Accessibility Lab

How much are you being asked to remember?

Compare two multi-step designs that require the same decision but place different demands on memory.

Needs: Browser
Optional: None
Time: ~4 minutes
You'll test: Unnecessary memory and retained context

Interface demonstration: this exercise demonstrates product behaviour; it is not intended to simulate a disability or another person's lived experience.

Why is this not a disability simulation?

These exercises compare how interfaces behave. They do not reproduce the experience of living with a disability, and no single demonstration can represent everyone’s experience. You can examine the interface using your usual input method or assistive technology without pretending to be someone else.

Try it here

Imagine you're checking whether a service option fits your situation. Both mini-tasks give you the same three conditions, then ask you to choose an option.

Keep the context available

Your situation:

You need weekend appointments.
You cannot attend before 10 am.
You need appointments longer than 30 minutes.

Remove the context

Your situation:

You need weekend appointments.
You cannot attend before 10 am.
You need appointments longer than 30 minutes.

What are we testing?

This is not a memory test for the visitor. The question is whether the product needs to remove information that is still required for the next decision.

Copy and paste can reduce some memory demands, especially when a task asks someone to reproduce a short value. It does not solve every case: the information may need to be understood and applied rather than copied, may span several facts, or may sit across apps, devices or steps.

Where does this happen?

Examples include eligibility and application flows, multi-step booking or configuration processes, comparing options against requirements shown earlier, and processes that ask people to re-enter or act on information the service already collected.

Follow the evidence trail

Barrier Testing guide W3C cognitive accessibility guidance

This Lab is one controlled example. Its result is evidence about this example, not proof that every related state or user experience has been covered.