11 April: World Parkinson's Day
Every year on 11 April, it is World Parkinson's Day. It is the birthday of Dr James Parkinson. He was instrumental in getting Parkinson's recognised as a disease worldwide. But what is Parkinson's and how does it affect the use of the internet?
World Parkinson's Day
On 11 April, we celebrate World Parkinson's Day. In 1817, Dr James Parkinson became known for his publication "An Essay on the Shaking Palsy". His article led to Parkinson's being recognised as a disease worldwide. In the article, Dr Parkinson describes the symptoms of prolonged shaking in different parts of the body. In particular, the hands and arms tremble the most in this description. He describes Shaking (trembling or tremor) and Palsy (paralysis or weakening of muscles) in his article.
Around 7 million people worldwide have Parkinson's disease. In fact, it is the fastest growing brain disease in the world according to Bas Bloem, neurologist at Radboudumc. The number of patients with the diagnosis has doubled in the past 30 years.
With this growth, by 2040 there will be nearly 13 million people in the world with Parkinson's. We urgently need to do something about this, as Parkinson's is among the most disabling brain diseases in the world.
Bas Bloem, neurologist Radboudumc
What is Parkinson's disease?
Parkinson's is a very complicated disease. The brain controls muscle movements in the rest of the body less and less well. This is because certain brain cells slowly die.
Parkinson's often causes the following symptoms:
Movements become slower and smaller.
The face moves less and less. This makes it difficult to see feelings in the face.
The arms and/or legs are stiffer. The hands may also begin to tremble or shake.
In most cases, the initial symptoms arise on one half of the body. Later, the symptoms will also spread to the other side of the body. Remarkably, at the beginning, symptoms are therefore very present only on one of the two sides.
Symptoms may get worse, but new difficulties may also arise. Examples of complaints in Parkinson's are:
Better and more difficult to move.
Varying feelings, depressed or anxious.
Difficulty thinking and remembering.
Difficulty working with the body, think of worsening bowels.
Difficulty sleeping.
Difficulty sleeping.
People with Parkinson's can also experience self-confidence problems. The tremor can make them feel insecure or it hinders them in daily work. Not everyone with Parkinson's gets the above symptoms or all of them.
Seven million people, seven million variants of Parkinson's.
Bas Bloem, neurologist Radboudumc
Parkinson's and the internet
Digital Accessibility focuses primarily on four groups of functional limitations. Of these, the group "cognitive impairments" is perhaps the most comprehensive. This includes all disabilities related to the nervous system, including the brain. Cognitive disabilities can cause all kinds of problems, for example with speech, vision, hearing, movement and comprehension.
Parkinson's disease is also a cognitive impairment. Parkinson's often manifests itself primarily physically at first, but later problems with comprehension, memory and concentration also arise. This also affects when you use the internet.
With the above symptoms of Parkinson's, people soon experience various larger and smaller limitations. Indeed, the small movements of the body become increasingly difficult. Using a mouse becomes more difficult. This is especially difficult when links and buttons on websites are very small. WCAG 2.2 therefore also comes up with a new web guideline. This ensures that areas you can click on are always large enough. This helps many people, including users with Parkinson's.
Web Disability Simulator. This is an extension for Google Chrome. With this simulator, you can experience what it is like to use websites with Parkinson's. This does come with a disclaimer: not everyone experiences Parkinson's the same way. The simulator does give you the opportunity to create a feeling with this disease. Do try it out!
Accessible design also helps with Parkinson's
Parkinson's is thus a disease in which the brain slowly dies. This makes the brain less and less able to control the body's movements. This is often seen through trembling hands and stiff muscles. Parkinson's can also affect feelings and behaviour. UX designers help by taking this into account in design.
In a good accessible design, for Parkinson's disease in particular takes into account:
A clear design of interactive elements such as links, buttons and form fields.
Links and buttons that are large enough, at least 24×24 pixels, but preferably larger.
An uncluttered and logical structure.
Preventing distractions, for example by too much movement on the site.
In our training for UX designers you will get many more tips on Digital Accessibility. Cardan Technobility also gives advice to designers and developers to improve their website or app.