Awareness
Identify and reduce the emotional and cognitive risks in security and compliance training. Assesses where content, tone, or delivery might unintentionally trigger anxiety, shame or exclusion — particularly for neurodivergent or trauma-affected learners.
Who it's for
Anyone designing or commissioning mandatory training — security, compliance, safeguarding, HR. Especially if your audience includes neurodivergent staff, survivors of workplace incidents, or people with mental health conditions.
When to use it
Before signing off any new training module. After any complaint about training content. As part of any vendor evaluation for off-the-shelf courses.
Mandatory training reaches every person in your organisation. If the content uses fear, shame, or graphic scenarios without warning, you are not just being ineffective — you are causing harm to a measurable percentage of your workforce. The scorecard helps you spot it before you ship it.
In practice
Score every new module against the scorecard before sign-off.
Flag any high-risk items and require a documented mitigation.
Provide a low-impact alternative path for any module that can't be made fully safe.
Track complaints and opt-outs over time. They are signal, not nuisance.
The frameworks are most powerful alongside the case studies, research, and playbooks in the book.
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