Accessibility Guidelines For Neuroinclusive Digital Citizen Science: Results From The Neuro(Minorities)Science Collaboration
Authors/Creators
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Apreleva, Alisa
(Project leader)1
- Hawthorne Allen, Alice M. (Researcher)
- Anderson, Aisha A. (Researcher)
- Archer, Rhys (Researcher)
- Collis, Julian (Researcher)
- Cuff, Michael (Researcher)
- Flothe, Gregory (Researcher)
- Gallego, Abraham Mateos (Researcher)
- Garrabrant, Elizabeth E. (Researcher)
- Garti, Raphael (Researcher)
- Gorokhov, Andrey CRB (Researcher)
- Harrison, Iain (Researcher)
- Helk, Frank (Researcher)
- Hinman, Chris (Researcher)
- Johannes, Mara Kerstin (Researcher)
- Johnson, Rosemary F. (Researcher)
- Knott, Melanie Luise (Researcher)
- Kress, Clémence (Researcher)
- Lyman, Ken (Researcher)
- de Moraes, Heraldo Henrique Felix (Researcher)
- Newing, Beverley (Researcher)
- Parisi, Elizabeth P. (Researcher)
- Rosa, Melanie (Researcher)
- Sekalala, Seif (Researcher)
- Thomson, Iain (Researcher)
- Torres, Cheryl A. (Researcher)
- Torres-Guerrero, Mayahuel (Research group)
- Zellinger, Steve (Researcher)
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Trouille, Laura
(Supervisor)2
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Blickhan, Samantha
(Supervisor)2
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Lintott, Chris
(Supervisor)1
-
1.
University of Oxford
-
2.
Adler Planetarium
Contributors
Sponsor:
Description
This preprint presents the results of the Neuro(Minorities)Science collaboration, an international participatory initiative involving 89 adult neurodivergent citizen scientists and allies. The study offers actionable accessibility guidelines for neuroinclusive digital citizen science (DCS), based on thematic text analysis of two qualitative datasets: 84 working-group contributions and 1,669 de-identified survey responses from a 2024 large-scale study of Zooniverse volunteers.
The resulting framework identifies 91 recommended accessibility features organised into 11 functional domains spanning all stages of participation, from onboarding and task presentation to interface customisation, moderation, safety and outreach. The guidelines position neuroinclusive accessibility as a methodological component of DCS, shaping participation, retention and research practice across socio-technical environments.
All associated qualitative datasets and the full accessibility framework are openly available via Zenodo at the linked DOIs.
This manuscript has been submitted to Citizen Science: Theory and Practice and has not yet undergone peer review.
Funding: European Union Horizon Europe research and innovation programme, grant agreement no. 101058677 (IMPETUS project accelerator 2025).
Files
Neuroinclusive Accessibility in Digital Citizen Science - Apreleva et al. 2026 - Preprint.pdf
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Additional details
Related works
- Is supplemented by
- Dataset: 10.5281/zenodo.18594965 (DOI)
- Dataset: 10.5281/zenodo.18612669 (DOI)
- Dataset: 10.5281/zenodo.18609915 (DOI)
Dates
- Submitted
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2026-02-16Submitted for review to "Citizen Science: Theory and Practice"