Section 1: Inclusive communication and business

Introduction

Welcome to the Inclusive Communication Toolkit.  

Communication is a key part of everyone’s job, whether you are in a customer facing role or are communicating internally with colleagues.  

In this toolkit, we want to show you that communicating in an inclusive way is vital if you want your communications to reach everyone. We will also provide you with the tools to make your own communications accessible and inclusive.

What is inclusive communication?

Inclusive communication: 

• Removes barriers that exclude some groups of people, including disabled people, from your communications. 
• Recognises that everyone has communication needs and preferences. 
• Offers people choice over how they receive and communicate information.  
• Represents disabled people in a positive and realistic way.  

Why is inclusive communication important? 

Disabled people have the same need for information as non-disabled people. Yet, the communication needs of disabled people are often overlooked.  

In recent consumer research conducted Business Disability Forum, at least 7 in 10 respondents stated that their disability or access needs had made it more challenging to find the information they needed when looking to make a purchase for example.  

One respondent said: 

“For me as a totally blind person, email, phone or face-to-face are my preferred methods of communication…If online, I need pages uncluttered with adverts, products clearly separated, buttons or checkboxes alt-texted and graphics clearly labelled.” 

Inclusive communication: 

• Makes it easier for disabled consumers and employees to communicate with your organisation.  
• Gives out a strong message about your values as a business and as an employer. 
• Increases employee engagement and productivity 
• Is a right under the Equality Act 2010 
• Creates clearer communication for everyone.

Using this toolkit

In this toolkit, you will find: 

• Presentations and videos about what inclusive communication is and why it is important. 
• Practical resources to help you make your digital and in print communications more accessible. 
• Information about alternative formats – what they are and why they are important. 
• Resources to help you review your communication policies and channels.  
• Case studies from Business Disability Forum Members and Partners. 
• Information about legislation and guidance covering inclusive communications.

Videos – What is inclusive communication and why is it important?

We have created three short videos to help explain what is inclusive communication, why it is important, and the resources we have available in our toolkit to help you make your communications more inclusive and accessible.

1. What is inclusive communication?

Inclusive communication means creating content that everyone can access and engage with. Watch our video below to find out more:

2. Why is inclusive communication important?

Communicating in an accessible and inclusive way benefits your organisation because it means that no one is left out. Watch our video on this below:

3. Inclusive Communication Toolkit: What’s in it?

BDF has created a range of resources to help its Members and Partners create communications which work better for disabled people. Find out more in our video below:

Podcast – Why inclusive communication is important to me by Tracey Lenthall

Tracey Lenthall – an HR Director at PwC – talks about what inclusive communication means to her. Tracey shares some of her experiences and advice about what does and doesn’t work.

Listen to her talk below:

INSERT PODCAST

Read a PDF transcript of this recording below.

If you require a different format of this document, please email us at enquiries@businessdisabilityforum.org.uk.

Video – How live captioning changed how I communicate by Matthew Johnston

Matthew Johnston is Deaf. In this video, he explains how having live captioning available on his phone has changed his life. 

Inclusive communication: What disabled consumers told us

In June 2022, Business Disability Forum published extensive research into the buying experiences of the 1 in 5 people in the UK who have a disability. The research was supported by Microsoft. 

‘What disabled consumers choose to buy and why’ looked at many aspects of the purchasing journey, including inclusive communication. The research found that being able to find the right information – in a format that is accessible – had a significant impact on the purchasing experience of disabled consumers. The research showed why inclusive communication should be a priority for all businesses. 

About this resource

This resource is for: 

• Anyone wanting to find out about the impact of inclusive communication on customer experience. 
• Communication, marketing, and web teams. 
• Anyone interested in disability and inclusion. 

In this resource we will look at key findings from Business Disability Forum’s research and what disabled consumers told us about inclusive communication.  

What disabled consumers told us

following information is taken from Business Disability Forum’s ‘What disabled consumer buy and why: Inclusive communication’, report. The research is based on findings from surveys, panels, focus groups, and in-depth interviews.  

Inclusive communication matters 

Disabled consumers told us that having information in an accessible format influenced the decisions they made. Here is what some of them said: 

“A lot of companies use PDFs; it is not accessible with screen readers… Allow [me to receive] that information in a Word format so I can read it. Avoid columns, rows and text boxes… You would have thought that by now a lot of these companies might have grasped this.”  

“I can’t underline how important it is to put a description on, just having a picture does not help.”  

“I ended up staying with my current bank because I could not get information in easy read format from any other bank.”  

“For me because I use BSL it is hard to communicate with staff in fact sometimes it’s impossible [they] sometimes ask me to write on paper or gesture, a lot of it is just pointing everyday throughout my life…but some shops like Apple will bring an interpreter in but we have to know when they are available it becomes limited for me to access when I want to.”  

“Bank accounts are complicated and can seem very technical. Providing easy to read explanations of features and benefits is the most effective way of me feeling confident in the service and the provider.” 

Finding accessible information can be difficult 

At least 7 in 10 survey respondents said that their disability or access needs had made it more challenging to find the information they needed in certain sectors.  

• Days out for leisure (77 per cent).  
• New places to eat out (75 per cent).  
• Holiday accommodation (73 per cent).  
• Banking and insurance services (70 per cent).  
• Over half of the respondents said the same for the remaining sectors we asked about (retail, utilities, and technology). 

Communication choice 

The research also found that disabled consumers want choice in how they receive and communicate information. Preferences were as follows: 

• Email (66 per cent) 
• Telephone (52 per cent) 
• Face-to-face (52 per cent) 
• Webchat (32 per cent)  
• Text (17 per cent).

Making information accessible

You can find out how to make information accessible to disabled people in the ‘Practical resources’ section of this toolkit.

Infographics about inclusive communication

This section contains 10 infographics based on published statistics. You can use this resource to help you discuss the importance of inclusive communication in your business.

Infographic 1

Literacy is the ability to read, write, speak and listen in a way that lets us communicate effectively and make sense of the world.

• 1 in 6 in England have poor literacy
• 1 in 4 in Scotland lack literacy
• 1 in 8 in Wales lack basic literacy
• 1 in 5 in N. Ireland have poor literacy.

Source: Literacy Trust, Adult Literacy Statistics in England (2012), Scotland (2009), Wales (2010) and Northern Ireland (2012).

Infographic 2

Disabled people appear in less than 2 per cent of the images we see in the media.

7 out of 10 people say they feel more positive towards brands that include disabled people in their advertising.

Source: Verizon Media, The Disability Collection, 2019.

Infographic 3

More than 1 billion people (15%) in the world have a disability.

Source: Global, Disability statistics (WHO, World Report on Disability 2011).

Infographic 4

1 in 5 people in the UK has a disability.

Source: UK, Disability statistics (DWP, Family Resources Survey 2016/17).

Infographic 5

The number of people living with a disability is increasing. Key reasons include:

• Ageing population
• Increase in chronic health conditions.

Source: Global, Disability statistics (WHO, World Report on Disability 2011).

Infographic 6

The number of disabled people using the internet is increasing. It was 10 million in 2019, and 11 million in 2020.

Source: UK, Disability statistics (ONS, Internet users UK: 2020).

Infographic 7

The percentage of disabled using the internet is lower than non-disabled people. 81 per cent of disabled adults use the internet, compared with 92 per cent of non-disabled adults.

Source: UK, Disability statistics (ONS, Internet users: 2020).

Infographic 8

The annual spending power of families with one disabled person is estimated to be £274 billion.

Source: UK , Disability and spending (DWP, Household below average income: 1994/95 to 2017/18).

Infographic 9

At least seven in ten disabled consumers stated that their disability or access needs had made finding the information they needed more difficult in the following sectors:

• New places to eat out (75 per cent)
• Days out and leisure (78 per cent)
• Holiday accommodation (73 per cent)
• Banking and insurance services (70 per cent).

Source: UK, Disability statistics (Business Disability Forum, What disabled consumers choose to buy and why: 2022).

Infographic 10

Disabled consumers want choice in how they communicate with businesses. Survey respondents indicated the following communication preferences:

• Email (66 per cent)
• Telephone (52 per cent)
• Face-to-face (52 per cent)
• Webchat (32 per cent)
• Text (17 per cent).

Source: UK, Disability statistics (Business Disability Forum, What disabled consumers choose to buy and why: 2022).

Inclusive communication and the law: Customers

Service providers

The Equality Act 2010 requires that all service providers, whether big or small provide information in formats that disabled people can access.  

Service providers means any organisation that provides services to the public whether paid for or free of charge.  Examples of service providers include banks, energy companies and other utility providers, shops and restaurants as well as public bodies, such as local authorities, the NHS, government departments and the courts. 

What is meant by accessible information? 

Making information accessible could mean providing for example 

• contracts in Easy-Read 
• bank statements or energy bills in large print 
• restaurant menus in braille or with a QR code that can be scanned and then read out by a smart phone 
• sending receipts via email 

Inclusive communication 

Service providers  also have to take steps to communicate with their disabled customers in a way that is accessible for them. Communication includes receiving and giving information – organisations should not only make their communication accessible; they should also make it easy for their disabled customers to communicate with them. 

This can include: 

• providing a BSL interpreter for meetings, theatre performances or concerts 
• arranging a face-to-face meeting, instead of requiring customers to fill in online forms or call telephone call centres 

• setting up a video relay service so that Deaf BSL users can contact a call centre 
• communicating via email instead of sending letters or requiring the customer to telephone.

What does the law say?

Under the Equality Act 2010 a service provider must not:

• directly discriminate against a disabled customer – for example, by refusing to serve a disabled person or people with a particular disability like a learning disability 
• treat a disabled person unfavourably for a reason arising out of their disability. Examples of unfavourable treatment include:

1. providing information in accessible formats later to disabled customers than for customers who can read print and so giving the disabled person less time to make a decision or pay.  
2. penalising a customer for not acting on a letter which they could not read because of their disability. 
3. providing information about health screening or staying safe in formats which customers cannot read or understand. 
4. insisting that a customer agrees to terms and conditions of a contract that they cannot read or understand 

Service providers have to make reasonable adjustments to remove or reduce the impact of barriers that disabled customers face because of their disability. Examples of reasonable adjustments include: 

• providing information in alternative formats such as Braille, large print, Easy-Read or via email or SMS so that it can be read via a screen reader. 
• having sign language interpreters available for Deaf customers who do not read English as a first language and need information explained. 

Example 

A woman waiting for a medical appointment tells the hospital that she is blind and so will not be able to read any letters that they send with dates and times of an appointment. The hospital makes a note on her file and instead of sending her a letter they send an SMS message to her smartphone with the date and time of her appointment and details of how she can contact the hospital if she needs to change her appointment which include a telephone number and email address.

Anticipating the needs of your disabled customers 

Unlike for employees where you only have to make reasonable adjustments when you know or could reasonably be expected to know that the employee is facing a barrier, service providers must anticipate the needs of disabled customers. 

In practice this means that service providers need to think in advance about how disabled people might be disadvantaged by the way the service is provided. This means conducting a “barrier analysis” exercise across all areas of the service and thinking about whether people with different disabilities might struggle to use the service for example people with 

• Sight loss 
• Hearing loss 
• Speech impairments 
• Dyslexia, dyspraxia or dyscalculia 
• Autism 
• Learning disabilities 
• Dementia or cognitive injuries 
• Mental health conditions.

Consequences of not providing accessible information 

A disabled person who has been discriminated against because a service provider has not provided information in an accessible format can bring a claim for disability discrimination. If the claim is successful, the court can order the service provider to pay compensation and change the way the service is provided in future. 

Even if a disabled customer does not start legal proceedings the consequences of excluding disabled people could be losing that person and their families’ business or worse, putting the disabled customer at the risk of harm because they did not receive the information they needed. 

British Sign Language (BSL) Act 2022 

The BSL Act 2022 came into force on 28 June 2022. The BSL Act recognises British Sign Language as a language in its own right in England, Scotland and Wales.  It also requires the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to report on the promotion and facilitation of BSL in Government Departments. The Government will also issue guidance to Government Departments and agencies such as the NHS on how to meet the needs of BSL users. 

Inclusive communication and the law: Employees

Disability discrimination

The Equality Act 2010 makes it unlawful for employers to discriminate against disabled applicants for jobs and disabled employees. This means that employers must provide information in formats that the disabled applicant or employee can access. 

An employer must not:

• directly discriminate against a disabled person e.g. by refusing to hire a disabled person or people with a particular disability simply because they have that disability 
• treat a disabled person unfavourably for a reason arising out of their disability. Examples of unfavourable treatment include:

1. Insisting that applications for jobs are made on application forms which cannot be completed using a screen reader. 
2. Providing employment contracts and employment policies in a format that a disabled customer cannot read e.g. print. 
3. Distributing information only via an inaccessible intranet.  
4. Only providing paper copies of agendas and papers for people attending meetings rather than distributing them in advance electronically. 
5. Insisting that emails or documents are produced only in formats that are inaccessible to some disabled people e.g. HTML or PDF. 
6. Marking employees down in appraisals or penalising them for failure to process information quickly when it hasn’t been provided in accessible formats. 

Employers have to make reasonable adjustments to remove or reduce the impact of barriers that disabled people face because of their disability. Adjustments must be made when the employer becomes aware or could reasonably be expected to be aware that the applicant or employee has a disability and is facing barriers. This could be when the disabled person tells the employer about their disability or if the manager spots signs that the person is struggling to read or understand information  

Examples of reasonable adjustments include 

• providing information in alternative formats such as Braille, large print, Easy-Read or via email so that it can be read via a screen reader. 
• having sign language interpreters available for Deaf employees who do not read English as a first language and need information explained. 
• providing software such as Jaws or Dragon which can read out written information for employees with dyslexia or sight loss. 
• ensuring all videos, webinars and video calls are subtitled or captioned. 

Consequences of not providing accessible information

An applicant for a job who was unable to access information such as the job description and to apply in a format that was accessible to them could bring a claim for disability discrimination against the employer. 

Similarly, employees who are disadvantaged because they cannot access information such as employment policies, payslips or work papers that others have could also bring claims for disability discrimination. 

Employment Tribunals can make unlimited awards for compensation if the claim for disability discrimination is successful.  

Making information inaccessible might also mean that employers miss out on the best candidate for a job or fail to get the best out of an employee who struggles to be productive because they cannot access the information they need quickly or at all.

British Sign Language (BSL) Act 2022

The BSL Act 2022 came into force on 28 June 2022. The BSL Act recognises British Sign Language as a language in its own right in England, Scotland and Wales.  It also requires the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to report on the promotion and facilitation of BSL in Government Departments. The Government will also issue guidance to Government Departments and agencies such as the NHS on how to meet the needs of BSL users.

Presentation – Why inclusive communication matters to your organisation

We have created a PowerPoint about the importance of inclusive communication to a business. We include statements and quotations from business leaders, and top tips to consider.