One of the most widespread beliefs about epilepsy concerns seizures and digital content. The common assumption is that bright flashing lights consistently trigger seizures. Like many myths surrounding epilepsy and seizure disorders, this doesn’t capture the whole truth.
Photosensitivity is an often-misunderstood seizure trigger. It’s crucial to clear up misconceptions to increase accessibility for individuals with seizures.
In this piece, we will provide information regarding photosensitive epilepsy. We’ll also illustrate how understanding the relationship between photosensitivity and seizures is essential for achieving digital accessibility.
Do flashing lights cause seizures?
To begin, we need to clear up this stereotype. Flashing lights can trigger seizures, but they don’t always do so. Epilepsy is a condition with different variants. One of those variants is photosensitive epilepsy.
What is photosensitive epilepsy?
For individuals with photosensitive epilepsy, specific rates of flashing lights or contrasting light and dark patterns can trigger seizures. Epilepsy can result from irregular brain wiring, neurotransmitter imbalance, or a combination of these factors. Photosensitive epilepsy is no different. According to WebMD, genetics can also play a role in developing photosensitive epilepsy.
How common is photosensitive epilepsy?
Photosensitive epilepsy isn’t all that common. According to the Epilepsy Foundation, photosensitivity triggers seizures in only 3% of individuals with epilepsy. Oftentimes, people do not know that they have photosensitivity until they have a seizure.
Photosensitive epilepsy is more common in children and adolescents. It is rare for photosensitive epilepsy to be diagnosed in individuals over the age of 20.
Girls are also more likely to be diagnosed with photosensitive epilepsy than boys. However, boys are more likely to experience seizures. The Epilepsy Foundation states that this is because boys are more likely to play video games, which are likely to contain triggering amounts of flashing lights.
What triggers photosensitive epilepsy?
Photosensitive epilepsy is triggered by lights or images flashing at a rate greater than 3 hertz (Hz) and less than 55 Hz. In this context, hertz refers to flashes per second.
It’s important to note that “flashing” is different from “blinking” in this context. Though often used interchangeably, the distinction is quite important.
According to the W3C, blinking refers to “content that causes a distraction problem.” In turn, flashing refers to “content that can trigger a seizure (if it is more than 3 per second and large and bright enough).”
What does this have to do with digital accessibility?
For the safety of individuals with photosensitive epilepsy, it is necessary to understand these triggers and create content accordingly. By knowing the facts, developers can ensure that their programs and platforms are digitally accessible.
Luckily, there are specific laws and guidelines for developers to follow that help ensure digital content remains non-triggering.
What are the seizure-related web content laws?
To help ensure the safety of individuals with photosensitive epilepsy, section 2.3 of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) prohibits content that may trigger seizures, stating, “Do not design content in a way that is known to cause seizures or physical reactions.”
According to W3, flashing content between 3 and 55 Hz cannot last longer than one second. Even if there is an “on/off” function on a page, such content is impermissible. Seizures can have a quick onset. One can occur before a person has a chance to turn off the seizure-triggering content.
Final thoughts
Many people have misconceptions about seizures triggered by photosensitivity. Misunderstanding this serious condition can have harmful consequences. We hope that this piece has increased our understanding of this photosensitive epilepsy.
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