What does inclusive and accessible communications actually mean?
When people think about inclusive and accessible communication, they often focus on how language, and perception of language have changed: what was once acceptable may no longer be, and issues that previously received little attention are now salient. Language evolves alongside society, and with shifting expectations, especially in today’s political climate in the UK, it can feel like communication is like walking on thinner ice.
But in reality, it’s not. I used to think that being good at communications, or writing means piling up complex vocabulary, and write like Shakespeare, assuming that if someone didn’t understand, it reflected their limitations rather than mine (As a former international student, I blame all the English exams we had to take). Over time, I have realised that the opposite is true. Successful communications deliver clear, compelling, and easy-to-understand messages to our target audience and stakeholders, as the purpose of communications and engagement is to let our audiences understand our messages and bring them onboard.
Some time ago, I attended a workshop with PRCA on inclusive and accessible communications. One key takeaway was that true inclusivity goes beyond simply using gender-neutral or non-discriminatory language, important as that is. It also involves the way we structure our messages and the strategies behind them.
One particularly interesting point was the emphasis on avoiding jargon, idioms, and unclear expressions, for example, “to throw somebody under the bus”, as certain groups of neurodivergent individuals or people who didn’t grow up in this language context (myself included) may perceive it as literally throwing a person under the bus while failing to understand the actual but underlined meaning. This is especially important in the public sector or local government sphere, as our audiences come from all kinds of backgrounds and experiences.
Apart from proper wordings, inclusivity and accessibility should also be part of the comms strategy. As we think about our audiences and stakeholders, we naturally think about what channels they use, what language resonates with them, and how we want to be perceived. Applying an inclusive and accessible lens strengthens all of these areas, from reputation management and branding to stakeholder engagement. It’s also, quite simply, the right thing to do. When we embed this perspective from the beginning, at a strategic level, it naturally shapes our execution in copywriting, colour schemes, or even the use of emojis.
Ultimately, everyone processes information differently, and we will have accessible needs at one point in our lives. While diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) may be dismissed in some parts of the world as unnecessary or superficial, as comms professionals who work with public sector and communities, the messages we deliver, the posts we put on various channels are never just client work, they help define what is considered acceptable, inclusive, and encouraged. If we want progress in diversity and inclusion to endure, small steps start from ourselves.
