Cognitive Accessibility Design Pattern: Use Clear Step-by-step Instructions

I need clear labels, step-by-step instructions and clear error messages, so I know exactly what to do.

What to Do

Write clear instructions that are:

located before, or next to, the field or activity,
broken down by steps (ensure that steps are not omitted)
clear, concise, and accessible, and
available with examples or illustrations that make it easy to understand what to do.

How it Helps

Clear instructions help prevent user errors. This reduces frustration and enhances users’ autonomy and independence because they can avoid asking for help. This helps many people with cognitive and learning disabilities as well as people from different cultures, emerging markets, and new users who may not be familiar with web forms or may miss cultural context.

For example, a person with age-related forgetfulness is trying to complete a form. They put the whole address and zip or postal code in one line (as one would do when writing a letter). They are given an error message. After a few error messages, they are exhausted and cannot complete the form.

More Details

Provide instructions at the start of the process, not simply in an error message.

Provide instructions needed to enable the user to complete the task. When multiple formats are accepted or errors are automatically corrected, less instructions are needed for the user to complete the task.

Note that instructions can be hidden behind a familiar icon.

Getting Started

In a system with common errors, tackle the most impactful errors first and add guidance as needed.

Examples

Use:

Clear and easy to understand instructions. For example:
- Provide an image of a passport with the number highlighted to indicate the number that the user should enter.
- Explicitly say which day of the week is the start (e.g., Sunday or Monday) in calendar controls.

Avoid:

No clear instructions for complex tasks. For example:
- Request a passport number, but do not indicate which of several numbers on the passport is needed.
- A site does not clarify the first day of the week and assumes the work week starts on Monday. A user from a different culture assumes the work week begins on Sunday, and makes a mistake.

User Stories and Personas

User Story

Personas

Alison : An Aging User with Mild Cognitive Impairment
George
Gopal : A Retired Lawyer with Dementia
Jonathan : A Therapist with Dyscalculia
Kwame : A Traumatic Brain Injury Survivor
Maria : A User who has Memory Loss
Sam : A Librarian who has a Hemiplegia and Aphasia
Tal : A Student who has Dyslexia and Impaired Eye Hand Coordination
Yuki : A Yoga Teacher who has AD(H)D

Glossary

Help improve this page

Please share your ideas, suggestions, or comments via e-mail to the publicly-archived list public-cognitive-a11y-tf@w3.org or via GitHub.

Date: Content first published 29 April 2021 in Making Content Usable for People with Cognitive and Learning Disabilities ("Content Usable"). This user interface posted in January 2022.

This content is from the "Content Usable" Working Group Note by Cognitive and Learning Disabilities Accessibility Task Force (Coga TF) participants. It is published by the Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (AG WG) and the Accessible Platform Architectures (APA) Working Group. This user interface was designed by the Accessibility Education and Outreach Working Group (EOWG) with contributions from Steve Lee, Hidde de Vries, Shadi Abou-Zahra, and Shawn Lawton Henry, as part of the WAI-Guide project, co-funded by the European Commission.

Strategies, standards, and supporting resources to make the Web accessible to people with disabilities.