Proposal:Sensory

Key:sensory
Proposal status:	Draft (under way)
Proposed by:	GA Kevin, JPinAR (supporter)
Tagging:	sensory_friendly=*, sensory_friendly:accommodation=*, sensory_friendly:conditional=*, & source:sensory_friendly=*)
Applies to:
Definition:	To provide a sensory friendly indication and sensory-friendly hours where applicable.
Statistics:
Rendered as:	hidden
Draft started:	2025-01-08

This sign was at the front entrance to the Valdosta, Georgia Walmart Neighborhood Market on Bemiss Road. This sign describes Walmart’s sensory-friendly hours and when to expect them.

Proposal

Sensory friendly on Wikipedia

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To provide a sensory friendly indication, list of specific accommodations based on sensory source or solution, and identify limited sensory-friendly conditions like limited hours, event, or upon request.

Rationale

Sensory Processing Sensitivity accommodations have become an important part of an ever-increasingly inclusive world. Many retailers, businesses, venues, and offices have started to implement "sensory friendly" hours to cater to the needs of these individuals, such as Walmart's Sensory-Friendly Hours. People who have Sensory Processing Disorders (like Autism, PTSD, and others) can have Sensory Issues that would benefit greatly by shops, cafes, and other destinations having clear sensory level information and when (where applicable) sensory-friendly accommodations exist.

Previously, Key:sensory had been proposed (and approved) for use in playground contexts surrounding items that produce a sensory reaction such as visual, tactile, audible, and smell. Usage of this tag is minimal however the utility of it should be retained. Similarly, the Proposal:Quiet hours had some great groundwork for the sensory friendly hours aspect but did not include sensory level information, source, or other relevant information that those who have sensory processing sensitivity may find useful.

Sensory was chosen over quiet or other options due to the scientific research in this area using the term sensory, despite many retailers using the term "Quiet Hours" to also include visual stimuli.

Sensory friendly information does not need to be certified to be tagged, but having a certification should give OSM contributors more confidence in the information they are adding is useful, accurate, and understandable.

Examples of Certification Authorities

• International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards - International
• Sensory Friendly Solutions Certification - Canada
• Kulture City, Sensory City, & Certified Autism Centers - United States of America
• National Autistic Society & National Sensory Network - United Kingdom
• Autism Friendly Spaces - European Union

On Subjectivity

This tagging should only ever cover availability of accommodation(s) based on a verifiable claimed, displayed, or advertised information. As sensory based disabilities exist on a spectrum availability does not imply sufficiency to meet any one individuals personal needs only that options and/or tools are available to help. Tagging allows for individuals to make informed decision based on their own needs and without tagging there is less information from which to be informed. Mappers be they neurotypical or neurodivergent must never tag based on their individual opinions of sufficiency only what is verifiably available.

This also mean that there will never be a 'no' options the assumption is that without tagging available accommodations are 'unknown' businesses may not be tagged and rise to the occasion of meeting needs or fail. This tag is solely for businesses wanting to inform potential customers of an advance willingness to accommodate typically specific but common sensory needs. Thus what is tagged should never be subjective, but objective.

Tagging

sensory_friendly=*

This key identifies when modifications/accommodations are verifiable and to what extent. For a more exhaustive/specific list of what types of modification/accommodations are claimed, displayed, or advertised see sensory_friendly:accommodation=*

Values

Value	Description
yes	A claimed, displayed, or advertised by a business or venue to some form of sensory friendly accommodation is available, if possible provide source:sensory_friendly=*.
limited	A claimed, displayed, or advertised by a business or venue to some form of sensory friendly but the availability of modifications is limited in scope or only available upon request, if possible provide source:sensory_friendly=*. This tag typically needs to be accompanied by sensory_friendly:conditional=*, see below.
designated	A location that is specifically designed to meet needs of those with sensory disorders. Typically limited to resource centers, hospitals, or other professional organizations.

sensory_friendly:accommodation=*

Values for this tag focus on 'source' and/or 'solution'.

• Source - this will combine a source of sensory input for an individual and should as simply as possible, ideally one word, identify how that sensory source is being mitigated.
• Solution - this will cover a widely established solutions for a sensory based needs.

(Note: Of the senses listed balance is one area that straddles the line between physical in nature and sensory in nature. All balance related areas listed are sourced from the sensory side but may benefit those from the physical side as well. These have been left in rather than excluded as of those listed there is no contradicting or better tagging at this time.)

Specific understanding of each Sensory disorder is not required to map accommodations, these are merely listed to ensure coverage

Sensory disorder	Sense(s) affected	Possible verifiable accommodation values
Sensory Modulation Disorder (SMD) (Tied to Sensory over/under reactivity or craving)	hearing, vision, smell, touch, taste	All of the below, if it's a verifiable reasonable accommodation it likely applies
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)	hearing, vision, smell, touch	dimmed_lighting static_screens no_intercom limited_intercom
Hearing loss	hearing	hearing_assistive_device
Blind or Low vision (BLV)	vision	large_print_menu braille_menu
Sensory Discrimination Disorder	Example	visual_guidance
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)	balance	special_needs_cart
Postural Ocular Disorder (form of Sensory-Based Motor Disorder)	balance, visual	Unknown to author, please provide feedback if you have experience
Dyspraxia (form of Sensory-Based Motor Disorder)	visual	visual_guidance
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)	hearing, vision, smell	no_intercom limited_intercom refueling_assistance quiet_area
Photosensitive epilepsy	vision	adjustable_lighting
What did we miss??

Note: That many verifiable accommodations and server multiple Sensory Disorder communities thus why these are not based on the sensory disorder they are accommodating directly.

Detailed description for tags, not all suggested tags are aligned to Sensory Disorder above.

Accommodation Tagging	Detailed description
dimmed_lighting	Lighting through the location is dimmed. This applies to both lowering of light in a store, but also could indicate raising lights in venues like movie theaters.
adjustable_lighting	Lighting through the location can be adjusted upon request. Note that this can be dimmed for those with hyper sensitivity but also raised for people with 'photosensitive epilepsy' which can have issue when lighting is lowered below 30hz (common with dimming of LED lighting).
static_screens	A business with for instance wall of TV screens that typically have video advertisements will instead display a static image.
masks_provided	Face masks are available which are assistive when stored have areas with high odor areas like makeup counters, common just inside entrance to many department stores preventing entry.
no_intercom	Use of intercom is limited
limited_intercom	No music or background, but announcements are permitted. Not best but better to know what to expect.
refueling_assistance	Common at gas station for people with PTSD tied to accidents, allows for calling a station attendant to help with fueling.
special_needs_cart	A cart with a seat that can support a grown child or adult, like Caroline's Cart, to assist care takers at retail locations.
quiet_area	A designated area at a business or venue designated for sensory breaks/rest.
visual_guidance	This is typically provided via an app on demand via third party service, like Aira is available at many Starbucks. Services like this can be incredibly helpful not just to people with Blind or Low Vision but also those with Sensory-Based Motor Disorder.
large_print_menu	Printed menu in large print, typically available upon request.
braille_menu	Printed menu in braille, typically available upon request.
hearing_assistive_device	Common at large public venues and meeting spaces like concerts, churches, or auditoriums for those with hearing issues, either RF/WiFi bases or increasingly via app.
sensory_package	A common accommodation for those with hyper sensitivity to light/sound/etc. are packages available upon request that include hearing (noise) protective headphone, visual reduction (sunglasses), stemming devices, lanyard to help staff visually identify and modify behavior as needed, and more this tag provides indication that a package with multiple sensory assistive options rather than listing them all out, but people can if they want.
social_narrative	This is a website or video that is provided or linked at entrance via QR code that provides via visual and text a story or narrative about that the most common social interactions within a location might look like in order for people especially with Autism to come in with some foreknowledge of what to expect during a visit especially to new locations.
tool_preselection	This would be common more at places like hair salons or barbers where tools like electric razors or hair driers need to checked before use.

sensory_friendly:conditional=*

This typically clarifies the sensory_friendly=limited tag and specifies the conditions under which the sensory accommodations are limited within. Common use cases are below.

Caption text

Tag Example (Key=Value)	Locations examples	Description
sensory_friendly:conditional=yes␣@␣(08:00-10:00) sensory_friendly:conditional=yes␣@␣(Su[1] 09:00-11:00)	Walmart Chuck E. Cheese's Many Children's Museums	Business or venue with subset/limited hours dedicated during which sensory friendly protocols are in place.
sensory_friendly:conditional=yes␣@␣upon request	Hair Salon Barber Restaurant KultureCity Locations Emergency Services	This covers scenarios where accommodations are available via request typically listed using sensory_friendly:accommodation=*
sensory_friendly:conditional=yes␣@␣ listed events	Movie Theaters Performing Arts	These would typically be locations that provide events like movie showings or performances that will have specific events listed as sensory friendly along with what that includes which can be listed under sensory_friendly:accommodation=*.
sensory_friendly:conditional=yes␣@␣ by appointment	Hair Salon Barber	This typically means that a location has staff that works by appointment with a subset that have special training in working with people with sensory disorders.

Changes based on community feedback

The proposal has been through a number of cycles based on feedback the initial pass was sense based, then tried to create unique tagging for mins and maxes but realizing these where not verifiable decided to limit to yes/no or list of senses covered while adding source, and in the latest pass we removes 'no' to focus only on positive verifiable actions and separated the yes/limited/designated from the accommodations which we then focused on source or solution and aligned them to the most common and widely adopted types of sensory processing disorders common enough to have well established accommodations.

After receiving feedback that a number of sensory friendly accommodations are limited in hours but also tied to special events or simply available upon request or by appointment we looked for other existing tagging that fit these scenarios and found Conditional restrictions with the *:conditional=* association which merged the limited hours and other conditions into one tag and replaced the sensory_friendly:opening_hours=* tagging. (Note: Conditional we believe is the best fit but is mostly aligned to transit lanes and uncommonly aligned to businesses except so some updates to that page to include 'special event' as a condition would be ideal if this taggin is approved.)

Key feedback that came in from first voting

• sensory_friendly=* is not something that will "open", so should not use sensory_friendly:opening_hours=* with mismatched and unsuitable semantics. - Kovposch
• I do think an 'upon request' and 'event based' (movie showings) tagging would mature this further. - JPinAR
• Sensory by sense can be too broad and I'd like to see a suggest key values that balance broadness and specificity by combining a modifier and sensory source - JPinAR
• Long discussion on discussion page. Summary: A verified accommodation may or may not be sufficient for all Sensory Disorder persons. Thus we've focused on removing all subjective tagging and then leave it up to individuals to determine if the provided accomidation(s) are sufficent to their needs. It's still preferrable to have information from which to make informed decisions over no information at all. - M!dgard
• There shouldn't be a "no" option. This will just encourage people to add yet another unnecessary tag for spaces that don't conform to this particular need. Like, why have `smoking=no` tags in a state that bans indoor smoking? - B-jazz
• I like the idea behind the sensory-friendly tag, but I'm a bit uneasy about reducing the information to a simple yes or no. Also, since sensory experiences vary so much from person to person, this tag is prone to be subjective. If this tag is implemented anyway, it would probably be more helpful for the tagging to be more diverse. JPinAR's suggestion is nice, though I'd prefer to limit the scope so there wouldn't be too many possible options and make it somewhat manageable. - Equate
• Shouldn't be under opening hours but its own separate tag. - unsigned
• In particular, I support the yes value for indicating whether the establishment offers sensory-friendly accommodations, by their own reckoning. I strongly disagree with other voters about subjectivity; in fact, further qualification is often subjective and unverifiable because establishments don't provide that detail predictably. We should not require neurotypical mappers to pose as neuroatypical people in order to characterize the accommodations for themselves. - Minh Nguyễn

Features/Pages affected

• Conditional restrictions - add Business based section to add examples like 'special event'
• quiet_hours=* - There is a Proposal:Quiet_hours tagging that this tagging would superseded, proposal had good points to exclude Autism specifically and focus on the mitigation action instead but lacks specificity and verifiability that this proposal aims to address and expand upon to the wider Sensory Disorder needs community.

External discussions

• Request for comments on the forum - First RFC

Comments

Please comment on the discussion page.