Proposal:Sensory
| Key:sensory | |
|---|---|
| Proposal status: | Proposed (under way) |
| Proposed by: | GA Kevin |
| Tagging: | 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 |
| RFC start: | 2025-01-08 |
Proposal
To provide a sensory friendly indication and sensory-friendly hours where applicable.
Rationale
Sensory Processing Sensitivity accommodations have become an important part of an ever-increasingly inclusive world. Many retailers, businesses, 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 autism and similar conditions 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 hours 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.
Tagging
| Tag | Tagged On | Options | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| sensory_friendly=* |
|
yes no |
Used to communicate if a particular is sensory friendly and in what way.
|
sensory_friendly=smell;hearing |
| sensory_friendly:opening_hours=* |
|
Use opening_hours=* syntax | Describes if something has designated sensory friendly hours. | sensory_friendly=hearing
sensory_friendly:opening_hours=Mo-Su 08:00-10:00 |
| source:sensory_friendly=* |
|
signed/URL String | Describes the source of the sensory-friendly information. | sensory_friendly:opening_hours=Mo-Fr 07:00-09:00; Sa 12:00-14:00
source:sensory_friendly=signed;https://www.example.com |
For complex or rare circumstances, the standard conditional restrictions can be applied. A description may also be warranted if a sensory friendly feature is not easily understood by the sense it stimulates. It is recommended to use sensory_friendly:description=* in such cases.
Changes based on community feedback
Community feedback in the forum has been robust and fruitful on this topic. It is clear the need for sensory information is popular however the original proposal aimed to do too much. As such the following tags have been removed from the proposal and should not be considered part of this proposal moving forward:
- sensory:ambient_auditory=*
- sensory:ambient_visual=*
- sensory:max_auditory=*
- sensory:max_visual=*
- sensory:friendly_hours:auditory=*
- sensory:friendly_hours:visual=*
- sensory:auditory=*
- sensory:visual=*
These changes reflect a narrowing of scope from the initial indicator, levels, and hours, to be simply an indicator and hours where applicable. The levels of sensory stimuli is an important 
, and may be brought forward in the future, but will remain out of scope for this initial proposal.
Additionally, the following changes have been made to better clarify their intention and simplify their use:
- sensory=* as previously proposed will be replaced by sensory_friendly=* to better clarify it is an accommodation not a warning. sensory=* as it's approved use as an object which emits sensory reaction remains unchanged by this proposal.
- To better align with the widely understood syntax of opening_hours=*, and to match the overall sensory_friendly=*, sensory_friendly:opening_hours=* was refined from the originally proposed source:sensory:friendly_hours=*.
- To match the new proposed convention, source:sensory:friendly_hours=* has been updated to source:sensory_friendly:opening_hours=*.
Further Refinements
- source:sensory_friendly:opening_hours=* has been refined to source:sensory_friendly=* to reflect a contributor can list sources of sensory-friendly information as well as hours.
- Added sensory_friendly=yes and sensory_friendly=no to the list of options for the sensory_friendly=* to reflect if a contributor knows a location is or is not sensory friendly but has no further details.
Features/Pages affected
External discussions
Comments
Please comment on the discussion page.