Politiques publiques • Accessibilité • Démonstration

La communication publique ne devrait pas supposer une mémoire parfaite.

CareTV explore comment la communication publique peut mieux servir les personnes dont la mémoire, l’attention, le séquençage ou les fonctions exécutives rendent les systèmes classiques difficiles à utiliser.

The problem Design principles Examples Collaborate

A hidden accessibility assumption

Many systems are accessible only if the user can remember what happened before.

A letter may be readable. A website may meet visual accessibility standards. A telephone line may provide TTY or relay support. Yet the overall process can still fail a person who cannot reliably retain instructions, remember a deadline, sequence multiple steps, recover a case number, repeat a history, or understand why the current interaction matters.

Memory-intensive process

One-time notices and explanations.
Multiple portals, passwords, case numbers, and deadlines.
The person is expected to reconstruct prior context.
Repeated calls start over with a new representative.
Caregiver involvement may be awkward or inconsistently supported.

Cognitive-accessible process

Important context can persist and be repeated on demand.
Plain-language spoken and visual summaries can coexist.
The next useful action can be made obvious without requiring recall.
Trusted helpers can be included through explicit permissions.
Original notices and records remain available and auditable.

Design principles

Treat continuity as an accessibility feature.

Preserve context
Do not make the person repeatedly reconstruct the case, prior conversation, or next step.
Repeat without penalty
Instructions and explanations should be available again whenever they are needed.
Use multiple modes
Voice, text, television, phone, and caregiver interfaces should reinforce rather than contradict one another.
Make the next action clear
Reduce sequencing demands and avoid unnecessary branching menus.
Support trusted people
Provide explicit, revocable ways for authorized caregivers or advocates to participate.
Keep originals
AI summaries or translations should supplement—not replace—the authoritative record.
Design for language choice
Do not confuse country, citizenship, or browser location with a person’s preferred language.
Protect privacy
Collect only what is needed and distinguish local assistance from cloud processing and long-term storage.

Concrete examples

The paradigm shift is easier to see than to describe.

Benefits and eligibility

Instead of a one-time letter, the person can ask “What do I need to do today?” and receive the relevant deadline, explanation, and next action in plain language.

Healthcare and long-term care

Important instructions can remain available on the person’s familiar screen and be repeated without requiring the person to remember a prior appointment or call.

Caseworker communication

The system can preserve an auditable summary of what the citizen was told, what documents are missing, and what will happen next.

Emergency information

Alerts can be repeated, simplified, spoken aloud, translated, and presented on the device the person already uses.

Authorized caregiver participation

A trusted person can receive context or help perform a step through explicit permissions rather than informal workarounds.

Accessible digital identity

Security should remain strong while avoiding unnecessary reliance on memorized passwords, obscure case numbers, and fragile multi-step recovery procedures.

Important: CareTV is a research and development project, not legal advice or an assertion that any specific agency currently violates a particular law. The purpose is to demonstrate design possibilities and support evidence-based policy discussion.

For agencies, legislators, researchers, and disability advocates

Open Access Media Lab welcomes conversations about demonstrations, pilot ideas, cognitive-accessibility requirements, public notices, benefits communication, caregiver participation, and accessible digital services. Washington State is a natural early focus because the project is being developed in Federal Way.

Contact
info@caretv.org