The following is suggested wording to cover issues around inclusivity and accessibility within internal or external communications briefs, potentially included under Mandatories or other appropriate headings.
You may amend or amplify the core wording to make it relevant to your specific audiences, policy goals and communication objectives. We’d also recommend referencing our inclusive communications template where appropriate.
Standard wording for communications briefs
The Equality Act 2010 requires the government to make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people have equal access to information, goods and services. The Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) places a legal obligation on public bodies (and those performing functions on behalf of them) to consider how any policy or decision affects people who are protected under the Equality Act. The 9 protected characteristics in the Equality Act are: age; sex; race; disability; religion or belief; sexual orientation; pregnancy and maternity; gender reassignment; marriage and civil partnership.
Our communications should be based on the social model of disability rather than the medical model of disability. The social model emphasises that people are disabled by the barriers society creates, rather than their impairment or difference. This means that our communications should aim to remove or reduce barriers faced by disabled people.
The UK government is committed to ensuring that all of its communications are inclusive and accessible to all and portraying disability and disabled people positively. This must form a key, audience-led consideration of the campaign’s execution, including creative and design choices, use of language, media-planning and -buying and channel selection. This will help to ensure we reach and engage all audiences in a way that works for them.
Accessibility and inclusion
The campaign should aim to be accessible and inclusive to a wide range of users and access needs, taking into consideration a range of visible and non-visible disabilities, such as:
– Mobility-aid users
– Visually-impaired people
– Those with learning disabilities
– Deaf people and those who are hard of hearing
What is intersectionality?
Intersectionality refers to the interconnected nature of social categorisations such as race, class, gender, disability and other characteristics that create complex, and multifaceted systems of discrimination or disadvantage. It is important to consider how multiple aspects of a person’s identity can impact their perceptions, experiences and needs, and how communications can address this through messaging, format and channels.
Consider intersectional representation where possible, for example:
– Disability
– Ethnicity
– Gender
– Age
– Sexual orientation
– Any other appropriate demographics identified by the supplier to ensure our communications are representative of the communities we serve
Portraying disability
A positive image of disability is a fair, creative and stimulating portrayal of one or more disabled people.
Positive portrayal will help to change public attitudes and raise expectations of what disabled people can achieve. It will also help disabled people to pay attention to, connect with and respond to our communications.
There are often complaints that disabled people are portrayed as either victims or heroes rather than just regular people who are mostly somewhere in between these extremes.
– Use hero characters sparingly. They don’t reflect the everyday reality of all disabled people.
– Generally speaking, do not show disabled people as victims or passive.
– Aim to use disabled actors and models for disabled roles.
More information
The following resources also provide helpful guidance:
– Inclusive and accessible communications (Government Communications)
– Portraying disability, writing about ethnicity and writing about disability (GOV.UK)
– Guidelines on accessible communications (Public Relations and Communications Association)