Cognitive Accessibility – Insights from an important project

What makes digital services easy or difficult to use from a cognitive perspective? We have gathered experiences from users through focus groups and workshops. Here are the results so far.

How do digital services actually work for people with cognitive impairments, and what needs to change? That is the starting point for the project “Increased Cognitive Accessibility in Digital Interfaces,” funded by the Swedish Inheritance Fund. The goal of the project is to develop educational materials and films in which users themselves demonstrate what works and what doesn’t. Users have been guiding the way from the start. Throughout 2025, we have organised focus groups and workshops to create space for people whose experiences are rarely reflected in how digital services are designed.

Common challenges

In late spring, we held focus groups featuring open conversations about how users with various types of cognitive difficulties use digital services, and what they find easy or hard.

One clear theme was uncertainty around updates. For many people, particularly older users, learning a service takes time and effort. When interfaces change rapidly, what you have learned disappears and you have to start over.

Login was another recurring challenge, covering everything from passwords and verification steps to something as simple as finding the right button. The language used in services also causes problems. Unclear terminology and internal jargon make it difficult to understand what you are actually doing, especially in matters relating to health or finances.

What works better?

In autumn, we followed up with themed workshops focused on specific tasks, such as finding information and making bookings. Participants had different types of cognitive disabilities, but many experiences were shared across the group.

Several concrete solutions were highlighted: clear and consistent interfaces, and buttons that explain what will happen (for example, “Click here to apply” rather than just “Application”). The ability to copy and paste information reduces unnecessary friction, as does being able to save progress and return later, or go back and review before submitting.

Some participants had tried AI chatbots for support, but experiences were mixed. They can help in certain situations, but frequently misunderstand context and therefore place considerable demands on the user.

Shared problems, shared solutions

One clear insight from the project’s first year is that most of the problems we have identified are common regardless of cognitive ability. Unclear navigation, hard-to-understand forms and inadequate error messages create barriers for most users, but become apparent sooner and more acutely when cognitive load is high. Working with cognitive accessibility is therefore, in practice, about making digital services better for everyone.

What happens next?

The mapping phase is now complete, and we are moving on to developing prototypes that illustrate both problems and possible solutions. The prototypes will be tested with users and will then form the basis for educational films, in which users describe their own experiences and demonstrate what works in practice.

A huge thank you to everyone who has taken the time to participate in the project so far, it is your experiences that drive this work forward.