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Short Abstract

Neuro(Minorities)Science participatory working group has researched the accessibility needs of neurodivergent people who participate in digital citizen science. We will share insights and guidelines for citizen science platforms and project owners to make their online environment more inclusive.

Abstract

Many participants of digital citizen science projects are neurodivergent. For many of them participation in crowdsourced research is the most accessible and preferred way of contributing to society and science. Yet most or all citizen science projects were developed without regard for neurominorities’ needs. Our lived experience research group, Neuro(Minorities)Science, has worked to fill this gap. We believe that “Inclusive Citizen Science in practice: Learning across borders” workshop would be a good thinking space to highlight our findings and to engage in a productive conversation about inclusivity in citizen science across disciplines and cultures.

Adult neurodivergent people - people with mental health and neurological conditions and difference - and allies, who have experience of contributing to digital citizen science projects on platforms like Zooniverse, iNaturalist, CisSci and SciStarter, formed an online working group to create actionable accessibility guidelines for inclusion of neurodivergent volunteers. The group of 80+ participants from different countries has worked together, online, in writing, led by the University of Oxford neurodivergent researcher Dr. Alisa Apreleva.

Our recommendations will be released in time for the ECSA2026 conference, and we would like to embrace the opportunity to share these during the workshop. We also find it important to share the insights into the process and experience of our work as a large, lived experience, citizen science group in an online, asynchronous, in-writing format.