Acceptional

Senior Thesis: Establishing Awareness with Employers on Neurodiversity Inclusion in the Workplace | Design Research, Front-end Design, Motion Graphics

Acceptional is a website that aims to promote neurodiversity inclusivity to small or medium-sized employers in the Philippines, particularly for white-collar employment.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, employment has been reliant on having work-from-home setups—which is generally viable for the nature of most white-collar jobs. As such, Acceptional strives to intervene in the lack of white-collar employment opportunities given to neurodivergent job seekers, in comparison to their neurotypical counterparts, due to unrealistic perceptions of their cognitive ability and costs of hiring.

Contact Organizations Project Inclusion Network, Autism Strong Philippines, Hands In Inclusion Pilipinas

Software Adobe After Effects, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, Figma, Lottie, Materialize, Visual Studio Code

Material Design + Explorations

Material Design is a design system developed by Google—distinct for its bold, graphic, and intentional use of material as a metaphor and its meaningful use of motion. Over the years, it has established itself within professional spaces, making it the apt design system in communicating with employers.

In exploring components such as buttons, cards, and collapsibles, communicating interactive depth is key to using material as a metaphor. Pairing this with professional, bold, and contrasting colors, as well as clean and simple illustrations, achieves a trustworthy and immersive digital space.

Employer Success Stories

Before simply introducing neurodiversity inclusion, a curation of success stories reassures employers of the concrete achievements that comes from making the hiring process more inclusive. These testimonials coming from fellow employers allows the message to further resonate as similar concerns in running a business are addressed.

Microlearning Modules

The leading component—wherein employers are expected to digest relevant discussions around neurodiversity inclusivity. The topics discussed are structured to: make the business case for neurodiversity in the workplace, break down common stereotypes against neurodivergent workers, and instruct accommodation of neurodivergent employees. Upon completing the learning check-ins and passing the summative assessment, employers may avail a certificate of completion as proof of their participation.

An offline kit of the modules is also available for print and portability—ideally utilized by advocacy groups or organizations in their own efforts in empowering employers to create more inclusive workspaces.

Further Resources

While the microlearning modules provides an overview of the most relevant discussions around neurodiversity inclusivity, this compilation of in-depth learning materials, contact organizations, and community events gives employers a starting point on concrete steps they can take to begin welcoming neurodiversity in their workplaces.

Outcomes and Next Steps

A prototype of the website is live!

Take me there

Within the limitations around partnerships and time, testing the website focused on measuring learning aptitude, usability, and relevance, all of which received favorable feedback from 20 testers.

Employers, in particular, showed an increase of 48.9% of the average scores between the conducted diagnostic and summative assessments—attesting to the efficacy of the microlearning approach and structure of the modules. Overall, they relayed better awareness, interest, and confidence in the prospect of neurodiverse workspaces.

Upon consulting with neurodivergent workers and subject-matter experts, they affirmed the website’s role as a general tool of awareness to employers and its comprehensive approach. Neurodivergent workers, in particular, expressed the increasing relevance of educating employers on their accommodation given the recent Philippine laws that promote their inclusion.

While generally regarded well, the website is admittedly still in its early stages. As such, its next steps include enhancing the content to emphasize the role of neurodivergent workers and conducting long-term, comprehensive tests that scrutinizes inclusivity practices in hiring processes.

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