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Understanding Design Preferences for Sensory-Sensitive Earcons with Neurodivergent Individuals

Published: 22 October 2022 Publication History

Abstract

Earcons are a critical auditory modality for those who perceive information best through sound. Yet earcons can trigger sensory sensitivities with neurodivergent individuals, causing pain or discomfort and creating barriers to information access. They must be carefully designed with neurodivergent representation in the design process to minimize the harm they impose. To address these challenges, we conduct a study on Twitter, a social media platform with frequent earcons, to understand how to design sensory-sensitive earcons for neurodivergent individuals. We present the results of our qualitative interviews with nine neurodivergent Twitter users, uncovering six key themes for designing sensory-sensitive earcons. Based on our findings, we offer a set of novel guidelines for practitioners to design sensory-sensitive earcons for accessibility.

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  • (2024)Sensory Profiles and Technological Deficits: Classification, Relevance, and GapsSensemaking and Neuroaesthetics10.1007/978-3-031-58045-1_3(109-171)Online publication date: 9-May-2024

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    cover image ACM Conferences
    ASSETS '22: Proceedings of the 24th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility
    October 2022
    902 pages
    ISBN:9781450392587
    DOI:10.1145/3517428
    Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for third-party components of this work must be honored. For all other uses, contact the Owner/Author.

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    Published: 22 October 2022

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    Author Tags

    1. Accessibility
    2. Design
    3. Earcons
    4. Neurodiversity
    5. Sensory Sensitivities
    6. Social Media
    7. Sound

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    ASSETS '22 Paper Acceptance Rate 35 of 132 submissions, 27%;
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    • (2024)Sensory Profiles and Technological Deficits: Classification, Relevance, and GapsSensemaking and Neuroaesthetics10.1007/978-3-031-58045-1_3(109-171)Online publication date: 9-May-2024

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