Who Is Disability Simulator For?

Disability Simulator is for anyone who wants to understand how people with disabilities experience the web. Its interactive simulations are most directly useful to web designers and developers, educators and students covering accessibility, and organizations working on digital inclusion. The site frames its purpose around a simple idea: "See through disabled people eyes," with simulations that show how barriers affect real browsing tasks.

Primary audiences

Web designers and developers

This is the core audience. The available simulations map onto common accessibility failures that developers can fix:

• Screen reader navigation — experience how a page sounds when it is navigated without sight.
• Low vision — see blurred and limited vision effects.
• Color blindness — understand color perception differences.
• Keyboard only — navigate without a mouse.
• Limited control — work through tremor and precision challenges.

For a developer, the practical value is recognizing which design decisions create barriers before shipping them. If a layout only makes sense visually, or a control can only be reached with a mouse, the simulation makes that failure obvious.

Educators and students

The simulations give a concrete reference point for teaching accessibility concepts. Instead of describing screen reader behavior abstractly, an instructor can have students attempt a task under a simulated impairment and then discuss what broke. The cognitive simulations — dyslexia (reading and text processing) and ADHD (attention and focus) — are especially relevant for discussions about content design, not just code.

Organizations pursuing digital inclusion

The site presents three figures that help make the case internally:

These numbers connect accessibility to both reach and revenue, which is useful when arguing for accessibility work beyond pure compliance.

Anyone curious about disability experiences

No technical background is required to use the simulations. Someone who simply wants a better sense of what a disability experience feels like can work through the available scenarios directly.

What is available now, and what is not

The site separates current simulations from upcoming ones, which matters if you are choosing it for a specific need.

Available now:

• Visual impairments: blindness, low vision, color blindness
• Motor impairments: keyboard only, limited control
• Cognitive impairments: dyslexia, ADHD

Coming soon:

• Hearing impairments (deaf and hard of hearing)
• Seizure disorders (photosensitive epilepsy triggers)
• Autism spectrum (sensory processing differences)
• Memory impairments (short-term memory challenges)
• Aging-related accessibility needs
• Multiple disabilities (combined challenges)

If your interest is hearing-related accessibility, seizure safety, or combined disabilities, the site does not yet cover those areas.

How to decide whether it fits your goal

• You build or review websites → use the visual, motor, and cognitive simulations to test assumptions about navigation, color, and reading.
• You teach accessibility → use the simulations as in-class exercises, paired with discussion of what failed and why.
• You are making an internal accessibility case → use the reach and spending figures alongside a hands-on simulation.
• You need hearing, seizure, autism, memory, or aging simulations → check back, since these are listed as coming soon rather than available.

The simulations are a starting point for empathy and awareness. They are not a substitute for testing with assistive technology or with people who have disabilities, and the site does not claim otherwise.