Quick summary
The Nystagmus Network supports people living with nystagmus, their families, and professionals working with them. Their website is a key source of information and support, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to navigate and read.
I was asked to lead a redesign focused on accessibility and usability, ensuring the new site worked better for people with visual instability.
Working closely with the charity, I carried out an accessibility audit, restructured the information architecture, and ran a survey to understand how people with nystagmus experience text on screen. The results shaped a new design approach grounded in lived experience.
Outcome: The project is still in progress but we now have a prototype with a simplified navigation and clear hierarchy, evidence-based decisions on colour, typography and contrast, a plan to replace all PDFs with accessible web pages and to replace old videos with new versions that conform to WCAG 2.2 AA.
In depth story
When I joined the project, the Nystagmus Network’s website had grown organically over many years. It contained valuable information but had become complex to navigate and inconsistent in presentation. The charity had no digital accessibility knowledge internally and so the website was not optimised for people with nystagmus, who usually have low vision.
Understanding the challenge
Nystagmus causes involuntary eye movement, which can make reading difficult. Text can appear to move or blur, and glare from bright backgrounds can be uncomfortable. The charity wanted to rebuild its site to meet accessibility standards and, more importantly, reflect the real needs of people with nystagmus.
As I have acquired nystagmus myself, this project was especially interesting and I was able to better understand the needs of the audience.
Audit and restructuring
I began with a full accessibility and content audit. The navigation had twelve main items and a very deep structure of child pages. Many pages had very little content or value, while others were very long and unstructured. Because the site aimed to speak simultaneously to people with nystagmus, their families, educators, healthcare professionals, and businesses, its messaging became diluted. Without a clear sense of audience, content struggled to strike the right tone or depth for any one group.
I split the site into 4 sub-sites, each addressing a different audience. I was then able to create a clear hierarchy for the main audience (people with nystagmus and their families), with a primary navigation containing just 5 items, and a secondary navigation for lower priority items.
I also recommended replacing downloadable PDFs, which have multiple accessibility issues, with web-native pages. I gathered these resources, along with similar content on the site into one information and advice library, to ensure that it was discoverable and readable by all.
Researching readability
To go beyond assumptions, I designed a short survey exploring how people with nystagmus read online. 39 people with nystagmus took part, rating examples of text and sharing their experiences.
The findings were revealing:
- Preferences for light or dark backgrounds were evenly split and polemic. Some found white backgrounds uncomfortably bright; others found dark ones caused nausea and were harder to process.
- Familiar fonts such as Arial and Verdana were rated highest for clarity.
- Most people relied on built-in accessibility settings like browser zoom and system text scaling, with fewer using specialist tools.
This confirmed that accessibility isn’t one-size-fits-all; flexibility is essential. I have also produced a more detailed report of the method and findings.
From insight to design
Using these results, I recommended a design approach that gives users control:
- A light/dark mode toggle to accommodate personal preference and visual comfort.
- Consistent use of Verdana, already part of the charity’s visual identity and well-rated in testing.
- Clear, spacious layouts that work well with zoom, large text and screen readers.
Impact
This project is still ongoing and the new site is not yet live, but the changes will make the site easier to read and navigate, not just for people with nystagmus but for everyone. The new design will better reflect the charity’s values of inclusion and empowerment, ensuring its digital presence supports the community as effectively as its services do.
