How Inclusive Digital Marketing Helps Neurodivergent Readers
Pexels: Kindel Media
Every interaction, online or offline, has the power to include, or exclude other people. An estimated 15–25% of the population is neurodivergent in some way, including people with autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, Tourette’s, and other conditions. For many neurodivergent people, the internet can feel confusing, overwhelming, and exacerbate feelings of loneliness.
Everyone deserves access to clear, simple, and valuable communication. And this is precisely why inclusive digital marketing is essential for any brand.
In today’s blog, we explore the basics every brand needs to know about inclusive digital marketing, with examples, actionable tactics, and thoughtful practices you can implement today.
What Is Neurodivergence?
Neurodivergence refers to natural variations in a person’s thinking, learning, and the way they process information. For neurodivergent people, living in a world that expects their mind to work differently can lead to anxiety, low self esteem, and difficulty feeling comfortable in social situations.
Just as every neurotypical person is unique, each neurodivergent brain lies somewhere on a spectrum, affected in a different way and to a different degree by the way their brain processes information. Many people have overlapping conditions and struggle navigating situations.
Neurodivergent conditions can include:
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Dyslexia
Dyspraxia
Tourette’s Syndrome
Although many of these conditions are considered disorders, it simply means that neurodivergent audiences interact differently than neurotypical people with information and social situations.
Why Inclusive Digital Marketing for Neurodivergent Audiences Matters
Some neurodivergent people find the internet overly stimulating, thanks to unwanted pop-up ads, flashing banners, and excessively complicated language to describe everything. Cluttered designs quickly drive users away and flowery language that never gets to the point creates more questions than it answers.
Digital marketing for neurodivergent users aims to incorporate accessible designs, be intentionally clear with language, and include content formats that everyone can enjoy.
Inclusive marketing for neurodivergent users matters. Simple changes can quickly:
Build trust
Empathy builds trust in every area of life. And empathy can be in short supply for neurodivergent individuals. When businesses create trust with a neurodivergent audience, they can offer fierce loyalty in return.
Expand reach.
It’s nice to be nice. But it also makes sense not to discount up to one quarter of your potential audience.
Boost engagement.
Simple, understandable content is more easily understood by everyone, and increases engagement and interaction across the board.
Reduce barriers.
Understanding what your audience needs to hear makes purchasing decisions faster and saves time in the sales process. Breaking down barriers should be a priority for every brand.
Read more: The Power of Listening: What Marketing Agencies Miss About Client Success
Inclusive Strategies for Neurodivergent Marketing
Let’s examine some effective inclusive marketing strategies to ensure your digital approaches are neurodiversity-friendly.
1. Use Clear and Simple Messaging
Vague jargon is always a bad strategy. But for a neurodivergent audience, it is likely to have them running from your page. Trade the thesaurus for plain language instead. And re-read to check for ways it could be misread or misunderstood.
Is there any misleading language? Unnecessary sarcasm? A clear, not clever mentality is especially important with inclusive content.
Long paragraphs should be broken into shorter sentences, and not just because Google likes it that way.
Employ the active voice whenever possible and skip over metaphors and other figurative language that may confuse literal thinkers. Use headings, lists, and whitespace to break information into digestible chunks.
2. Choose Thoughtful Colors and Design
Avoid bright and clashing colours to hold attention. These can be over stimulating for neurodivergent minds. For calmer, more accessible experiences, use neutral shades and muted tones.
Branding should be kept consistent across all pages, without any flashing banners or highly animated sequences.
Many neurodivergent individuals have an eagle eye for attention, and missteps like typos and spacing errors can instantly create mistrust in the quality of your product or service.
3. Provide Multiple Content Formats
When information is presented in different formats, it benefits everyone, including neurodivergent people. Providing subtitles to videos and converting audio to text blogs offers choice to your audience and casts a wider net.
Customization is also popular with neurodivergent audiences, helping them create a simplified view or adjust the contrast, text size, or layout of content. By making everyone feel as comfortable as possible, the higher the chance of building real trust and authority.
4. Follow Accessibility Standards
Regulations ensure that inclusive practices are integrated into web content, but many of these regulations do not go far enough for accessibility for neurodivergent individuals. Always make sure your content follows the applicable laws, but always aim to do better than the bare minimum. We shouldn’t need laws to tell us how to be kind to other people.
WCAG 2.2 principles demand inclusive content to be Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust.
Regulations include the ADA and DOJ WCAG standards in the US, the Equality Act 2010, and the Accessibility Regulations 2018/2022 in the UK, as well as the European Accessibility Act in the EU.
5. Invite Neurodivergent Voices
The best way to speak to neurodivergent audiences is to include neurodivergent individuals in the marketing process. Neurodivergent team members, contributors, and consultants can provide the most genuine insight, more than any amount of research on the subject.
Collaborate on content creation and engage with advocacy organizations. Show your dedication to real inclusion and request their valuable feedback to improve your workplace processes.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
Inclusion is not a sales gimmick and pandering smells bad a mile away. A bad plan, no matter how well-intentioned, can backfire and create friction with neurodivergent communities. Always be mindful of the following:
Stereotyping: Neurodivergent individuals are represented across every age, race, and social group and fall somewhere on a wide spectrum. Outdated stereotypes are not only false, they can be offensive to your audience.
Overstimulation: Autoplay videos, blinking advertisements, and cluttered layouts can be overwhelming, even for neurotypical audiences.
Tokenism: Empty gestures are just that. Obvious and vacuous. Inclusion should be a vital piece of your brand communication to ensure nobody feels like they don’t belong.
Measuring Success in Inclusive Marketing
Digital marketing for neurodivergent consumers isn’t a ‘one and done’ exercise. Inclusion is a practice that’s more important than numbers, but there are some ways to explore its impact:
Surveys and feedback forms to gauge perception regarding content and accessibility
Campaigns and websites accessibility reviews
Before and after engagement statistics analysis including bounce rates, time on page data, and video completion rates
Workforce diversity checks to ensure full inclusion for neurodivergent individuals within your team
The Bigger Picture: Inclusive Content for Everyone
Neurodivergent inclusive marketing doesn’t just help neurodivergent people. Many inclusive changes actually benefit all readers and increase engagement and readership from many people, including:
Elderly people who appreciate uncluttered, straightforward designs
Non-native speakers who find simplified language easier to understand
Parents and professionals who lead busy lives and have less time available
Overstimulated neurotypical people who prefer a more straightforward experience
Uplifting everyone is the essence of inclusion. Changes that help neurodivergent individuals also make digital content more accessible to other people in the audience.
Key Takeaways
Digital marketing for neurodivergent people is more than just meeting compliance standards for content. It is about creating calm, accessible, human experiences to build connection with your whole audience.
Ready for an approach that promotes inclusion? Consider collaborating with Trabin Communications to develop an inclusive content strategy and initiate an accessibility audit for your content. Changes, no matter how small, can significantly improve the experience for neurodivergent people and the general audience alike. We take pride in creating copy, content, and thought leadership that uplifts the neurodivergent community.
Explore your options and book a discovery call today!
