Technology is ubiquitous throughout most of the world today, and its role in daily life is only growing. And as our understanding of neurodivergence improves, more people learn they're autistic. And they need access to digital content, tools, and services just as much as anyone else.
Understanding the challenges that autistic users can face when accessing digital content can help reveal opportunities to improve accessibility and provide a more inclusive user experience.
What is autism?
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a condition that causes the brain to develop differently. It's common for people who have ASD to experience the following:
- Challenges with social interactions.
- Sensory sensitivities.
- A tendency toward repetitive motions and behaviors.
- Specific special interests.
People may have a set image of what autism looks like, but it can present with various symptoms, affecting each person differently. Plus, other factors such as gender, culture, and life circumstances can affect how these symptoms manifest or how apparent they may be to others.
What barriers to digital content do autistic users face?
Since autism affects everyone differently, there isn't a single answer to this question. And since ASD can have such a broad range of symptoms, there are several barriers that inaccessible content can pose:
- Difficulty perceiving content – Autistic users may process information differently and have increased or reduced sensitivity to specific sensory stimuli. So if, for example, a user responds strongly to images and a page has several images that have nothing to do with the important content, that user may have a hard time focusing on and absorbing the information they need to access.
- Difficulty navigating interfaces – Confusing interfaces are a universal user experience issue. An autistic user who struggles to understand complex interfaces may find a poorly-organized one extremely time-consuming or impossible to navigate.
- Difficulty understanding content – Poorly written content is everywhere, and it's not uncommon to come across information full of jargon and other specialized languages. Creating content exclusively for people with advanced knowledge of a subject or advanced reading skills can exclude those who require additional time and effort to understand it.
- Difficulty adapting to major changes or updates – We need to update all content at some point, but major overhauls can be very disorienting. Some autistic people rely on predictable, repeatable patterns to complete tasks, and completely changing a user flow without a good reason can present significant challenges.
- Sensory overload – The internet is no longer a static place. Pages full of plain text are mostly a thing of the past, having been replaced by dynamic multimedia content. But excessive sensory stimuli can be particularly overwhelming for some autistic users, rendering overstimulating digital resources unusable.
Even just considering these few examples, it's clear that following the four principles of accessibility — Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust (POUR) — is crucial. Autistic users should be able to access, recognize, understand, and use content. And they should be able to do the same when revisiting content in the future.
Ways to improve digital accessibility for individuals with autism
Since autism can present in so many ways, improving accessibility for users with ASD starts with the basics:
- Refer to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and make sure your digital assets comply with the success criteria.
- Use plain language and keep the text concise so it's easier to focus on and understand.
- Embrace user-oriented design methodologies that prioritize accessibility and inclusivity.
- Keep interfaces and navigation simple and clean to avoid unnecessary confusion.
- Ensure developers follow coding best practices to ensure assets function optimally and make maintenance easier to sustain.
- Make sure interfaces and content are compatible with assistive devices.
- Involve autistic users in the testing process and use their feedback to improve.
Learn from autistic users
People with ASD are just as unique as every other member of your audience. And they are learning about how different each autistic individual's accessibility challenges may reveal how important it is to prioritize accessibility.
Content that is easy to understand, available in alternative formats, and supported by appropriate supplementary content will help more people engage. And delivering it via an intuitive, distraction-free interface ensures it will be easier to reach and focus on.
Conclusion
No user experience is perfect, but when digital resources are created without consideration for accessibility, it causes barriers to access. And because people with ASD can experience things in so many different ways, they're almost certain to be among those affected by digital accessibility issues.
But by learning about the unique challenges faced by individuals with autism and how that impacts how they access and interact with digital content, businesses and organizations can identify best practices and strategies to improve the accessibility and reach of their digital resources.
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