Insight Into Neurodiversity Animation

Overview

This innovative animated podcast will help audiences develop understanding and empathy for neurodiverse populations. A previous semester of students and faculty captured audio and video from six persons. Five of them are neurodiverse, and put the most vulnerable part of themselves in the public eye in order to help the world understand neurodiversity.

  • The target audience is 16 and older, including:

    • College teachers, high school, and college students

    • General population

    • Persons with sight and hearing loss

    • Method of delivery is YouTube & The EPIC Project ... Neuro-Media website.



Testing Format

The audience consisted of:

  • 11 of the college senior art and design students that worked on the animation

  • 3 of the interviewees in the animation

    • 1 student

    • 2 neurodiversity experts

  • 10 college senior art and design students from another class

Process:

  1. An audio-only version was viewed, to simulate a sight-impaired experience

  2. A visual-only segment was viewed, to simulate a hearing impaired experience

  3. The entire animation was viewed with full audio and video was viewed.

  4. Then a survey was completed

  5. Then a group discussion was had; centered around the survey results

An audio Only Segment

AudioReel - 5:6:20, 1.26 PM.wav

A Visual Only Segment

Video Only.mp4

The Entire Animation


Survey Response Summary

Insight Animation Feedback Full Survey Response Report


Text readability

  • 50% were able to comfortably read all the

  • About 1/2 of the viewers viewers would likely need to rewatch some segments if they are viewing without audio

Sensory Impact

  • The interviewee voiceovers, visual art and text were generally deemed the most impactful elements (rating them most and second most).

  • The motion, music and sound effects were generally deemed the least impactful elements (rating them fourth and fifth most).

  • Almost 25% of viewers felt that the motion music and sound effects were most impactful.

  • Almost 15% of viewers felt that the voiceover was least impactful and 33% felt that the text was more impactful than the voiceover.

What did we learn

  • There is consensus amongst 50% of the viewer that interviewee voiceovers, visual art and text were the most impactful elements. However 50% of the viewers deemed other sensory elements as or most impactful.

  • Each individual is uniquely affected by each type of sensory input. As media creators, the more senses we can engage, the more impactful our message or story will be to the widest range of individuals.

  • About 60% of the viewers felt, primarily, informed after watching?

Progressive Enhancement (something I learned from Jean Hanks)

  • There is a base-line layer of information that everything else is built upon, and that is the words. It is often said, a picture is worth a thousand words. However, in universal design, a word is worth a thousand pictures. Words can be read by the hearing-impaired, Words can be heard by the sight-impaired. Everything else is an embellishment. But, those embellishments are important for those with the senses to engage with them, because it adds layers of emotion. And our behaviors are largely driven by our emotions.