Making Online Platforms Autism-Friendly
In collaboration with
- Dr Simona Manni
- Dr Belen Barros Pena
- Professor John Vines
- Dr Martine van Driel
- Autistica
Today, digital tools play a significant role in our social environments and mediate many aspects of our lives. For autistic people who cannot always get their sensory and communication needs met in physical venues and public spaces, these digital platforms and services offer unique opportunities and advantages. Despite this, digital platforms still often fall short in meeting the specific needs of this population, shutting many people out of services and conversations as reliance on digital tools increases. This brief explores this issue and provides practical guidance.
Who should read this brief?
The guidance is intended for policymakers and public bodies, including the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, local government authorities, and regulatory bodies like Ofcom. It emphasizes the importance of making online platforms more accessible and inclusive for autistic users by addressing sensory challenges and communication needs, and advocating for inclusive digital policies and accessible platform features.
Our research has shown that autistic individuals face difficulties in online spaces due a lack of support for their communication style and sensory needs. The guidance emphasizes the importance of making digital platforms more accessible by addressing these issues and providing customizable experiences. Therefore, it is important for policymakers, platform providers, and other public bodies, to prioritize these changes for a more inclusive digital space.— Professor Nelya Koteyko
About the researchers
Professor Nelya Koteyko
Koteyko Nelya is Professor of Language and Communication at Queen Mary University of London, and the project lead. She is interested in developing theories and methods that help us understand how people construct identities when they use media technologies. This research lies at the intersection of several disciplines such as applied linguistics, visual studies, human computer interaction, and social psychology, and helps us to grasp how creativity, the unwritten rules of online behaviour, and the capabilities of technology work together.
Dr Simona Manni
Simona’s background is in interactive media, co-design, and participatory filmmaking. She completed an EPSRC-funded PhD at the Digital Creativity Labs, University of York, where she explored the role interactive media can play in supporting the production of polyvocal participatory accounts of mental health. Following her PhD, she worked as a research assistant at Queen Mary University of London to develop resources on the adaptation of digital platforms for autistic users as part of the research project Autistic Adults Online.
Dr Belen Barros Pena
Belen has been an interaction designer and design researcher in the software industry since 2007, working within in-house teams, design agencies and as a consultant. After obtaining her PhD in 2021, she is now a Lecturer at the Human-Computer Interaction Design Centre. As a design practitioner, Belen has particular expertise in Free / Open Source Software, and the design of tools for engineers. As a researcher, she specialises in financial technologies, and in engaging marginalised populations through participatory design practices.
Professor John Vines
John is Chair of Design Informatics in the School of Informatics at the University of Edinburgh, and co-directs the Institute for Design Informatics. John’s research is primarily in the field of human-computer interaction (HCI), and focuses on how people experience and use digital and data-driven technologies in their everyday lives. His projects often take a participatory and research through design approach, involving designing prototypes with people, users and stakeholders and studying the use of new technologies in real world contexts.
Dr Martine van Driel
Martine is an Assistant Professor in English Language and Communication at the University of Birmingham. Her research connects digital media and autistic communication, focused primarily on online interactions. The driving force behind her research and teaching activities is to make the world more autism-friendly by changing neurotypical approaches and people. Her work is often done in interdisciplinary teams with people from areas such as human-computer interaction, psychology, and neuroscience.
This guidance has been co-authored with:
- Charlotte Featherstone and Georgia Harper at Autistica
Be the next author
Are you an academic at Queen Mary and want to share your research insights in a brief? Email Evie Edwards, Impact Engagement Officer, evie.edwards@qmul.ac.uk