Axe con was on last week and there was a lot in there that was helpful both specific and broadly. To be honest it snuck up on me this year, which is to say that I didn’t get comms until it was a few days out. For me that’s ok. I’m on the other side of the planet and all sessions are in allocated rest time, but the advantage of Axe-Con is that the sessions are available to watch when I’m available. That’s a good accessibility feature. But it’s not the only one. Transcripts and slides of each talk are also posted to ease the follow-up.
There are always loads of great content but one of the sessions that I did find it’s ways into my chats was Neuroinclusive content design. It’s a broad topic that could be answered a bunch of different ways, and I’m of the neuro-spicy variety so I’m tricky to please.*
The talk unpacks Content Design in the broad sense to get an understanding of what the goals, skills and tools are, and why content design is uniquely placed to broaden accessibility. Subsequent to that, neurodiversity is laid out to get a sense of the breadth of human experience that we are aiming at including.
Designing for neurodiversity is designing for inclusion. Reduce complexity Be clear and consistent Consider sensory experiences Check your digital assets Involve people
Designing for neurodiversity is designing for inclusion.
And the tips for designing for neuroinclusion? … lean into design.
Not only are there great tips in there, but they come from a comprehensive but usable structure. Each one of the key points is broken down further. Examples include tips on link text and why. Examples of reducing complexity and how to make writing easier to follow.
One of my favourite takeaways are
Give it a watch. It was a good session and made great points for including neurodivergent and how.
Love to hear if you had any other takeaways from it or if you saw other things at Axe-Con that were helpful
* more context than anyone's KPI