The art & opportunities of digital inclusion

The population group with an impairment is broader than you might think: people with a physical impairment, people who are overly sensitive to stimuli, but also the growing group of elderly people who need to be able to continue to understand what’s going on. 

To bring the people who are part of your target groups into clear focus, it can be helpful to compose personas. A persona represents a cluster of characteristics, for instance domestic situation, needs and wishes. This can help you internally but also externally, for instance when briefing volunteers or website builders. 

Investigate the online channels that your target groups tend to use. Young people are generally active on TikTok and LinkedIn, while older people make more use of Facebook. Adjust your strategy and tone of voice to the different target groups and channels. 

Even if your strategy might differ per channel, it is important that all the messages you share reflect your core values. Updates are not only a practical need, but each update presents an opportunity to communicate what you stand for. 

To make your website and socials accessible to everyone, digital tools such as a screen reader (Braille display) and subtitles for your videos are indispensable. But the use of such tools should be treated as a means; they are not an end in itself. These tools can only be and remain truly valuable if you regularly talk to experience experts about them.

It’s good for search engines to have a lot of text on your website, but not for your visitor. Use less text and more clear buttons, images and call-to-actions. Where necessary, add ALT texts to images and buttons to explain what the image shows and what a button is for.

Even if your content is accessible to everyone, it remains important to address people online in a correct and easy-to-understand way. Try to implement a B1 language level in your communication policy (which you can also set as a rule for partners that supply content/information). 

Tip: never use the word ‘invalid’ when referring to people. An argument can be valid or invalid, but not people with their feeling and dreams, and so on. Just call it what it is: a physical impairment.

It becomes easier to participate in digital activities when the first step is made as easy as possible, and the follow-up steps are made very clear. You can lower the threshold by offering a first activity for free, or with a discount, or as a reward. You can also try to involve the family or social environment of your target group, so that they can take the first (and therefore most daunting) step together. Make the subscription process as easy as possible, with clear buttons, payment information, and the link to participate on the same screen. Also offer a ‘first aid’ line that people can call if they run into technical obstacles. Providing clear instructions with screenshots of all the steps that participants need to take during the activity is also helpful.

Improving accessibility is a verb without an endpoint. The world is changing and will continue to change. You cannot finish something now and think that it will remain fine for ever. Fortunately, you have an entire target group that can serve as your test panel, whether for a new website or an entire digital strategy. For every change you make, let them look over your shoulder and invite their feedback.

Improving accessibility is best done together with others. Don’t only involve people within your organisation, but also look outward. Talk to practitioners and policy makers, and also to your audience and (potential) partners. Partners are a great way to address target groups that you can’t reach directly yet. But also keep asking yourself whether your partners share the same values as you.

By including people with an impairment in your internal team, it becomes much easier to involve them externally as well. Digital transformation anyhow requires organisational change. So then you might as well do it properly!