Cognitive impairment includes a wide range of functional limitations: mental retardation, memory deficits, difficulty processing auditory information, and many more. Individuals differ greatly in their abilities, so it is not possible to develop generalized interface guidelines. Below are some specific barriers and suggested solutions.
Prompts, menus, and messages should use the simplest and clearest language possible, including simple words.
IVR content providers should not add background sounds or music that make it harder to understand the messages.
Multiple steps or "cascading conditionals" may be confusing. Wherever possible, let users perform one step at a time. The most frequently used functions should be the easiest to reach and perform.
Users may not be able to respond to prompts before the IVR system times out.
Designers should pay attention to how users can correct input and confirm entries.
These users would benefit from an ability to replay the most recent few seconds of a message, to confirm what they heard. Most systems already allow users to repeat an entire message.
IVRs can provide "cross-media notification": a voice message could remind a cognitively impaired user that he or she has email.
Voice mail, unlike an answering machine, does not need to be turned on. However, a user may forget about the service, or not remember how to use it, as no physical object is there to remind him or her.
Users may have difficult with soft keys, keyboards, mice, etc.
Speech recognition offers a way to avoid having to link menu numbers with keypad digits.
All printed materials such as user guides and system flow charts should be easy to understand.
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