[HN Gopher] Designing for people with dyscalculia and low numeracy
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Designing for people with dyscalculia and low numeracy
Author : open-source-ux
Score : 28 points
Date : 2022-12-02 12:37 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (designnotes.blog.gov.uk)
(TXT) w3m dump (designnotes.blog.gov.uk)
| crispyambulance wrote:
| I think the design advice given applies for ALL users, even those
| who are fluent with numbers. Any one of us, barring Spock from
| the planet Vulcan can become overwhelmed with numbers. if there's
| a way to accomplish the design goal without actual numbers and
| should be preferred.
| BrandoElFollito wrote:
| Numbers are tough for everyone.
|
| Most people are incapable of correctly estimating so this should
| never be left as an exercise to the reader. This also includes
| using precise numbers where the precision does not matter. For
| what it is worth, for me pi=3 and pi^2=10.
|
| This is particularly visible when statistical data come to play.
| It is very easy to misinterpret these numbers, so they should be
| put in context. Unfortunately this means that they suddenly so to
| be ready to convey.
| sokoloff wrote:
| How often does pi^2 come up?
| williamscales wrote:
| Pretty often, depending on your field?
| WJW wrote:
| This question led me on a bit of a google rabbithole, one
| fascinating thing I learned that pi^2 is directly related to
| the gravitational acceleration (ie ~9.81 m/s^2) as measured
| in SI units.
| djaychela wrote:
| This is an interesting read, but I note that when you get a car
| tax reminder in the UK, there is a 12 digit document reference
| number, presented as three groups of 4 digits, and last time I
| used it, you couldn't enter the number with the spaces. Trivial
| for a programmer to fix, but really annoying for users.
| lozenge wrote:
| The gov.uk team is quite lean, they are more of a platform for
| departments to use, although from the user's perspective it
| appears as one website.
| podviaznikov wrote:
| relevant blog post from a friend of mine
| https://gigi.montaigne.io/why-do-i-like-feynman
| ndriscoll wrote:
| > Design to be inclusive, and everyone benefits.
|
| Note that this is not always true. For example the tax
| instructions in the US are designed to be able to be followed by
| anyone (add line 3 to line 4. Subtract line 1 from line 5.
| Multiply line 6 by 2. etc.), but the result is that things like
| piecewise linear functions that anyone comfortable with basic
| arithmetic and algebra would understand at a glance become a
| completely incomprehensible 25 step worksheet that's basically an
| assembly program for humans to follow.
|
| So keep in mind that things like algebra and equations don't just
| exist to torture people. They actually make it easier to
| understand and explain a lot of concepts.
| lozenge wrote:
| The goal of the tax form isn't to help you understand how to
| minimise your taxes, though? That would be better to put in a
| separate document.
| progman32 wrote:
| Do you have more information about the accessibility design
| goals of tax forms? First I hear about the subject.
| Py-o7 wrote:
| > Do round numbers to the nearest whole number [and do not use
| decimals unless it's money]
|
| is very bad advice and may lead to all kinds of inappropriate
| rounding. Trying to find an additional representation (possibly
| visually) without using decimals or percentage would be much
| better guidance.
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