Usability & users with mental health issues and disorders

[charles]

I'm in the definition phase of a site redesign for a mental health and
addiction association and rehab center.

Besides following the W3C standards in accessibility are there any
guidelines or best practices I should consider for users that suffer
from more emotionally charged or cognitive issues than physical
limitations. Maybe there are considerations for colour, layout, tone
or presentation of content etc.

Thanks,
Charles Sue-Wah-Sing
www.suewahsing.com
twitter: suewah

[charles]

Just wanted to follow up on my posting. I have gotten a bit of direct
feedback on my question from a variety of sources. Thanks to those who
sent me your emails. I got a lot of direction to review the W3C
guidelines for help. Though W3C accessibility guidelines covers many
issues regarding physical and mental disabilities in web usability it
does not cover psychological issues - which is more of my concern.
After speaking to a few people in the field of mental illness and
addictions, if you know your audience suffers from certain conditions,
it is vital that the presentation of your web interface and content
does not trigger negative states of mind such as depression or anxiety
which may come with other conditioned responses like drinking, drugs,
violence or gambling to name a few.

It seems the way to do this is to (not a comprehensive list)
- keep the language plain. Minimize language that can trigger feelings
of insecurity or fear. Short concise sentences and phrases and non-
technical words.
- be supportive: use language or images that give a sense of
reliability, support and credibility. Provide easy to use tools or
content for users to quickly find help.
- Avoid triggers. Avoid or minimize what could be the source of the
emotional or addictive responses. For example, if you know that a
potential user maybe an alcoholic then stay away from images of
alcohol or other visual associations like people drinking, having sex,
threatening violence or gambling.

You can see how this can create numerous problems for many UX
designers, considering a user with these types of illnesses are much
harder to identify and cater too. But I think using your best judgment
in design and using best practices in design, content creation and
accessibility should mitigate most potential issues. In many cases you
may not be able to service those with acute or chronic issues.

If anyone has more on this, please share. Thanks.

Charles Sue-Wah-Sing
www.suewahsing.com
twitter: suewah

www.nexklix.com