’ status.

Exceptions to ‘Visible Controls’

If the information is available through an equivalent component on the same page or previous step in a process, you don’t need to make every matching component visible without mouse or keyboard interaction.

If the component is specifically for enhancing keyboard navigation, for example, a ‘Skip to Content’ link.

If it’s essential to hide the identifying information, for example in a game.

Introduction

Offering help options is great for all users, whether the help is human contact or self-service. Users with disabilities may use help options more than other users and will benefit from consistent presentation of their choices.

A simple way to achieve this is adding an email address, phone number or ‘contact us’ link to your main navigation. Others may offer live chat on every page. The key is to keep these options in the same order wherever they exist.

How to Pass ‘Consistent Help’

Where help is offered to users on multiple pages of a website, it is done so in a consistent order.

‘Consistent Help’ Tips

Help options can include contact details, a contact form, live chat, FAQs or an automated chat bot.

It’s important to note that this doesn’t require websites to offer help, just that when help is offered it is done consistently across all pages.

Consistent order means both placement (for example before or after the main page content) and order within a menu (for example phone number before email).

If you’re going to pick one thing to do, add a ‘Contact’ or ‘Help’ link to your main navigation and present all the help options on that page.

Introduction

When a user is going through a process that results them submitting information, it’s more important than ever to try and prevent mistakes.

Although all users are susceptible to making mistakes, some disabilities and impairments can make users more likely to make errors. For example, people with reading or writing difficulties may type words incorrectly and those with motor disabilities may press keys in error.

How to Pass ‘Error Prevention (All)’

If a process results in the submission of information, at least of of the following is true:

submissions are reversible;
input is checked for errors and users are given a chance to correct mistakes; or
users are given a chance to review and confirm all input before submitting.

‘Error Prevention (All)’ Tips

Remember this covers both submission of data and its deletion.

To make a submission or deletion reversible, provide users with a set time in which they can undo or change the action.

Check for input errors as users enter each field.

Replay all inputs to a user (or the information about to be deleted) and ask them to confirm they are correct before saving the submission.

Introduction

While many guidelines cover highlighting mistakes and remedying them, it’s useful to help users avoid making errors in the first place. Users with disabilities, such as impairments with reading, focus or understanding, are more likely to make mistakes than others.

Where a label or control isn’t as clear as it can be, adding contextual assistance can prevent users from making errors.

How to Pass ‘Help’

Provide contextual assistance whenever part of a website may be hard to understand.

‘Help’ Tips

For a form, it can be useful to provide links to contextual assistance about certain fields. For example, why the question is being asking and the type of response expected.

Where a form field has a required input type or format, explain this.

Help can be by tooltip, a link to a new page or simply a good explanation near the element you’re providing help for.

Introduction

Some of your users will find automatic changes hard to deal with. Unexpected actions can interrupt their concentration and prevent them from reaching their goals. Help your users by keeping them in control and avoiding elements on your website that change automatically.

A change without a request is especially troublesome for users who navigate by keyboard, as well as those with visual disabilities or cognitive limitations.

How to Pass ‘Change on Request’

If you have an element that updates or changes automatically (like a live news ticker), there is an option to pause this and update only when requested.
All links open in the same window, unless it’s essential (for example, opening a transcript to a video).
If a link does open in a new window, the user is aware of this (for example, in the anchor text of the link or by an icon).
Forms do not auto-submit when fields are filled.
Any redirect from one page to another is immediate.

‘Change on Request’ Tips

Avoid using the option to add a pause button wherever possible, it’s not as accessible as giving the user full control.

This guideline builds on 2.2.2 – Pause, Stop, Hide and 3.2.2 – On Input by removing some exceptions, so you may already have passed.

The best way to redirect a user from one webpage to another is to do it without them noticing. One of the simplest ways to do this is to edit a website’s .htaccess file, which is in the root directory (not all servers will allow you to edit this file, so check with your hosting provider).

Introduction

You can help your users by paying attention to words where the meaning isn’t clear unless the word is pronounced (or spoken). Words like these can make it hard for your users to understand your content, especially if they use a screen reader (which could pronounce words incorrectly) or have limited reading comprehension.

This covers words that are spelled the same but pronounced differently (for example, ‘bow’ v ‘bow’) – also known as heteronyms.

How to Pass ‘Pronunciation’

Avoid using words where the meaning, in context, is ambiguous.
If you need to use such a word, you can explain the meaning to your users by:
- Providing a phonetic guide immediately after the word; or
- Linking the word to a phonetic guide.

‘Pronunciation’ Exceptions

If the word is clear from the context of the sentence (for example “Robin Hood used a bow and arrow”).

Introduction

All of your users need to be able to read your content. That means you need to write with a range of people in mind, from a College Professor to someone straight out of school.

The key is to write as simply as you can, in clear and plain language, as this will help users with reading and comprehension difficulties.

The generally agreed level to aim for is someone with nine years of schooling, starting from primary education.

How to Pass ‘Reading Level’

Write content that a person with 7-9 years of schooling can understand by:
- Writing the content so someone with no more than nine years of school can understand you (that’s nine years from their first day at school, so no college or further education).
- Adding summaries, images and diagrams to content to help explain meaning.
- Breaking up content with well-organised sections and headings.
Provide a link to supplemental content that further explains complex content.

Tips

You can never write something that every human on the planet will understand.
Short sentences are easiest to understand.
Stick to one topic per paragraph and one thought per sentence.
Avoid slang, jargon and idioms.
Use common words.
Write how people speak.
Use bullet points.
Use active, not passive, language (for example, ‘The words were written by Luke’ is passive, but ‘Luke wrote the words’ is active).

‘Reading Level’ Exceptions

You don’t need to worry about using correct names, even if they are complicated or hard to read. Names of things like people, films, books and companies all might be hard to read, but they are beyond your control.

Introduction

How to Pass ‘Redundant Entry’

Exceptions

‘Redundant Entry’ Tips

See Also

Introduction

How to Pass ‘Accessible Authentication (Enhanced)’

Exceptions

‘Accessible Authentication (Enhanced)’ Tips

See Also

Introduction

How to Pass ‘Accessible Authentication’

Exceptions

‘Accessible Authentication’ Tips

See Also

Introduction

How to Pass ‘Visible Controls’

Exceptions to ‘Visible Controls’

See Also

Introduction

How to Pass ‘Consistent Help’

‘Consistent Help’ Tips

See Also

‘Error Prevention (All)’ requires a website to check, confirm and allow reversal of pages that require users to submit information.

Introduction

How to Pass ‘Error Prevention (All)’

‘Error Prevention (All)’ Tips

See Also

Introduction

How to Pass ‘Help’

‘Help’ Tips

See Also

Introduction

How to Pass ‘Change on Request’

‘Change on Request’ Tips

See Also

Introduction

How to Pass ‘Pronunciation’

‘Pronunciation’ Exceptions

See Also

Introduction

How to Pass ‘Reading Level’

Tips

‘Reading Level’ Exceptions

See Also

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