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Autism and Accessibility, Design Challenges and Solutions | AbilityNet Webinar, 17 April 2018 1
DOWNLOAD THESE SLIDES NOW AT
www.slideshare.net/abilitynet
AbilityNet Webinar
17 April 2018
Autism and Accessibility,
Design Challenges and Solutions

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Autism and Accessibility, Design Challenges and Solutions | AbilityNet Webinar, 17 April 2018 2
Dafydd Henke-Reed
Principal Accessibility and Usability Consultant
AbilityNet
Mark Walker
Head of Marketing & Communications
AbilityNet
Welcome

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Autism and Accessibility, Design Challenges and Solutions | AbilityNet Webinar, 17 April 2018 3
AbilityNet is a charity that helps older people and people with
disabilities achieve their goals at home, at work and in education
• Digital Accessibility Testing and Consultancy
• Workplace Assessments
• DSA Assessments
• IT Support at Home
• Free expert resources on our website
• Free helpline: 0800 269 545
About AbilityNet

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Autism and Accessibility, Design Challenges and Solutions | AbilityNet Webinar, 17 April 2018 4
NHS
“Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is an umbrella term for a
range of conditions … that affects social interaction,
communication, interests and behaviour”
National Autistic Society
“Autism is a lifelong developmental disability that affects how
people perceive the world and interact with others”
What is Autism?

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Autism and Accessibility, Design Challenges and Solutions | AbilityNet Webinar, 17 April 2018 5
Social anxiety / impairment
Obsessive interests
Ritualistic behaviour (stimming)
Sensory sensitivity (photophobia)
NHS : ~1 in 100 people = 700,000 in UK
CDC observes growing childhood diagnosis
1 in 150 (2000) to 1 in 68 (2012).
4.5 times more common in boys
Common Symptoms of Autism

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Autism and Accessibility, Design Challenges and Solutions | AbilityNet Webinar, 17 April 2018
Why Autism Needs Considering
Desktop web is:
• social e.g. Facebook
• sensory e.g. YouTube
Most popular uses of the
internet are social e.g.
gaming and MOBAs,
PUBG (multiplayer
games with tens of
millions of players)
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Autism and Accessibility, Design Challenges and Solutions | AbilityNet Webinar, 17 April 2018
Why Autism Needs Considering
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Communication innovations with mobile e.g. expression-based comms (animojis)

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Autism and Accessibility, Design Challenges and Solutions | AbilityNet Webinar, 17 April 2018
Accessibility and Autism Today
Websites which automatically
present sensory information – e.g.
Facebook auto-playing videos.
Devices that cannot be used with
stimming – e.g. a flashlight app
that automatically activates when
shaking phone.
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Autism and Accessibility, Design Challenges and Solutions | AbilityNet Webinar, 17 April 2018
Accessibility and Autism Today
WCAG AA can provide a baseline of
autism accessibility. Key success
criteria include:
• 1.4.2 Audio Control - A
• 2.2.2 Pause, Stop, Hide - A
• 3.2.2 On Input - A
• 3.2.2 Consistent Navigation - AA
• 3.2.4 Consistent Identification – AA
The keyword is predictability. Some
checks come under WCAG AAA (e.g.
3.1.5 Reading Level). Other are not
captured (e.g. gentle colours).
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Autism and Accessibility, Design Challenges and Solutions | AbilityNet Webinar, 17 April 2018
Accessibility and Autism Tomorrow
Two areas of impairment and technologies.
Strengths, weakness, and design
considerations.
• Anxiety therapy—Blue Room
• Emotion agnosia—Seeing AI
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Autism and Accessibility, Design Challenges and Solutions | AbilityNet Webinar, 17 April 2018
Blue Room – Newcastle University & NHS
AR / VRE environment helping children
with autism overcome fears and phobias:
‘Current treatment is CBT but that
often doesn’t work… it relies on their
imagination’.
‘They move around the scene using
iPad controls - interacting and
navigating as they wish allowing them
to fully control the environment.’
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Autism and Accessibility, Design Challenges and Solutions | AbilityNet Webinar, 17 April 2018
Autism & Simulation
Realism may not be amenable to those with autism.
They may prefer the uncanny over the realistic.
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Autism and Accessibility, Design Challenges and Solutions | AbilityNet Webinar, 17 April 2018
Seeing AI – Microsoft
Wearable prototype
with emotion
recognition—
informed by machine
learning
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Autism and Accessibility, Design Challenges and Solutions | AbilityNet Webinar, 17 April 2018
Autism & Wearables
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*FROM: The association between self-injurious behaviours and autism
spectrum disorders. Minshawi et al (2014)
People with ASD are six times more
likely to show self-injury*
Behaviours include:
• head banging
• face or head slapping or punching
• forceful head shaking

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Autism and Accessibility, Design Challenges and Solutions | AbilityNet Webinar, 17 April 2018
Autism & Wearables
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Trying to help those social anxiety with
technology attached to their faces.
Visible assistive technology – be it low
or high-tech – can be a statement (e.g.
a symbol cane).

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Autism and Accessibility, Design Challenges and Solutions | AbilityNet Webinar, 17 April 2018
Takeaways
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1. Basics of autism - symptoms and
stats
2. Current accessibility concerns
3. Future accessibility tech - therapies
and tools
4. Tech can be a boon for treatment
5. The bleeding-edge may not be
autism-friendly
6. Tools may promote fruitful dialogue
7. Robust, subtle, and / or be accepted
as a statement by the Aspie
community
The tech discussed seeks to help people with autism be more ‘normal’.
We haven’t talked about tech that helps neurotypical people understand autism.

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Autism and Accessibility, Design Challenges and Solutions | AbilityNet Webinar, 17 April 2018
Q&A
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Thank you
😊Are there any questions?
Dafydd Henke-Reed
Dafydd.henke-reed@abilitynet.org.uk

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Autism and Accessibility, Design Challenges and Solutions | AbilityNet Webinar, 17 April 2018
Next webinar
• The Business Case for Accessibility
• 18 April @ 13:00 BST
Need more help?
• Speak to our accessibility services team
• www.abilitynet.org.uk/request-a-quote
Call our free helpline 0800 269 545
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What next?

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Autism and Accessibility, Design Challenges and Solutions | AbilityNet Webinar, 17 April 2018
References/Useful Docs
NAS – Designing Autism-friendly websites - http://www.autism.org.uk/professionals/others/website-design.aspx
GA Architects – Designing Environments for children and adults with ASD https://www.autism.org.uk/~/media/nas/documents/working-
with/creating-autism-friendly-places/designing_environments_for_children_adults_with_asd.ashx
GOV – Designing for users on the autistic spectrum - https://github.com/UKHomeOffice/posters/blob/master/accessibility/dos-
donts/posters_en-UK/accessibility-posters-set.pdf
NHS - Autism Spectrum Disorder - https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/autism/
NAS - What is Autism - http://www.autism.org.uk/about/what-is.aspx
CDC ASD Data & Stats - https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/data.html
Ofcom - Adult Media Use - https://www.ofcom.org.uk/research-and-data/media-literacy-research/adults/adults-media-use-and-attitudes
University of Hertfordshire – KASPER – http://www.herts.ac.uk/about-us/case-studies/research-and-innovation/kaspar-the-social-
robot-helping-children-with-autism-to-communicate
NCU - Blue Room -http://www.ncl.ac.uk/press/news/2017/02/blueroomautismnhs treatment/
Microsoft – Seeing AI - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/seeing-ai/
Stanford University – Autism Google Glass Project - http://autismglass.stanford.edu/
Association between SIB and ASD - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24748827
RNIB – The Cane Explained – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69gDygNlP0c
Cambridge University – Autism Research Centre - https://www.autismresearchcentre.com/
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Autism and Accessibility, Design Challenges and Solutions | AbilityNet Webinar, 17 April 2018
References/Useful Docs
Which terms should be used to describe autism? Perspectives from the UK autism community -
https://altogetherautism.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/2015-Kenny-terms-to-describe-autism.pdf
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