Motion sensitivity, vestibular migraine and reduced motion settings

Updated 2026-11-02

Quick answerPeople with vestibular migraine report more visual-motion symptoms and are more prone to motion sickness than controls. On the web, the W3C accessibility guidelines say users should be able to turn off motion animation triggered by interaction. Sites can honour the prefers-reduced-motion setting, but many don't, so an extension can enforce it.

Evidence

  • Studies report sensitized motion perception and higher motion-sickness susceptibility in vestibular migraine.
  • WCAG 2.3.3 (Animation from Interactions) and technique C39 (prefers-reduced-motion).

Settings to change

  • Turn on Reduce motion in your OS (see Mac, iPhone, Android pages).
  • Turn on site settings: Reddit, Discord and Slack have their own.

FAQ

What is prefers-reduced-motion?

A CSS media query that tells websites the user asked the operating system to minimize motion. W3C technique C39 explains how sites should use it.

Sources

  • Visual motion sensitivity in vestibular migraine. Otology & Neurotology. Link
  • Sensitized rotatory motion perception and increased susceptibility to motion sickness in vestibular migraine. Eur J Neurol, 2021. Link
  • W3C. Understanding WCAG 2.2 Success Criterion 2.3.3: Animation from Interactions. Link
  • W3C. Technique C39: Using the CSS prefers-reduced-motion query to prevent motion. Link

Not a medical device and not medical advice. Migraine Mode is a screen-comfort tool: it does not diagnose, treat, cure or prevent migraine or any other condition, and it does not replace a doctor. Its settings are based on studies of light, colour, flicker, patterns and motion; the extension itself has not been clinically tested. When to see a doctor.