"Not Only Annoying but Dangerous": Devising an Ecology of Protections for Photosensitive Social Media Users
Purdue University, Computer Graphics Technology Department
Rua Mae Williams, Chorong Park, Laila Sameer Dodhy, Monaami Pal, Atharva Anand Dnyanmote, Luchcha Angel Lam, and Sean Joo
Purdue University
Photosensitivity among social media and internet users is an underestimated public health risk caused by flashing graphics, GIFs, videos, and UI animations. These visual elements can trigger nausea, migraines, dizziness, and even seizures, posing a real danger to affected users.
Current accessibility standards, like W3C’s WCAG guidelines, fail to adequately protect photosensitive individuals. This study proposes a multi-layered UX protection system to prevent accidental and malicious exposure to triggering content, advocating for reforms at the policy, platform, system, and community levels.
✅ Key Finding: The internet remains dangerously unpredictable for photosensitive users due to poor UX decisions, inconsistent platform settings, and lack of regulatory enforcement.
✅ Industry Application: Tech companies can implement real-time filters, improved reporting mechanisms, and user-controlled safeguards to enhance accessibility, retain users, and ensure compliance with future accessibility laws.
🔹 Multi-Pronged User Research Approach:
🔹 Key User Pain Points Identified:
Older adults and photosensitive users struggle with seven primary UX challenges across web platforms:
1️⃣ Uncontrollable Autoplay & UI Overload → GIFs, animations, and videos play without user consent, causing accidental exposure.
2️⃣ Poor Reporting Systems → No dedicated options to report flashing content, leading to ineffective moderation.
3️⃣ Lack of Transparency in Accessibility Settings → Key safety toggles (e.g., “reduce motion”) are hard to find and reset automatically after updates.
4️⃣ Aggressive Advertising Techniques → Flashing ads are used to capture user attention, prioritizing engagement over user safety.
5️⃣ Inadequate Creator Warnings → Platforms lack mandatory labels for photosensitive content, making detection difficult.
6️⃣ Algorithmic Amplification of Harmful Content → AI-driven feeds expose users to untagged flashing content, failing to prioritize accessibility.
7️⃣ Lack of Community Awareness & Protections → Social norms around content sharing fail to consider the needs of photosensitive users.
🔹 Proposed UX Fixes for Safer Social Media Platforms:
✅ Real-Time Flash Detection & Content Warnings → Automatic AI-powered detection of high-risk visual content.
✅ Improved Reporting Tools → Enable users to report flashing content separately from traditional content violations.
✅ Stronger User Controls for Autoplay & Motion Sensitivity → Ensure persistent settings that do not reset after app updates.
✅ Crowdsourced Safety Tagging → Similar to alt-text movements, encourage community-driven tagging of high-risk content.
✅ Advertiser & Creator Compliance Rules → Implement mandatory content safety labeling for flashing graphics.
🔹 Business Value: Why Companies Should Act Now
🚀 Market Expansion: 3-5% of epilepsy patients have photosensitivity, but millions more experience migraines & photophobia. Enhancing UX can boost engagement in an underserved market.
🚀 Customer Retention: Reducing frustration & harm increases trust and loyalty → users are less likely to abandon platforms that prioritize safety.
🚀 Regulatory & Compliance Readiness: Prepares companies for stricter global accessibility standards (WCAG, ADA, EU Web Accessibility Directive).
🚀 Universal Design for All Users: Making UX safer for photosensitive users enhances the experience for everyone (e.g., better autoplay controls benefit all users).
💡 Product Managers: Prioritize user-centered accessibility by integrating real-time flash detection and safer autoplay settings.
💡 UX Designers: Apply Kansei Engineering principles to understand the emotional & cognitive impacts of flashing content.
💡 AI & Content Moderation Teams: Improve automated detection of harmful flashing graphics using machine learning filters.
💡 Marketing & Ad Teams: Implement advertiser accountability rules → Prevent the use of flashing media as an engagement tactic.
📌 The internet remains dangerously unpredictable for photosensitive users.
📌 Existing accessibility guidelines are insufficient, requiring urgent UX and regulatory reforms.
📌 Tech companies have the opportunity to lead in accessibility innovation, ensuring a safer digital environment for all users.
📌 Applying user-centered design principles (Kansei Engineering, accessibility-first UX) can transform social media platforms from hazardous to inclusive spaces.
🚀 Next Steps: Want to future-proof your platform’s UX and accessibility strategy? Let’s connect.
✅ Lead Researcher on Study Design: Developed the research methodology framework integrating survey research, UX workshops, and thematic analysis.
✅ Created & Executed Research Plan: Designed and implemented survey instruments, workshop protocols, and structured data analysis workflows.
✅ Strategic Alignment: Ensured study methodology aligned with industry best practices for user-centered design, accessibility standards (WCAG), and sociotechnical UX research.
✅ Workshop & Participant Coordination: Led the recruitment, scheduling, and facilitation of UX workshops, ensuring diverse representation of photosensitive users.
✅ Stakeholder Engagement: Managed participant communication and ensured ethical compliance under IRB (Institutional Review Board) approval (Purdue IRB-2022-09, 2023-444).
✅ Primary Data Analyst: Led the qualitative & quantitative analysis of survey responses and UX workshop findings.
✅ Thematic Analysis Expert: Conducted three rounds of qualitative coding using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) and Reflexive Thematic Analysis (RTA).
✅ Industry-Relevant Insights: Identified key UX pain points, usability barriers, and accessibility failures in current social media platforms.
✅ Led Analysis Sessions: Collaborated with labmates to structure findings into actionable UX recommendations for industry adoption.
✅ Identified Systemic Gaps in UX Accessibility:
✅ Collaborated with Labmates: Coordinated cross-functional research efforts, ensuring alignment between UX researchers, accessibility experts, and sociotechnical design teams.
✅ Research-to-Industry Translation: Transformed academic insights into industry-relevant UX recommendations for product teams, AI moderation systems, and accessibility compliance.
Through hands-on research leadership, data-driven UX insights, and user-centered design advocacy, my contributions have helped shape a more inclusive, accessible, and ethical digital landscape.
📌 How can we integrate these findings into your company's UX strategy? Let’s collaborate to drive accessibility innovation. 🚀
