The Art & Opportunities of Digital Inclusion

The group of people with disabilities is broader than you think: people with physical disabilities, people sensitive to stimuli, but also older adults who need to continue understanding what is happening.

To clearly identify who the people in your target group(s) are, you can create personas. These are clusters that combine certain characteristics, such as living situation, desires, and needs. This helps you internally but also externally, for example, to brief volunteers or website developers.

Research where your target groups are active. For example, young people are more on TikTok and LinkedIn, while older adults are more often found on Facebook. Then adjust your strategy and tone of voice to those different target groups and channels.

Even if your strategy differs per channel, make sure that every message you share reflects your core values. Updates are not just practical. They are an opportunity to clarify what you stand for.

To make your website and socials readable for everyone, digital tools like a screen reader (braille display) or subtitles for videos are indispensable. But their use is a means, not an end in itself. They only become truly valuable when you keep discussing them with experts by experience.

A lot of text on your website is useful for Google but not for your visitors. Use less text but more clear buttons, visuals, and calls to action. Add ALT texts to images and buttons where necessary to explain what is shown in the image and where the button leads.

Even if your content is accessible to everyone, it remains important to address people online correctly and understandably. Try to implement B1-level communication in your policy (this also applies as a rule for partners providing content/information).

Tip: never use the word ‘handicapped.’ You talk about ‘valid arguments,’ but you don’t use it for people with feelings and dreams. Just call it what it is: a physical limitation.

Participating in digital activities becomes easier if you make the first step as small as possible and the subsequent steps clear. Lower the threshold, for example, by offering a first activity for free, at a discount, or as a prize draw. Or involve the family or environment of your target audience so they can take the first (and therefore the most daunting) step together. Make registration as simple as possible: with clear buttons, payment information, and the link to participate on the same screen. Provide a helpline that people can call when they encounter technical obstacles. A clear manual with screenshots of all the steps participants go through during the activity also helps.

Making things accessible is a verb with no endpoint. The world changes. You cannot finish something now and think it will always be enough. Fortunately, you have an entire target group that can serve as a test panel, whether for a new website or an entire digital strategy. Let them look at every adjustment and provide feedback.

Making things accessible is a collaborative effort. Talk not only with people within your organization but also look outward. Speak with operational staff and policymakers, as well as with your audience and (potential) partners. Partners are useful for reaching target groups you do not (yet) reach yourself. But always ask yourself whether your partners share the same values as you do.

If you include people with disabilities as part of your team, it becomes much easier to involve them from the outside. Digital transformation requires organizational change. So, do it right from the start!