Barriers for people with learning disabilities

Difficult words and long sentences

Language that is difficult to understand poses one of the main barriers for people with learning disabilities.  It is difficult to grasp the meaning behind convoluted or complicated sentences. Particularly acronyms and very long words (that are made up of several words) are difficult to understand.  Abstract terms, which are not described using examples form a barrier for people with learning disabilities. Many disabled but also non-disabled internet users do not understand foreign words. 45% of Germans and 80% of foreigners living in Germany do not or hardly understand English.

Colourful and overloaded 

If web pages are overcharged with text and pictures it is hard to find the right information.  Flashing, colourful advertisements or picture decorations for example, distract the user from the content. It is difficult for people with learning disabilities to concentrate on reading.  The eye moves involuntarily to the flashing and moving elements. Flashing elements do not only distract from the important content of the site - light sensitive epileptics can suffer a fit due to a blinking graphic (from a frequency of 4 changes per second).

Distraction from the page content

Pop-ups that open of their own accord can serve to confuse beginner users with learning disabilities.  Some users do not know how to get back to the page of origin, or how to close the pop-up.  Adverts with moving pictures attract attention. Users with learning disabilities find it particularly difficult to distinguish between adverts and the content of the web page.