How to make your digital content more accessible

Top tips for the accessibility experts

👋 Welcome to The Navigator. A newsletter about people, psychology and design for business leaders who want to make meaningful change. I’m Sarah Ronald, and I write this newsletter with the Nile team. If this email was forwarded to you, you can subscribe to receive it in your inbox every couple of weeks. You can also read and share this post in your browser.

“To get feedback like, ‘This doesn't look like it's going to be accessible’ is transformative.” Image credit: John Schnobrich/Unsplash)

How do you ensure accessibility isn’t just a box-ticking exercise? What do you need to do to empower all colleagues to make better inclusive decisions? How do you get started with making digital content accessible?

These are some of the questions I regularly hear from business leaders who are serious about embedding inclusivity and accessibility into their organisations. In order to get the best answers possible, we took these questions – and more – straight to the leading accessibility experts. Last week, in honour of Global Accessibility Awareness Day, we recorded a special podcast all about making digital content accessible. 

We had such a fantastic response to the episode that I wanted to build on the conversation here in the newsletter. For this issue, I spoke with two of the panellists, Dr Julie McElory and Alex Canning, to hear their stories about why digital inclusion is so important to them. I’ve also summarised the key takeaways from the podcast here as well. 

The panel 

• Grant Broome – Director of Accessibility, Nile 

• Chris Archer – Head of Marketing & Product at The Premier League 

• Dr. Julie McElroy – NHS24, Researcher, Activist and Writer

• Alex Canning – Lead Creative Directive at Legal and General, 

• Jo Ellis – Financial Well-being and Vulnerable Customer Senior Manager at Tesco Bank

Two journeys of digital inclusion

I caught up with Julie and Alex to hear why they’re so passionate about digital inclusion. They shared two very different stories, both of which offer us plenty to learn from.

Can you tell me about your personal journey with digital inclusion?

Julie: When I started my job with the NHS, I asked them “Where is your chatbot?” NHS 24 is a telephony organisation, but the telephone is not my number choice from an accessibility point of view because I’m hearing and speech impaired. I’m not going to spend 30 minutes waiting on the line if I can’t use the service. That’s digital exclusion. 

People like myself are so dependent on assistive technology that people are not familiar with. When I worked in an office, I could rely on colleagues taking notes and email them to me. But then Covid came along and I couldn’t do that anymore; I didn’t have the autonomy to do my job. A colleague then recommended I try Otter.ai, a note-taking app and that’s been a game-changer for me.  

Hearing-impaired people are used to using subtitles and captions and it’s great to see everyone embracing it. It was so rewarding to see Nile transcribe the podcast so that I could take part. It was great to see people using captions on their videos. That’s the Covid effect. 

What I find personally and professionally challenging is that there are people who work in digital inclusion who are able-bodied and don’t have the same lived experience as me. Don’t develop a product that’s not fit for purpose! 

All this comes together and drives my passion for digital inclusion and accessibility. I always take a stand now. Why should we be the people that spend money on products that are not going to be digitally accessible?

Alex: A lot of people have a specific story that spurred them to be interested in accessibility. I don't have that; I don't have any accessibility needs myself and I don't directly know anyone who does. 

I came to the subject of inclusive design and accessibility through working at Legal and General. When you're embedded in a scrum team, you'll put together designs and then you'll sit down with developers, testers and business analysts to work out how to build the product. To get feedback like, “This doesn't look like it's going to be accessible” is transformative. I'm surrounded by people who care and will be holding me to account if I don't do these things properly. 

That made me instantly realise that I need to switch my thinking. It was partly that I just wanted to do better, and also partly because I felt a bit embarrassed that I didn't know enough about it. So I made it a mission to learn more about it. Luckily, there's so much support and knowledge in the business for inclusive design that I was able to pick it up quickly. However, I'm also by no means an expert. I know what I know and I know that there's a lot more that I need to know. 

I’m lucky to be on a team where everyone, from the developers to the testers, isn’t just knowledgeable about accessibility, but they take an active interest in furthering their own development. It means that it's embedded in the process and the work gets scoped out and shaped around that accessibility as a core requirement.

Thinking more about inclusive design has made me slow down. I think it's changed my approach and now I try to move away from doing flashy, trendy things and instead, I aim to design for the content. 

Accessibility 101

Five key takeaways from the podcast on the basics of inclusive design  

1. Do not let Accessibility be an afterthought. Incorporating accessibility is a primary consideration in the development of products and services. Keep the needs of all individuals in mind by creating systems and processes to embed this approach into your culture.

2. Designing for accessibility benefits everyone. Although a specific group of people may be targeted during the design process, ultimately, everyone benefits. 

3. Know the legislation. The Financial Conduct Authority's Consumer Duty requires banks to prioritise delivering positive customer outcomes by 31 July 2023. According to the FCA, 50% of the UK population exhibits one of the four drivers of vulnerability: health, life events, resilience, and capability. Prioritise the well-being of these customers. 

4. Delivering on accessibility is good for staff morale. Colleagues care about accessibility, equality and want to provide fairer outcomes for their customers. Encourage and empower them to make informed decisions. 

5. You can’t do everything. It’s not possible to address all accessibility issues immediately. However, taking small steps to make content more accessible, such as using audio descriptions and closed captions, is a good start. 

Beyond box-ticking

What the panel had to say about taking digital inclusion seriously:

Everyone has a part to play. When everyone understands how significant accessibility is, they feel confident in implementing it. While a dedicated accessibility team is necessary, it's important to strike a fine balance and not burden them with all the responsibility. 

💡Pro tip: Create inclusive experience toolkits. Not only will these ensure that your products are inclusive, but they will also provide a cohesive reference for everyone in the organisation to better understand your customers. 

Inclusive design is just good design. Help your designers see that accessibility requirements aren’t restrictive, but rather a necessary set of constraints for creating a clean and user-friendly design. 

💡Pro tip: To make WCAG more understandable, use examples from your own company’s website to bring the guidelines to life and engage your organisation. It will make it easier for both technical and non-technical individuals who are new to accessibility. (ICYMI: WCAG 2.2 has just gone live). 

Top-down culture. Business leaders need to emphasise the importance of an inclusive culture and actively commit to it. 

💡Pro tip: Launch an internal communications campaign. A roadshow is a great way to get your message in front of your entire organisation and make them feel involved.  

Technology we’re excited about

• Automatic note-taking. AI-enabled software that transcribes speech in real-time makes meetings more accessible for colleagues who are hearing impaired. (Eg Otter.ai)

• Adaptive PC kits. Tactile kits make it easier to use and navigate a PC by identifying critical keys, match ports and cables. (Eg Microsoft’s adaptive kit)

• Colour contrast algorithm. WCAG 3, due later this year, will use a new colour contrast method called Advanced Perceptual Contrast Algorithm (APCA) that will make it easier for designers to design for visually impaired users. 

Wisdom from our panellists 

There were so many gems shared in the episode. It was a struggle to pick my favourite quotes from each of the panellists: 

Look at accessibility from a commercial perspective. If you’re struggling to make the moral argument for accessibility, focus on the business case. Because if you improve products and services, it has a tangible benefit on the bottom line. (Jo)

Invest in your team’s knowledge. Don’t assume that tools will get you there; installing them won’t ensure compliance, make sure teams have the knowledge they need to make the right decisions. (Alex)

Become an accessibility champion. Learn about the topic yourself so you feel confident in advocating for it. You don’t have to be an expert, so just start somewhere. (Chris)

Have an accessibility charter. It will show your commitment to the issue and will prompt your organisation to think about accessibility from the start. (Julie)

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Accessible Software 101: Free training for procurement teams

To speed progress towards universal access, Nile provides introductory training for procurement teams who want to level up their general knowledge about accessibility and software.

Our 30-minute Zoom sessions are free of charge and designed to enable in-house procurement teams to ask better questions of suppliers selling software or engineering solutions to their business. 

Email hello@nilehq.com with Accessibility & Software Training in the subject line to book a session. 

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Nile News

Vulnerable Customers Summit

Attendees of the Scottish Financial Enterprise Summit facilitated by the team at Nile and hosted by Standard Life

Recently, the team had a brilliant time facilitating the Vulnerable Customers Summit for Scottish Financial Enterprise, hosted by Standard Life. 

The Summit, attended by colleagues and key leaders from SFE member firms including vulnerability leads and customer directors, included representation from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Step Change, a debt counselling charity. Both organisations offered their perspective on how the industry can best serve the increasing issue of financial vulnerability in the UK. They discussed specific situations and customer calls, as well as the upcoming Consumer Duty rules and how they will help firms support vulnerable customers.

📌 And lastly, in case you missed it, the previous issue of The Navigator was on the subjectivity of inclusive design and the challenges of making everyone feel included when they come from different backgrounds.

About Nile

Nile is a Strategic Design team that helps deliver human-centred change in highly regulated industries. Our methods engage employees and customers with new technology and ways of working. Our outcomes help save money and improve business performance.

If you think we can help your teams, reply directly to this email (they come straight to my inbox), or reach out to someone specific via our website.

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