My General Theory of Dissemination

Looking pretty is good and feeling cool is fun, but being accessible is better.

When it comes to sharing our work, we create barriers. Most of the time it’s not on purpose.

1. Format barriers.

Such as using PDFs with a smart phone audience.

2. Physical access barriers.

Only presenting at conferences where live attendance/fees are required.

3. Network barriers.

Only sharing with people inside your existing network.

4. Platform barriers.

Work is not tailored to meet the technical or cultural requirements of a platform.

5. Structural barriers.

Relying on web tools that look cool but ultimately limit reach for technical reasons.

6. Language barriers.

Presenting in your own language in a format that’s not easily auto-translatable.

7. Jargon barriers.

Using a lot of insider language.

8. Big word barriers.

Writing at a postgrad level when your stated audience is not just PhDs.

9. Big block of text barriers.

Writing in long paragraphs and failing to illustrate.

10. Frankenstein’s audience barriers.

Trying to serve everybody, and ultimately not serving anybody.

11. Graphic design barriers.

Lacking visual structure and white space.

12. Skim-ability barriers.

Not using descriptive headers or considering skim readers.

13. Visual barriers.

Contrast issues, color theory, and not considering visually impaired.

14. Screen reader barriers.

Not structuring your work properly or using alt text.

15. Legal excuse barriers.

Treating accessibility like a checklist or using tools that obscure information to limit lawsuits (not actually increase access)

16. Cultural barriers.

The team behind your work lacks diversity or input from different subsets of your audience.

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If your work is important, and useful, our number one dissemination goal as writers and designers should be reducing the barriers. You can lead a horse to water, but if there is a fence between you and the river, that horse will never get a drink.