Category: Accessibility Personas Description: User with dyscalculia who encounters barriers with pricing, quantities, dates, percentages, and reference numbers while maintaining strong non-numerical skills

Overview

Dyscalculia is a learning difficulty affecting numerical processing. It affects 3-7% of the population (Butterworth, 2005). Users struggle with prices, quantities, dates, percentages, and reference numbers. General reasoning, language, spatial ability, and technology skills are typically normal. A user with dyscalculia may be a skilled developer who cannot quickly compare two prices.

The UK Government Design System team (2022) showed the impact of dyscalculia-aware design. Redesigning numerical presentation "doubled the number of customers who understood" their bills. The W3C COGA dyscalculia research module identifies barriers with reference numbers, percentages, quantities, and numerical comparison.

Designing for dyscalculia improves numerical comprehension for all users. Progress bars instead of percentages, visual quantity indicators, verbal descriptions, and reduced numerical precision all help.

Trait Profile

All values on 0.0-1.0 scale.

Core Traits (Tier 1)

Trait	Value	Rationale
patience	0.5	Medium; frustrated by numerical content but fine otherwise
riskTolerance	0.4	Low-medium; cautious with purchases and quantity selection
comprehension	0.65	Normal for text; low for numerical content
persistence	0.6	Medium-high; persistent on non-numerical tasks
curiosity	0.6	Normal; explores freely until numbers appear
workingMemory	0.5	Normal verbal working memory; impaired numerical
readingTendency	0.65	Medium-high; reads text normally, skips number-heavy sections

Emotional Traits (Tier 2)

Trait	Value	Rationale
resilience	0.5	Medium; accustomed to numerical difficulty
selfEfficacy	0.5	Medium; confident in everything except numbers
trustCalibration	0.5	Medium; can evaluate text-based trust signals but not numerical ones
interruptRecovery	0.6	Normal

Decision-Making Traits (Tier 3)

Trait	Value	Rationale
satisficing	0.6	Medium; avoids comparing numerical options in detail
informationForaging	0.55	Medium; normal except for numerical information scent
anchoringBias	0.6	Medium; numerical anchoring is especially strong
timeHorizon	0.5	Medium
attributionStyle	0.5	Medium; understands it's a specific difficulty

Planning Traits (Tier 4)

Trait	Value	Rationale
metacognitivePlanning	0.6	Normal; good planning for non-numerical tasks
proceduralFluency	0.55	Medium; struggles when procedural steps involve numbers
transferLearning	0.6	Normal for non-numerical patterns

Perception Traits (Tier 5)

Trait	Value	Rationale
changeBlindness	0.5	Normal
mentalModelRigidity	0.6	Medium; adapts well to non-numerical patterns

Social Traits (Tier 6)

Trait	Value	Rationale
authoritySensitivity	0.5	Medium
emotionalContagion	0.5	Medium
fomo	0.5	Medium
socialProofSensitivity	0.5	Medium

Additional Traits

Trait	Value	Rationale
siteFamiliarity	0.5	Medium; normal retention of site structure

Behavioral Patterns

Navigation

Navigation is generally normal when menus and links use text labels. Users slow down or become anxious when encountering number-heavy pages such as pricing tables, analytics dashboards, or order summaries. They may avoid pages they know contain heavy numerical content (billing, usage statistics) and prefer text-based summaries over data tables.

Decision Making

Comparing numerical options (pricing tiers, quantities, dates) is impaired. Users may avoid comparison shopping. They may select options by brand, position, or visual appeal instead of price. "Recommended" labels reduce the need for numerical comparison.

Error Recovery

Errors involving numbers are hard to identify and correct. Users may not notice entering "12" instead of "21". Digit transposition is a common dyscalculia pattern. Visual confirmation with verbal descriptions ("Twelve items") reduces these errors.

Abandonment Triggers

Dense pricing comparison tables
Percentage-based discounts without absolute values shown
Reference numbers or order codes that must be remembered or entered
Date pickers requiring mental arithmetic
Quantity selectors without visual confirmation
Financial dashboards with raw numbers
Time-limited offers with countdown timers
Pages requiring numerical verification (enter amount, solve math CAPTCHA)

UX Recommendations

Challenge	Recommendation
Difficulty comparing prices	Show savings in absolute terms, not percentages; highlight recommended option
Digit transposition errors	Confirm numerical inputs with verbal descriptions ("You selected 12 items")
Percentage confusion	Show both percentage and absolute value; use visual progress bars
Reference number difficulty	Auto-fill reference numbers; use copy-to-clipboard; minimize manual entry
Date confusion	Show dates in full text ("Friday, April 11, 2026"); avoid purely numerical formats
Quantity selection anxiety	Use increment/decrement buttons with visual quantity display
Pricing page overwhelm	Limit comparison to 3 options; highlight key differentiators in text

Research Basis

W3C Cognitive and Learning Disabilities Accessibility Task Force (COGA). Dyscalculia research module. Identifies specific barriers with numbers, percentages, reference numbers, and quantities.
UK Government Design System. (2022). Redesigning numerical presentation for accessibility. Demonstrated that accessible numerical design "doubled the number of customers who understood" bills and statements.
UK Accessibility Blog. (2025). Design patterns for dyscalculia. Specific pattern recommendations for numerical presentation.
Butterworth, B. (2005). The development of arithmetical abilities. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 46(1), 3-18. Prevalence estimate of 3-7% and neurological basis of dyscalculia.
Butterworth, B., Varma, S., & Laurillard, D. (2011). Dyscalculia: From Brain to Education. Science, 332(6033), 1049-1053. Neurological and educational framework.

Usage

await cognitive_journey_init({
  persona: "dyscalculia",
  goal: "complete checkout",
  startUrl: "https://example.com"
});

npx cbrowser cognitive-journey --persona dyscalculia --start https://example.com --goal "complete checkout"

Persona Dyscalculia