Accessibility guidelines

Cognitive accessibility guidelines

Part of
Accessibility guidelines collection
Last reviewed
4 September 2026
Owner
DesignOps

Use the Cognitive accessibility guidelines (COGA) to design products, services and content that are easier for people with cognitive and learning disabilities to use.

About COGA

COGA helps teams design products, services and content that are easier for people with cognitive and learning disabilities to use.

Use COGA alongside the WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) principles and requirements and Universal design principles throughout your design process. WCAG provides accessibility requirements and ways to test whether products and services meet them. COGA provides additional guidance to help teams make design decisions that improve usability for people with cognitive and learning disabilities.

COGA was developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), with support from invited experts. W3C also developed WCAG.

COGA guidelines

The 8 guidelines help teams make design decisions that reduce cognitive effort and improve usability for people with cognitive and learning disabilities.

WCAG does not cover every aspect of cognitive accessibility in detail. COGA complements WCAG by providing additional design guidance for reducing cognitive effort and improving usability.

These guidelines give advice on how to make content usable for people who face challenges with thinking, learning, remembering and problem-solving.

The 8 guidelines:

1. Help users understand what things are and how to use them

When you design content and components, make sure users can easily understand their purpose and how to use them. Use clear, consistent content and visuals to help users interact with webpages without too much cognitive load.

Keep your content and website consistent. It makes it easier for people with memory issues, learning disabilities or attention impairments to find what they need quickly.

You should always:

  • style buttons and links consistently
  • ensure users are aware of what will happen when interacting
  • use commonly used icons where possible, as this can also support people with English as an additional language, for example, use a phone icon rather than a headset or a person talking
  • use clear, helpful hint text for inputs
  • place commonly used components in a consistent location and order

2. Help users find what they need

Navigation should be easy and intuitive. Users should quickly identify important information, find features, and access content with minimal effort.

People with cognitive disabilities want to be able to find content with the minimum number of steps and be provided with that content in small, manageable sections. Products and websites should be navigable and searchable, and information should be findable.

You should always:

  • provide a clear layout with defined sections
  • use a clear heading structure
  • make the most important information easy to find
  • include a sitemap
  • use good information architecture and navigation
  • make help and search features easy to recognise
  • ensure content is searchable

3. Use clear and understandable content

Users may perceive your content in different ways, but it should always be clear, understandable and easy to follow.

People with language, processing or memory disabilities need content to be written in plain language and to be easy to follow without getting overwhelmed.

You should always:

  • write in plain language, use short sentences, and avoid jargon
  • use the GOV.UK style guide and DfE content style guide
  • include images that support content
  • ensure videos are easy to follow and include captions and a transcript
  • avoid large pages of written content
  • use a consistent, easy-to-read font
  • make choices clear
  • format content as users expect to see it (for example, date of birth)
  • use colour to enhance readability and urgency

4. Help users avoid mistakes and know how to correct them

Only ask users for the information you need when designing a form. If an error occurs, explain what went wrong, and how to resolve it.

Some people find it difficult to be precise when they enter information which can cause errors. Users should be able to resolve errors, undo mistakes and easily understand where they went wrong.

You should always:

  • help users avoid mistakes by using patterns like 'check answers'
  • show examples of potential failures or errors
  • be flexible in data validation, for example, allow spaces in inputs
  • avoid abstract concepts, for example, do not use stars for required fields
  • remove guesswork, for example, if using checkboxes add 'check all that apply,' for radio buttons add 'choose one option'
  • provide a back link
  • use clear error messages that include the problem, cause and recommendation
  • provide a summary of errors
  • offer alternative methods to resolve issues, like a phone number or helpdesk link
  • avoid timeouts or provide a mechanism to easily extend

5. Help users focus

Users do not want to be distracted. This can be especially problematic for people with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). Animations, banners and adverts can be extremely distracting for many people.

Users can often lose focus or be distracted during tasks. Emails, messages and colleagues in the office can all be distractors. It's important that users can reorient themselves if they do become distracted or have to switch tasks during a process.

You should always:

  • avoid cluttered layouts
  • use visual hierarchy to emphasise important content
  • narrowly scope tasks
  • provide one thing per page
  • do not distract users mid-task, for example, with ads or signups
  • avoid autoplaying videos or sounds (or at least provide a way to stop them easily)
  • provide clear navigation aids to help users reorient themselves

6. Ensure processes do not rely on memory

Users should not have to rely on memory to recall important information or complete authentication.

Users with short-term and working memory difficulties can find it difficult to recall passwords or information from previous steps.

You should always:

  • re-provide information when required for a task
  • make important information visible, not hidden in tooltips
  • provide hint text
  • use autocomplete values for inputs
  • allow copy and paste for inputs

7. Provide help and support

Users want assistance to be accessible, consistently available and findable. Users can also require support when completing tasks.

Provide users with different support mechanisms, so they can choose one that suits their needs. Also provide support which helps users to know what a task requires, as well as any materials they will need.

You should always:

  • link support at the source
  • provide help within error messages
  • link to documentation
  • help users self-serve where possible
  • provide multiple support channels
  • tell users what materials they might need to provide

8. Support adaptation and personalisation

Users want to use their own settings and preferences when navigating your product or website.

Some users may have situational requirements which mean they do not rely on assistive technology, but instead use specific tools or browser settings to view content.

You should always:

  • support dark mode and high contrast mode
  • support font settings like text and line spacing
  • use responsive units (rem, em) and avoid px
  • support reduced motion