Barkly Chem
Functional Requirements Specification (FRS)
Parent Organization: Barkly Labs Project: Barkly Chem Version: 1.0 Status: Proposed
1. Purpose
Barkly Chem is a scientific education and harm-reduction initiative within Barkly Labs. Its purpose is to provide accessible, evidence-based, nonjudgmental information about chemistry, pharmacology, psychoactive substances, drug interactions, and substance-related safety.
The initiative will publish educational articles, scientific explainers, and visual informational posters to help individuals make informed decisions about their health and safety.
2. Mission
To make scientific and pharmacological information accessible, understandable, and useful to the public while promoting dignity, informed decision-making, and harm reduction.
3. Functional Requirements
FR-001: Dedicated Website Section
The system SHALL provide a dedicated Barkly Chem section accessible through the existing Barkly Labs website.
FR-002: Independent Branding
The system SHALL support Barkly Chem branding, including its own logo, color palette, typography, and visual identity while retaining attribution to Barkly Labs.
FR-003: Educational Content
The system SHALL support publishing educational materials covering:
Pharmacology and mechanisms of action
Psychoactive substances and their effects
Drug interactions and contraindications
Toxicity, overdose, and adverse effects
Harm reduction and safety education
Chemistry fundamentals and scientific concepts
FR-004: Educational Posters
The system SHALL provide a dedicated gallery for scientific and harm-reduction posters.
Each poster SHALL support:
A title and description
An accessible image display
Publication date
Author or contributor attribution
References and scientific sources
A disclaimer when applicable
FR-005: Individual Content Pages
The system SHALL allow each educational resource to have its own dedicated page and shareable URL.
FR-006: Search and Discovery
The system SHOULD provide search and categorization functionality to help visitors find information by substance, topic, or content type.
FR-007: Scientific References
Educational content SHALL include citations to reputable scientific literature, clinical references, or authoritative public-health sources when factual medical or pharmacological claims are made.
FR-008: Content Review
The system SHOULD support a review workflow before publication to help ensure scientific accuracy, clarity, and safety.
FR-009: Harm-Reduction Standards
Content SHALL be nonjudgmental and SHALL NOT shame, stigmatize, or discriminate against people who use substances.
FR-010: Accessibility
The system SHALL follow WCAG accessibility guidelines, including:
Alternative text for images
Readable typography and contrast
Keyboard navigation
Screen-reader compatibility
Responsive layouts
Accessible descriptions of scientific graphs
FR-011: Responsive Design
The system SHALL support desktop, tablet, and mobile devices.
FR-012: Content Management
The system SHOULD support creating, editing, updating, and removing educational materials without requiring extensive manual website development for each publication.
FR-013: Safety Information
Relevant educational pages SHALL include appropriate safety information, warning signs, and guidance on seeking professional or emergency assistance.
FR-014: Educational Disclaimers
The system SHALL clearly distinguish educational information from individualized medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment recommendations.
FR-015: Content Versioning
The system SHOULD maintain publication dates and revision history for scientific resources to support corrections and updates.
4. Nonfunctional Requirements
NFR-001: Performance
Pages SHOULD load efficiently, including on slower internet connections.
NFR-002: Privacy
The system SHALL minimize collection of visitor data and SHALL NOT require accounts to access educational resources.
NFR-003: Security
The system SHALL use HTTPS and follow secure development practices.
NFR-004: Maintainability
The implementation SHOULD use reusable components and a modular architecture consistent with the existing Barkly Labs website.
NFR-005: Reliability
Published educational resources SHOULD remain accessible through stable URLs.
NFR-006: Low Maintenance
The system SHOULD minimize ongoing administrative and technical work for maintainers.
5. Initial Release Scope (MVP)
The first release SHOULD include:
Barkly Chem landing page
Mission and editorial standards
Educational poster gallery
Individual poster pages
Scientific references and disclaimers
Responsive and accessible design
Integration with the existing Barkly Labs navigation and branding
Search, advanced content management, and automated scientific review may be introduced in later releases.
6. Guiding Principle
People are people, not numbers.
Barkly Chem exists to make scientific knowledge more accessible and to support people through education, dignity, and evidence-based harm reduction.