a11y-personas
Library of accessibility personas representing people with various disabilities, impairments, and situational limitations. Use this skill when users ask about disability types, accessibility personas, user needs for specific conditions, how people with disabilities use technology, assistive technology users, or designing for accessibility. Triggers on requests about blindness, deafness, cognitive disabilities, motor impairments, low vision, screen readers, sign language, autism, ADHD, temporary disabilities, or any question about "how would a person with X use this".
When & Why to Use This Skill
The A11y Personas skill is a comprehensive digital library designed to facilitate inclusive design and accessibility testing. By providing detailed profiles of users with various permanent, temporary, and situational disabilities—ranging from visual and hearing impairments to cognitive and motor challenges—this tool helps developers and designers understand diverse interaction styles. It offers actionable insights into assistive technology usage (like screen readers and Braille displays) and provides cross-functional considerations for engineering, design, and QA teams to ensure WCAG compliance and superior user experiences for all.
Use Cases
- Accessibility Testing & QA: Generate specific test cases and checklists for screen reader users (NVDA/VoiceOver) to ensure proper ARIA implementation and logical keyboard navigation.
- Inclusive UX/UI Design: Consult personas with cognitive or visual processing disorders to optimize color contrast, font readability, and layout simplicity for better neurodiversity support.
- Product Requirement Analysis: Identify and integrate key accessibility needs into the early stages of product development to prevent costly retrofitting and ensure compliance with accessibility standards.
- Situational Accessibility Design: Enhance mobile app usability by considering personas with temporary limitations, such as one-handed use, concussions, or high-glare environments.
| name | a11y-personas |
|---|---|
| description | Library of accessibility personas representing people with various disabilities, impairments, and situational limitations. Use this skill when users ask about disability types, accessibility personas, user needs for specific conditions, how people with disabilities use technology, assistive technology users, or designing for accessibility. Triggers on requests about blindness, deafness, cognitive disabilities, motor impairments, low vision, screen readers, sign language, autism, ADHD, temporary disabilities, or any question about "how would a person with X use this". |
A11y Personas
Library of accessibility personas for understanding diverse user needs.
Auto-Initialize
Before reading any persona files, check if the repo/ folder exists in this skill directory. If it doesn't exist, run the setup script:
cd .cursor/skills/a11y-personas && ./setup.sh
This clones the a11y-personas repository. Only needs to run once.
Updating Content
To pull the latest personas:
cd .cursor/skills/a11y-personas/repo && git pull
Data Source
All personas are in repo/data/personas/ as markdown files. Each contains:
- id: Unique identifier
- title: Descriptive name
- profile: Key characteristics
- interaction_style: Input/output methods and limitations
- key_needs: Accessibility requirements
- cross_functional_considerations: Guidance for customer care, development, design, and testing
- biography: Narrative description with quote
Finding Personas
Search repo/data/personas/ for relevant personas by category:
Vision
| File | Persona |
|---|---|
blindness-screen-reader-nvda.md |
NVDA screen reader user (Windows) |
blindness-screen-reader-voiceover.md |
VoiceOver user (Apple) |
blindness-braille-user.md |
Braille display user |
blindness-light-perception.md |
Light perception only |
blindness-low-vision-progressive.md |
Progressive vision loss |
low-vision.md |
General low vision |
color-vision-deficiency.md |
Color blindness |
vision-contrast-sensitivity.md |
Contrast sensitivity |
visual-processing-disorder.md |
Visual processing differences |
Hearing
| File | Persona |
|---|---|
deafness-sign-language-user.md |
Sign language primary |
deafness-hard-of-hearing.md |
Hard of hearing |
deafness-late-deafened.md |
Late-deafened adult |
deafness-oral-communicator.md |
Oral/lipreading |
deaf-blind.md |
Deaf-blind |
hearing-loss-age-related.md |
Age-related hearing loss |
tinnitus-audio-sensitivity.md |
Tinnitus |
Motor/Physical
| File | Persona |
|---|---|
paraplegia-wheelchair.md |
Wheelchair user |
parkinson-tremor.md |
Parkinson's/tremor |
mobility-one-handed-limb-difference.md |
One-handed use |
mobility-chronic-pain.md |
Chronic pain |
mobility-repetitive-stress-injury.md |
RSI |
multiple-sclerosis-fluctuating.md |
MS fluctuating symptoms |
arthritis-rheumatoid.md |
Rheumatoid arthritis |
Cognitive/Neurological
| File | Persona |
|---|---|
cognitive-memory-loss.md |
Memory loss |
cognitive-aphasia-language.md |
Aphasia |
dyslexia-reading.md |
Dyslexia |
dyscalculia-number-processing.md |
Dyscalculia |
intellectual-disability-mild.md |
Intellectual disability |
adhd-attention.md |
ADHD |
epilepsy-seizure-risk.md |
Epilepsy/seizures |
Autism Spectrum
| File | Persona |
|---|---|
autistic.md |
General autistic needs |
autistic-sensory-sensitive.md |
Sensory sensitivities |
autistic-communication-differences.md |
Communication differences |
autistic-executive-function.md |
Executive function |
autistic-visual-thinker.md |
Visual thinking |
autistic-rule-oriented.md |
Rule-oriented |
autistic-non-speaking.md |
Non-speaking |
Mental Health
| File | Persona |
|---|---|
anxiety-mental-health.md |
Anxiety |
depression-major.md |
Depression |
ptsd-trauma.md |
PTSD/trauma |
Speech
| File | Persona |
|---|---|
speech-impairment-communication.md |
Speech impairment |
motor-impaired-non-speaking.md |
Non-speaking motor impaired |
Temporary/Situational
| File | Persona |
|---|---|
temp-broken-dominant-arm.md |
Broken arm |
temp-concussion-cognitive-fatigue.md |
Concussion |
temp-eye-patch-temporary-vision.md |
Eye patch |
temp-holding-child-one-handed.md |
Holding child |
temp-laryngitis-temporary-voice-loss.md |
Voice loss |
temp-migraine-light-sensitivity.md |
Migraine |
temp-noisy-environment-limited-audio.md |
Noisy environment |
temp-public-place-privacy-concern.md |
Public privacy concerns |
temp-crisis-situation.md |
Crisis/stress |
Usage
Get a specific persona
Read the relevant file from repo/data/personas/ to understand:
- How the person interacts with technology
- What barriers they face
- What accessibility features they need
- Considerations for different teams
Compare personas
Read multiple personas to understand overlapping and distinct needs.
Design review
Use personas to evaluate if a design meets the needs of specific user groups.
Generate test scenarios
Use the cross_functional_considerations.testing section for test case ideas.
Persona Structure
Each persona follows this format:
---
id: unique-identifier
title: Display Name
profile:
- Key characteristic 1
- Key characteristic 2
interaction_style:
input: [methods used]
output: [feedback needed]
no_reliance_on: [inaccessible patterns]
key_needs:
- Requirement 1
- Requirement 2
cross_functional_considerations:
customer_care: [support guidance]
development: [implementation guidance]
design_ux: [design guidance]
testing: [testing guidance]
---
## Biography
Narrative description with representative quote.
Quick Lookup by Assistive Technology
| Technology | Relevant Personas |
|---|---|
| Screen reader (NVDA) | blindness-screen-reader-nvda.md |
| Screen reader (VoiceOver) | blindness-screen-reader-voiceover.md |
| Braille display | blindness-braille-user.md |
| Screen magnifier | low-vision.md, blindness-low-vision-progressive.md |
| Keyboard only | Multiple motor personas |
| Switch device | motor-impaired-non-speaking.md |
| Voice control | mobility-repetitive-stress-injury.md |
| Captions | All hearing personas |
| Sign language | deafness-sign-language-user.md |