Neurodivergence and Content Design: The Migraine Edition

Designing online content sensitive to user differences has been our responsibility for at least 20 years – in the U.S., since the advent of Section 508 requirements. During that time, our awareness of inclusivity has evolved to include (pun intended) neurodiversity, a term coined in the 1990s by Judy Singer.

Nick Walker, Ph.D., defines “neurodivergent” folks as having “a mind that functions in ways which diverge significantly from the dominant societal standards of ‘normal.’” (See her helpful blog post “Neurodiversity: Some Basic Terms & Definitions.”)

The mind functions differently. That definition encompasses folks with dyslexia, autism, dyscalculia, ADHD, anxiety, and a neurological injury. It also includes me, a person with migraine disorder. Or it should.

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Creating Online Content for Your Customers: Scannability

Even as the current crisis recedes, offering quality content still remains a crucial way for businesses to attract and retain customers. According to a 2020 survey by the Content Marketing Institute (CMI), 72% of content professionals agree that their organization views content as a core business strategy.

Most of this new content will go online. So how do you do online content well? This blog series can help.

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Sprint But Iterate: How Product Content Pros Can Adopt/Adapt Agility (Part 3)

Agility isn’t difficult. What is difficult is sustaining a rapid work pace without knowing why, without having context. Context is especially important for product content developers. That is why my proposed ideal for an agile content development system continuously provides context for the work at hand.

I’ll explain in detail here. But first let me provide context for this blog post.

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Content Professions: Pandemic 2020 and Beyond

Some of us marched; some of us planted gardens, and some of us turned new perspectives into new endeavors. What did you do during the 2020 pandemic? (I hear my future grandchildren asking.)

On Mondays during the last quarter of 2020, I began publishing mini-essays on LinkedIn. Some were purposeful. Some were playful. Some bordered on the inspired (maybe).

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