Neurodiversity-Friendly Content

How We Try to Make This Website More Neurodiversity-Friendly

We intentionally design Stimpunks.org for people who think and pay attention in many different ways. Pages that are long blocks of text are one of the hardest formats for many visitors to engage with, so we use multiple techniques to make information easier to find, absorb, and navigate.

Structural & Visual Support

• Whitespace and breaks — Plenty of empty space helps reduce visual clutter and allows the eye to rest.
• Attention getters — Pull quotes, bolded phrases, colored backgrounds, and visual groupings make key ideas stick and support quick scanning.
• Visual hierarchy — Clear headings, subheadings, and bullet lists help you jump to what matters most without getting lost.
• Consistent layout — Pages use a predictable format so you always know where to find the main idea, deeper context, and “definitions in other words.”

Language & Writing Practices

• Conversational tone — We write the way people actually talk and think, not in dense academic prose.
• Short units of meaning — Breaking information into small sections and bullet points prevents overload and supports attention shifts.
• Plain language + visuals — Definitions and explanations are offered right where they’re needed, often with visual cues or inline clarifications.

Interactive Elements

• Accordions — Expandable “What is…” and “In other words…” sections let you go deeper only if you want to.
• Search tools — Multiple search boxes (top, footer, inline) help you find topics without reading every page.

Audio & Multi-Modal Access

• Text listening — Pages are compatible with AI-generated audio so you can listen instead of read, reducing strain and supporting different attention needs.

Design Philosophy

• Skim-first design — Every page is meant to work even if you only read the headers and key points.
• Engaging and visual — We use images, color blocks, and formatting that feel alive rather than flat text walls.
• Single-resource structure — Everything lives in one place with consistent navigation so you don’t get overwhelmed by scattered sites.

Cognitive Accessibility Principles

These practices align with broader ADHD-friendly and cognitive accessibility guidance — such as simplifying layout, breaking content into digestible chunks, minimizing distractions, and using clear headings and navigation to support focus and comprehension.

How I Made My Book ADHD-Friendly

Follow this advice from Jessica of How to ADHD:.

• Lots of whitespace.
• Every page/screen has something breaking up the text. Break up text with pull quotes, blocks, bullets, bolding, backgrounds, images.
• Add attention getters like selective bolding and pull quotes.
• Write in conversational style.
• Organize so you don’t have to read it.
• Flip open right to your struggle. Allow people to pick up and go right to what they need.
• Format is the same for every chapter.
• Make it so people can just read the headers.
• Make it engaging and visual.
• Add in jokes and feelings.
• Put everything in one book so folks have one place to go.

How I Made My Book ADHD-Friendly 🧠📘 – YouTube

Neurodiversity-Friendly Content Guidelines

Stimpunks content is designed for real brains in real conditions. Many of our readers (and contributors) are ADHD, Autistic, or cognitively overloaded. Our writing and layout choices should reduce friction, not demand focus, stamina, or linear attention.

These guidelines are not rules. They’re supports.

Core Principle

If someone only reads part of the page, it should still work.

Structure & Flow

• Lead with the main idea. Don’t bury it.
• Use short sections with clear, descriptive headings.
• Avoid dense walls of text; break content into manageable chunks.
• White space is a feature, not wasted space.

Skimmability

• Pages should make sense by scanning headings alone.
• Use bold to signal key ideas.
• Prefer lists and grouped blocks over long paragraphs.
• Keep related ideas together.
• Lily Pads (see below) provide visual and conceptual anchors for scanning and comprehension.

Language

• Use plain, direct language.
• Write like a human speaking to another human.
• Explain jargon where it appears—or avoid it.
• Short sentences are better than long ones.
• Repetition is allowed when it aids understanding.

Pace & Cognitive Load

• One main idea per section.
• Don’t stack multiple new concepts at once.
• Let ideas land before adding more.
• Assume readers may pause, leave, and return later.
• Scrollytelling: Use vertical flow, pacing, and visual gutters to let meaning settle.

Lily Pads

What they are:

Lily pads are small, digestible stepping stones that let readers pause, process, and choose their next move. On Stimpunks.org, lily pads are implemented as colored blocks or grouped sections to make the structure visually clear.

How to use them:

• Break dense content into labeled subsections.
• Use colored blocks/groups as visual landing points.
• Add anchors or signposts to indicate progression.
• Include optional “Go deeper” or expandable sections.
• Insert intentional whitespace for pause-and-reflect moments.

Why it matters:

Lily pads reduce cognitive load, support neurodivergent attention patterns, and let readers navigate content at their own pace. They transform complex ideas into approachable, visual stepping stones.

Lily Pads & Memory Craft:

Lily pads support Memory Craft by giving ideas clear places to land, rest, and be found again. They break information into visually distinct, self-contained blocks that reduce cognitive load, support recognition over recall, and make non-linear reading possible. Because lily pads are implemented as colored groups or blocks, readers can pause, skim, leave, and return without losing orientation or being forced to hold context in working memory. This shifts the burden of remembering from the reader to the environment — a core Memory Craft principle — and makes the site more usable for neurodivergent, disabled, fatigued, or interrupted readers.

Lily pads work like modern illuminated manuscripts: just as medieval scribes used images, color, and layout to help readers remember and navigate complex texts, lily pads use colored blocks and distinct groups to anchor ideas on the page. They give concepts clear places to land, reduce cognitive load, and support recognition over recall, letting readers pause, skim, leave, and return without losing orientation. By turning memory into a feature of the environment instead of a burden on the reader, lily pads make Stimpunks.org usable for neurodivergent, disabled, or interrupted readers — guiding attention and understanding like visual cues in a manuscript once did.

Optional Depth

• Use expandable sections (accordions) for extra detail.
• Label them clearly (“In other words…”, “Go deeper…”).
• Skipping optional content should never break comprehension.

Visual & Sensory Care

• Avoid cluttered layouts.
• Don’t rely on color alone to convey meaning.
• Images should support understanding, not distract.
• Calm, readable design beats flashy presentation.

Reader Permission

• Explicitly allow skimming, skipping, and stopping.
• Never shame readers for not finishing or focusing.
• Curiosity matters more than urgency.

Editorial Check

Before publishing, ask:

• Would this still make sense if someone is tired?
• Does it work if only half the page is read?
• Does this reduce cognitive load—or add to it?

Neurodiversity-Friendly Content Checklist

You don’t need to do all of these. Do what you can. Every small improvement helps.

Structure & Layout

• ☐ Start with the main idea first (don’t bury the lede)
• ☐ Use short sections with clear headings
• ☐ Break long text into small chunks (paragraphs, bullets)
• ☐ Avoid big walls of text whenever possible
• ☐ Add white space—space helps thinking

Scanning & Skimming

• ☐ Make sure someone can get the gist by reading headings only
• ☐ Use bold to highlight key ideas (sparingly)
• ☐ Prefer lists over dense paragraphs
• ☐ Group related ideas together
• Lily Pads: colored blocks & grouped content act as stepping stones

Language

• ☐ Use plain, direct language
• ☐ Write like a human, not a paper
• ☐ Explain jargon where it first appears
• ☐ Shorter sentences > longer ones
• ☐ It’s okay to repeat important ideas

Pace & Cognitive Load

• ☐ One main idea per section
• ☐ Don’t stack too many concepts at once
• ☐ Let ideas land before adding more
• ☐ Assume the reader may stop and come back
• Scrollytelling: vertical flow, pacing, gutters guide comprehension

Lily Pads

• ☐ Use digestible content blocks → colored visual groups
• ☐ Label subsections clearly
• ☐ Add anchors & optional “Go deeper” sections
• ☐ Insert pauses / whitespace for reflection
• Purpose: reduce cognitive load, support attention differences, guide readers at their own pace

Optional Depth (Not Required)

• ☐ Use accordions / expandable sections for extra detail
• ☐ Label them clearly (“In other words…”, “Go deeper…”)
• ☐ Make sure skipping them doesn’t break understanding

Visual & Sensory Care

• ☐ Avoid cluttered layouts
• ☐ Don’t rely on color alone to convey meaning
• ☐ Images should support understanding, not distract
• ☐ Calm > flashy

Tone & Permission

• ☐ Explicitly tell readers they can skim, skip, or stop
• ☐ Don’t shame people for not reading everything
• ☐ Curiosity > urgency

Final Gut Check

• ☐ Would this still make sense if someone is tired?
• ☐ Would it work if someone only reads half of it?
• ☐ Does this reduce friction—or add it?

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Visual Reminder

Lily Pads = colored blocks / grouped content
Scrollytelling = pacing + gutters
ADHD-friendly = chunked info, whitespace, flexible navigation

Remember

This site is built for real brains in real conditions.
Perfect focus is not required. Neither is perfection.