Summary: Inclusion is increasingly a design issue, not just a cultural one. Digital platforms built around narrow cognitive assumptions create barriers before anyone can request support. The City of London’s Neurodiversity in the City initiative demonstrates anticipatory design by embedding accessibility tools directly into systems rather than waiting for disclosure. When you design for cognitive diversity from the start, you create better systems for everyone whilst removing hidden barriers that shape who can participate and succeed.
Neurodiversity Celebration Week prompts many organisations to reaffirm their commitment to recognising neurological differences in the workplace. Over the past decade, awareness of conditions such as dyslexia, ADHD and autism has grown significantly. Many organisations now have neurodiversity networks, internal campaigns and policies designed to support neurodivergent employees.
But awareness alone does not remove barriers.
Inclusion as a design issue
In my work with organisations thinking seriously about neurodiversity, a pattern is becoming clear. Recognition of neurodivergent talent has advanced far faster than the systems people rely on every day.
For HR and people leaders, this presents an important challenge. Inclusion is often discussed as a cultural issue, but increasingly it is also a design issue. The structures, processes and digital systems that shape everyday work can unintentionally create barriers long before support is ever requested.
The next phase of neurodiversity inclusion will depend less on campaigns and more on whether organisations redesign the infrastructure that shapes participation, from recruitment and onboarding processes to digital work environments.
Workplace technology is built on cognitive assumptions
Digital platforms now sit at the centre of working life. Employees access learning platforms online, complete internal processes through HR systems, and rely on digital tools for everything from onboarding to performance reviews.
When these systems are built around a narrow set of cognitive assumptions, barriers can emerge long before anyone has the opportunity to ask for support.
For organisations competing for talent, this matters. In sectors such as finance, law and technology, the design of workplace systems increasingly shapes who can participate and succeed.
One initiative in the City of London offers a glimpse of how the conversation is beginning to shift.
Neurodiversity in the City: Inclusive design in practice
Neurodiversity in the City, part of the City of London Corporation’s City Belonging Project, connects workplaces, employee networks and communities across the Square Mile to build a more inclusive professional environment. The network works alongside Neurodiversity in Business to share ideas and encourage practical change across organisations operating in the City.
Recently, the group took a practical step by embedding accessibility tools directly into its website, allowing visitors to personalise how they interact with digital content.
Such tools enable users to adjust how information appears and is processed. Features include text-to-speech, reading support, contrast adjustments and simplified layouts. For people with dyslexia, ADHD, visual impairments or other cognitive differences, these functions can make navigating online information significantly easier.
For many users, the difference is felt in everyday situations such as reading reports, accessing training materials, completing forms or keeping up with professional updates.
Siobhan Harley, election engagement manager at the City of London Corporation and communications lead for Neurodiversity in the City, says the decision was intentionally straightforward.
“Integrating accessibility tools into our website was quick and straightforward,” she explains. “It aligned naturally with the aims of the City Belonging Project and our wider mission to ensure accessibility is built into how we design, not added later.”
“It was important to us that visitors to our website can personalise their experience immediately, without needing to request support.”
Removing barriers through anticipatory design
What matters most here is not the technology itself but the design philosophy behind it.
For years, many workplace inclusion strategies have focused primarily on awareness campaigns and individual accommodations. While important, these approaches often rely on individuals disclosing differences and navigating support processes in order to access systems that were not originally designed for them.
A growing number of organisations are recognising that sustainable inclusion requires a different mindset, one rooted in what designers increasingly describe as anticipatory design.
Anticipatory design assumes that human diversity is the norm rather than the exception. Instead of waiting for someone to encounter a barrier and request support, systems are designed to offer flexibility from the outset.
Cesca Zealand, chair of Neurodiversity in the City, believes this shift is essential.
“Belonging cannot depend on individuals continually adapting themselves to environments that were not designed with them in mind,” she says.
“If we are advocating for inclusive workplaces across the City, our own platforms should reflect that principle. Anticipatory design shifts responsibility from individuals to systems, and that is where sustainable change happens.”
For HR leaders, this raises an important question: how often do employees encounter barriers before they even reach the point of requesting support?
Better systems for everyone
Digital systems increasingly shape who participates fully in professional life. When accessibility is embedded into these systems, barriers diminish not only for neurodivergent individuals but for many others as well. People with temporary injuries will benefit, as will individuals accessing content in different languages, or professionals working under time pressure or cognitive overload.
Designing for neurodiversity often leads to better systems for everyone.
Accessibility should never depend on someone having to ask for it. What we are seeing is a move towards anticipating difference rather than reacting to it. When digital infrastructure is designed with cognitive diversity in mind from the start, future generations entering the workforce will encounter fewer hidden barriers and far greater opportunity to participate fully.
For organisations serious about building workplaces where diverse minds can thrive, the question is no longer whether neurodiversity matters. The question is whether their systems reflect that belief.
Key takeaways
If you’re serious about neurodiversity inclusion, consider whether your workplace infrastructure reflects that commitment:
- Shift from awareness campaigns to system redesign. Recognition matters, but it doesn’t remove barriers. How often do your employees encounter obstacles in recruitment, onboarding or digital platforms before they even reach the point of requesting support? Your structures and processes may be creating barriers unintentionally.
- Embed accessibility from the outset, not as an afterthought. Anticipatory design assumes human diversity is the norm rather than the exception. When you offer flexibility built into systems, you remove the burden from individuals to continually adapt themselves or disclose differences just to access what they need.
- Recognise that designing for neurodiversity improves experiences broadly. When you build digital infrastructure with cognitive diversity in mind, you also support people with temporary injuries, those working under time pressure, professionals accessing content in different languages, and anyone experiencing cognitive overload. Better design benefits everyone.
- Ask whether your systems reflect your stated values. If you’re advocating for inclusive workplaces, do your own platforms demonstrate that principle? The question is no longer whether neurodiversity matters to your organisation – it’s whether your recruitment tools, learning platforms, HR systems and digital environments prove that belief through their design.
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