Ever felt like a website was made just for you? The colors are easy on the eyes, the fonts are clear, and engaging imagery or video grabs your attention without overwhelming you. The text is easy to read, and the navigation is so intuitive that you barely have to think about where to click next. It’s a smooth, effortless experience that lets you focus on what you came for, whether it’s booking a trip or finding general information.
For every well-planned website you’ve visited, it’s likely you’ve also experienced several websites with low contrast, hard-to-read text, and poor font choices that make navigating information a frustrating chore. The information feels cluttered and you’re left clicking aimlessly, struggling to find what you need. Imagine if this frustrating experience happened every time you went online.
That’s the reality for many neurodiverse individuals.
According to the National Cancer Institute, 15-20% of the world’s population experiences some form of neurodivergence. This makes it more important than ever to design websites that embrace and support these differences. By focusing on accessibility and usability, we can make sure websites are welcoming, easy to navigate, and intuitive for everyone — no matter how they process information.
The Struggles Neurodivergent Users Face
Navigating the web can be a challenge for neurodivergent users. Sensory overload from bright colors and flashing animations can feel overwhelming. Cognitive load is another crucial factor that should be considered. When websites have complicated layouts with too much information, users can easily get lost and frustrated, making it a nightmare to navigate. It’s like walking into a room with strobe lights when you just want to read a book in a peaceful environment.
The travel industry is making accommodations for neurodivergent travelers through specialized programs like sensory-friendly airports and quiet hotel spaces that ease the stress of travel. These real-world changes help travelers feel more comfortable. Similarly, by applying accessible design principles online, we can make the digital world just as inclusive and welcoming for trip planning and sensory-friendly navigation.
Easy Wins for Neurodiverse-Friendly Websites
Designing a neurodivergent-friendly website isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s a necessity. Start with overarching principles like simplicity and clarity. Clean designs and straightforward navigation are key. Think of it as decluttering a room, where less mess means more focus.
Remember, this doesn’t have to be a daunting task — some simple, actionable steps can be taken to make a website more inclusive.
Here are four best practices to get you started.
1. Typography that’s simple and easy to read
- Sans Serif fonts for clarity: San serif fonts are ideal for improving clarity and reducing visual clutter. With no decorative strokes, they provide clean, simple letterforms that make it easier for users to process text. Fonts like Arial or Helvetica enhance readability by ensuring characters don’t blur together, especially when viewed at smaller sizes. Sans serif fonts also support faster word recognition, allowing users to focus on the content without straining their eyes. Ensuring consistent font use across the site further reinforces a smooth reading experience.
- Clear hierarchy and readability: Establishing a clear visual hierarchy is crucial for accessibility. Headings should be distinct and bold, with font sizes that are at least 1.25rem (20px) for clear differentiation. For body text, maintaining a font size of 1rem (16px) ensures readability. Subheadings should be smaller but still maintain a clear contrast from the body text to guide users through the content effectively. Using line spacing of 150% to 170% ensures text doesn’t appear cramped, enhancing readability for users who may struggle with dense blocks of text. Applying heavier font weights to headings and key information emphasizes important content, while clear contrast between headings, body text, and background color ensures that users can process the information with ease.
- Limit Serif fonts: Serif fonts, while decorative, should be used sparingly to avoid distracting from the content. The small strokes added to serif fonts can create visual noise, particularly in dense paragraphs. To maintain readability, it’s best to reserve serif fonts for headings or larger display text, where their aesthetic qualities are more beneficial. Increasing the space between characters (kerning) when using serif fonts ensures that text remains legible and doesn’t appear cramped. By limiting serif fonts to specific uses, you maintain a more accessible, clean reading experience.
2. Color choices that are calming and accessible
- Soft colors for sensory sensitivity: Bright, highly saturated colors can overwhelm users who are sensitive to sensory stimuli. Using softer, more muted tones like blues, greens, and earth tones helps create a calming, welcoming environment. Research shows that less saturated colors are less likely to cause visual discomfort, allowing users to focus on content without feeling overstimulated. Incorporating these gentle tones into elements such as backgrounds or buttons can reduce sensory overload, making the experience more comfortable and accessible for all users. By balancing aesthetic appeal with user comfort, you can encourage engagement without overwhelming visitors.
- Maintain high contrast for readability: To ensure readability for all users, especially those with visual impairments, maintaining high contrast between text and background is essential. According to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), the ideal contrast ratio for standard text is at least 4.5:1, which ensures legibility even for users with low vision or color blindness. However, it’s not just about high contrast. Excessive contrast, like stark black on white, can cause eye strain. A softer dark gray on off-white provides a more comfortable reading experience without sacrificing clarity. Additionally, choosing typefaces and font sizes that complement this contrast is crucial, ensuring that text remains readable at various screen resolutions and sizes.
3. Interactivity that is controlled and predictable
- Avoid overstimulation: Many users can feel overwhelmed by sudden movements or excessive animation. Limit animated elements to subtle, purposeful uses, such as smooth transitions when hovering over buttons. To prevent overstimulation, animations should be brief, typically under one second. Research shows that faster animations help users maintain focus and navigate without distraction. Animations with a clear purpose, like a button changing color when hovered over, can enhance usability, but avoid using them unnecessarily. Long or looping animations, especially those that don’t serve a function, can be jarring and disorienting for users. Ensuring animation duration is short and purposeful helps reduce sensory overload, making the experience more comfortable for all users.
- Autoplay features should be disabled by default: Autoplaying videos can overwhelm users, especially neurodivergent individuals who may find sudden noise or motion disorienting. Always allow users to control when a video starts. Research shows that users often prefer to engage with video content on their own terms. Autoplaying videos are more likely to distract and annoy, rather than engage. Videos should have clear play buttons and text labels, signaling that the user can choose to watch at their convenience. Additionally, be sure to provide controls for volume and subtitles to ensure accessibility. Subtitles are essential for users who might struggle with auditory processing or prefer to read along while watching. By giving users control over multimedia, a smoother and more comfortable experience will be created for everyone.
- Consistency across elements: Consistency across your website helps users navigate without confusion. By keeping elements like buttons, links, and icons uniform in style and placement, users won’t have to relearn how to interact with different parts of the site. Using familiar design standards, such as placing navigation menus in the same spot on each page reduces cognitive effort and enhances usability. Behavior should also be consistent — users expect similar actions to result in the same outcomes across pages. Whether it’s clicking a button or interacting with a form, consistency ensures predictability. This is especially beneficial for neurodivergent users who rely on patterns to feel confident navigating content.
4. Visual cues that enhance navigation
- Use icons for easy scanning: Icons help users quickly scan and identify content, but they should always be paired with descriptive text labels. Even familiar icons can be misunderstood without context, leading to confusion. Adding short text labels alongside icons, like a magnifying glass with “Search,” makes navigation clearer and reduces cognitive load. Consistent use of icons throughout your site ensures users don’t have to relearn their meanings on different pages. Proper sizing and spacing also make icons easier to interact with, especially for users with motor challenges.
- Establish a clear hierarchy and use white space: Break content into sections with clear headings, subheadings, and plenty of white space to give breathing room and make content easier to absorb. Chunking information into smaller, manageable parts helps users process it effectively. According to Miller’s Law in UX Design, people can hold about seven items in their working memory, so grouping content into digestible pieces ensures better retention and navigation. A landing page with bold headings, clear sections, and ample spacing will be easier to read than dense, cluttered text.
These small changes can make a big impact, making your destination website more welcoming and accessible to all. Your website is likely a visitor’s first impression of your destination and it’s crucial to their trip-planning experience. If neurodiverse individuals can’t access and process the information they need, planning a trip becomes a difficult task. Ensuring your site is accessible and user-friendly opens the door to more inclusive travel experiences.
Any step toward improving accessibility is valuable, and we’re here to support you. If you'd like to explore ways to make your website more inclusive for neurodiverse users, get in touch with us today to begin the discussion.
