ADHD and Why More People Are Finding Easy Read Helpful—Even Without Realising Why

At IC Works, we’ve always designed Easy Read for people with cognitive and language processing challenges. But recently, we’ve noticed something interesting: more people than ever are finding Easy Read helpful—people who may not have a learning disability, may not use support services, and may never have used Easy Read before.

One group in particular stands out: people who identify as having ADHD, whether formally diagnosed or self-identified.

And here’s the interesting part: even though we don’t explicitly design for ADHD, the materials we create, through co-production with adults who live with a wide range of cognitive challenges, turn out to be a good fit for the way many people with ADHD think, read, and absorb information.

Let’s explore why that is.

A Growing Awareness of ADHD (And What That Means for Accessibility)

Over the past few years, there’s been a huge rise in ADHD self-identification, especially among adults. More people are realising that their difficulties with focus, organisation, task switching, and information overload may have a name—and that name is ADHD.

This growing awareness is changing the accessibility landscape.

People who may never have considered themselves part of the ‘accessibility audience’ are now recognising that they, too, benefit from clearer, calmer, more structured communication.

And that’s where Easy Read comes in.

Why Easy Read Helps People With ADHD—Even If It Wasn’t Made Just For Them

The Easy Read content we create at IC Works is co-produced with a diverse panel of people with lived experience of cognitive challenges. That includes adults with learning disabilities, autism, and other processing differences that affect how information is received and understood.

This matters because many of the features that help our panel are exactly the same ones that help people with ADHD, such as:

• short, single-focus sentences that reduce cognitive load

• clear structure and logical progression, which help readers stay anchored

• minimalist visual layout that avoids clutter and distraction

• supportive images that reinforce the message and reorient a reader’s attention

These features aren’t just helpful for a specific diagnosis—they’re helpful for anyone whose attention is easily disrupted, who struggles with multi-step instructions, or who gets overwhelmed by dense or poorly structured text.

Sound familiar?

If you’ve ever read something, drifted halfway through, and had to start over, this content is probably for you.

You Don’t Need a Diagnosis to Deserve Accessibility

One of the most important shifts in accessibility today is the idea that you don’t need to have a formal diagnosis to benefit from—or deserve—accessible communication.

At IC Works, we believe that accessibility should be proactive, not reactive. That’s why our approach to Easy Read and our broader commitment to communications accessibility are rooted in co-production.

We don’t create materials in isolation. We work side-by-side with our panel of experts by experience, asking:

• Does this sentence make sense at first glance?

• Is this image helping—or getting in the way?

• Does this document come across as respectful, or does it feel like it’s talking down to you?

This lived experience—brought to the table in every document we produce—leads to content that works for a far wider audience than many people expect.

Co-Production Means We Catch the Problems Others Miss

If we had designed Easy Read behind closed doors, without real-time feedback from people who navigate cognitive challenges every day, we might have missed the things that make our documents ADHD-friendly.

But co-production changes that.

Because the people shaping the documents are already alert to things like cognitive overload, memory strain, distraction, and emotional triggers from patronising content, the final result naturally avoids these pitfalls for everyone.

That means our Easy Read content doesn’t just work for its intended audience. It quietly supports a much wider range of people: the newly diagnosed, the self-identified, the undiagnosed, and the simply overwhelmed.

The Bigger Picture: Accessibility for the 21st Century

We’re living through a moment of change. People are understanding themselves differently. Conditions like ADHD, which were once narrowly defined and under-recognised, are now part of a broader conversation about neurodiversity and inclusion.

In this new landscape, accessible communication isn't just about specialist formats—it's about good design for everyone.

That’s what we’re working toward at IC Works. Not just Easy Read, but communication that meets people where they are—through respect, clarity, structure, and above all, collaboration.

If you want to create documents that work for more people, including those who may not even know why they need them, get in touch.

Let’s build communications accessibility that includes everyone.