Speaking to Everyone: Inclusive Communication

Claire Dibben – 06:03

And then we also have. TalkType, which is our dictation software. It’s seriously fast, incredibly accurate, and it works across all major platforms. So Mac, windows, Chromebook, and also on mobile as well. And the best part of both of these products, and yes, I work for CareScribe.

Claire Dibben – 06:22

I am biased, but there’s no training or setup. Faff the feedback that we get from our customers and our users is that they’re incredibly, incredibly intuitive. You can just open the apps and start using them straight away. So if you’re curious about how either of these tools work, how they can support your team, or your organisation, just hit yes, please.

Claire Dibben – 06:44

On the little poll that’s popping up shortly, and one of our team members will be in touch to give you a proper look Okay. Glass of water and then we’ll introduce Jodie. So housekeeping and a very quick update to share with you all.

Claire Dibben – 07:00

So tomorrow. You will receive an email which will include access to the recording of today’s live webinar. That email will include a full transcript. Generated by Caption.Ed and a feedback survey where you can let us know how you found today and share any recommendations or thoughts to help us improve these events for you.

Claire Dibben – 07:19

As many of you already have done, please get involved with the chat. If you can. Use this time to talk with your peers and share your experiences. I say this every time It’s one of my, um. It’s one of the my favourite things about these webinars. Um, the fact that we get these brilliant speakers on that spark conversation in the chat and just witnessing these exchanges from people, people sharing their experience and tips about how they’ve improved things in their workplace for their colleagues It’s one of the things that I really treasure about these events that we run.

Claire Dibben – 07:50

So I want to encourage you to keep using the chat function as you are. Um, whilst I encourage it, I understand that it can get quite busy and that can be distracting for some people. So if you need to, you can turn off the chat previews and you can also mute your notifications as well.

Claire Dibben – 08:07

So you can do that by using the little drop down arrow, which is next to the chat function at the bottom of your screen. And whilst I’ve got your attention there, you’ll also notice that there is a little Q&A button down there. I’m going to point point to where hopefully should be on your screen.

Claire Dibben – 08:23

Um, this will stop your questions getting lost in the chat. So if you have any questions for Jodie today and I would encourage you to make use of the time because we’ve got Q&A at the end. Put your questions in the Q&A section and not in the chat because as you will probably notice, the chat gets very busy and it’s quite hard to keep track of if you put them in the Q&A section.

Claire Dibben – 08:44

What everyone else can do on the call is they can upvote which questions they’re also interested in, having answered, and it just means we can choose which ones to tackle as a priority. Um, and finally, because it’s the most popular question that we get asked, yes, this webinar is being recorded and you’ll receive it in your inbox tomorrow.

Claire Dibben – 09:03

Tomorrow’s email will also include an update about the future of Skill Sessions, which I know you will want to read about, so please keep your eyes peeled on your inbox tomorrow morning. Right? Shall we introduce today’s speaker, Jodie? I’m going to invite you to join me on screen whilst I do a brief introduction.

Claire Dibben – 09:21

So Jodie is the founder and CEO of Be People. Smart. It’s an organisation which is dedicated to driving disability inclusion and accessibility in a meaningful and practical way. And after more than 20 years in the corporate world.

Claire Dibben – 09:36

Jodie launched Be People Smart to help organisations become truly inclusive. So what sets her apart is how she combines her deep expertise with insights shaped by the lived experiences of thousands of deaf, disabled and neurodivergent people.

Claire Dibben – 09:53

Hello. Jodie and welcome to Skill

Jodie Greer – 09:58

Hello, Claire. It’s great to be here. Thank you so much for.

Claire Dibben – 10:02

Joining us. Right. I’ve done, I’ve done enough talking. So I’m going to mute myself. Turn my camera off. I’ll let you get stuck in and I’ll be back towards the end of the Q&A.

Jodie Greer – 10:11

Thank you very much. So I am going to share, um, my little, um, deck with you. Um, while I’m doing that, I just want to say I was actually really excited about today because I really like the team at CareScribe. But seeing the chat and how busy it got already and the people that are attending and why.

Jodie Greer – 10:29

Um, yeah, you can probably tell I get very enthusiastic. Because it’s great that you’re all here and that you all care so much. So just to let you know, um, I am going to share it as much helpful guidance as I can in the time we have together.

Jodie Greer – 10:45

I don’t want to overwhelm people. So I hope it’s, um, not too much in the time we have, but I was really conscious that we didn’t have enough time for my full workshop. But you’re all here. You’re a wonderful audience, and I wanted to make sure you had as many, many takeaways as was going to make this time really valuable for you.

Jodie Greer – 11:06

So we will be making a difference through inclusive communication together. And Claire already introduced me far better than I do anyway. So thank you to Clare for that. Uh, what I would say is, if you want to connect with me after this session today, hopefully you do.

Jodie Greer – 11:22

Um, but you can absolutely find me on LinkedIn for anyone who can’t see my name written here, a reminder of the spelling. It’s Jodie and Greer is g r e e r. And there’s a cartoon version of me on screen here giving you a wave.

Jodie Greer – 11:38

Um, her hair looks a lot better than mine because it’s down and mine is tied up because I’m still very hot. Um, you can also find more about BP smart on our website, which is B People smart UK, and there is a point to that.

Jodie Greer – 11:53

And I will share that right at the end So we probably have quite a converted audience here, but of course everybody’s got different experiences. So there’s something I just wanted to share right at the beginning of this session. And that is that disability inclusion really is simply good business practice.

Jodie Greer – 12:13

Now, accessibility isn’t just about, um, disabled people. It’s not, you know, it’s not just about disability, but the reality is for many disabled people. If communication isn’t inclusive and accessible, they are excluded.

Jodie Greer – 12:29

I personally often feel excluded from communications, and I’ll come on to a little bit of that later. So just to look at some statistics. We know that we have more than a billion disabled people in this world. That is a lot of people now because we have some more detailed statistics in the UK.

Jodie Greer – 12:49

I’m going to, share some more of those. We know that in the UK alone, we have more than 16 million disabled people. Anyone who’s dialling in from outside of the UK. Often we’re seen as quite a small island, so it just goes to show the number of people, um, that we’re talking about when we think about disability inclusion, big fact is, the spending power of disabled people and their households, which we call the purple pound, is worth a staggering 13 trillion USD every year.

Jodie Greer – 13:21

So that is a huge amount of money. That businesses are missing out on. If they aren’t being actively inclusive. So what does that look like in numbers? So we know that 22% of UK adults are disabled. And the reason I say about adults is for most of us, of course, our stakeholders.

Jodie Greer – 13:40

The talent we want to reach, our employees, our customers are indeed adults. So for anyone who’s good at maths, but that’s 220. Of every thousand employees, customers and stakeholders. That is huge. But also, um, we know from government statistics in the UK.

Jodie Greer – 13:59

For instance, that we have 35% of adults living with a long term health condition. So at the bottom of the screen, there is a little pie chart and it shows you a chunk that is 22%. And I’ve added the extra just to show that big chunk of 35%.

Jodie Greer – 14:14

Um, I don’t want to confuse you with numbers, but it’s important to note, of course, that some people with long term health conditions don’t. Um, consider themselves with a disability. So that’s even more. People. We’re talking about. But the real point of this information is just to show that huge section of society.

Jodie Greer – 14:34

That we need to be making sure we’re not missing, because of course, people are what matter to business. And we don’t want to miss that huge number So people, of course, should always be enough for everybody. But I showing now a very busy slide.

Jodie Greer – 14:51

So please don’t worry about the details. And there’s a reason a slide is really busy is because there’s also a legal compliance aspect to this. And it is growing. So there are more than active. And sorry, more than 80 active legislations around the world right now.

Jodie Greer – 15:10

Relating to disability inclusion or specifically accessibility. Now there are 18 countries listed on here. And the reason these particular 18 countries are here with their legislation beside them is because all of these legislations are not solely for public sector organisations, because some are and they are not solely for websites, because some legislation is very Webb specific.

Jodie Greer – 15:39

So we’re just wanted to show the real broad width of compliance regulation, you know, we all have to stand by this. And this is why I wanted to give you a quick glance. So I will for anyone who isn’t able to see the screen, I will give you a couple of examples.

Jodie Greer – 15:56

So in Australia, right at the top here we have the disability Discrimination Act 1992. In India we have a rights of persons with Disability Act 2016. And I will share, um, for the UK. Um, we have the Equality Act 2010 and we also have the disability Discrimination Act 1995.

Jodie Greer – 16:18

Still, um, active in Northern Ireland. So as I say, I know there’s a lot of information here, but it’s really important for us to note that we do have, um, compliance obligations as well as the human ones, which are my favourite So coming away from some of the more serious side, um, one other thing.

Jodie Greer – 16:39

I’m always really keen to share with people is that you can absolutely be brand compliant and inclusive. Because I know sometimes people get worried that, you know, they’ve got their colour palettes, that they need to use. Um, they’ve got different brand identity that they need to make sure that they’re also complying with.

Jodie Greer – 17:00

So it absolutely can happen. But sometimes does need a bit more thought to make sure that that is inclusive. So this is with your colour palettes. It is with your font styles and it is with your templates. So as an example, with your templates, if you’re actually setting people up to succeed from the beginning, and I’m going to explain a bit about what that can look like.

Jodie Greer – 17:23

But if your templates are accessible and have the right. Guard guidance, then you’re already enabling people from the off. And that can make a real difference. The other things I will come on to as we go into more detail. Like this.

Jodie Greer – 17:43

So sharing inclusive communication, um, I have just listed the topics I’m going to cover. So as I go through each one for this, these particular topics, please do take note of any of your questions and get them into that Q&A.

Jodie Greer – 17:59

Because obviously, if anything needs more clarity, I want to make sure, um, I can share with you at the end. And as it says here, because we want to share with care. So the first thing is about accessible font styles and your formatting. So what that means is making sure we’re using font styles that are easily legible for the maximum amount of people.

Jodie Greer – 18:22

So the simplest way is Sun serif style fonts. If you don’t know what that term means, it’s the non curly styles like Ariel, Ariel is my personal favourite, but that’s just an example. So they’ve got nice clear um lines and gaps between the letters.

Jodie Greer – 18:40

So that they can flow nicely and people can actually follow the lines of text without them flowing into each other feeling like they’re dancing on screen. And people will absolutely have different preferences. But if you can choose one that is as accessible as possible.

Jodie Greer – 18:55

Then certainly you’re setting off from a winning streak. Now the formatting is also really key. And for instance, I will say, um, left is best. That’s one of my favourite. Uh, sayings when it comes to text.

Jodie Greer – 19:11

But it’s because if we’re talking about any language where you read from left to right. Any blocks of text left alignment is what you want. And I’m going to explain that very briefly. It’s because for a lot of people, when you, for instance, centre a line text.

Jodie Greer – 19:27

You’re not starting from a blunt line and it starts getting really difficult to follow. Which line you were on, which line comes next? Because they’re so jagged. And so having that blunt line at the start makes it a lot easier for many people to be able to read and actually, if it’s not easy to read, a lot of people just won’t read it.

Jodie Greer – 19:50

Another example, um, is when people justify their text and I know that people do this because they often think it looks pretty by having blunt lines at both ends, but actually that makes it really difficult to read for so many people, because what it does and you can have a look at this next time you’re playing with your text, it basically starts making strange gaps between the wording.

Jodie Greer – 20:15

And so because they’re isn’t, um, a consistent formatting, if you like, you know, a consistent design style. Again, it starts getting very messy and the text can start dancing about and it just makes the text less legible.

Jodie Greer – 20:31

So I’ll be honest, it isn’t pretty. If people can’t read it. So that’s why I always say left is best. So remember of course that is for languages where we read from left to right. Making your text. Easy. Read. So that is thinking about using simple language.

Jodie Greer – 20:49

You know, easy read English. So I’ll give you, um, an honest backlog of my own on this or backstory. I should say I did spend as Claire alluded to, more than 20 years in the corporate world. Obviously, I was six when I started, um, but I learnt really bad habits because when I was first working, you got taught that, you know, business communication should have long words and that made it look very professional and actually it took a long time to learn that nobody was actually impressed with that and all it did is it took everybody longer to read everything.

Jodie Greer – 21:28

And I’ve spent years unlearning those habits. So clear. English is absolutely the way forward. No matter who your audience is First of all, of course you don’t know the needs of your audience anyway. Um, even if you know them well, because they may not have shared.

Jodie Greer – 21:44

But it doesn’t matter. The level of someone for instance, we’re all human, so. Easy read is always the best way forward. Um, there are tools that can help you with that as well. Another thing I want easy read is keeping your paragraphs short. When there’s this big block of text.

Jodie Greer – 22:01

Not only can it be more difficult for people to read and to try and absorb, because people have different working memories as well, and sometimes have to read things more than once. Keeping short paragraphs makes that easier. But also they can actually be really overwhelming for people.

Jodie Greer – 22:17

And it’s just too much. And it will often mean people will scroll past and they won’t read it. So keeping them short is absolutely the way to go. Intuitive hyperlinks. So when I say intuitive, what I mean is do your links tell me what they do.

Jodie Greer – 22:34

So often you’ll look on websites, for instance, and you’ll see. Click here So first of all here. If my working memory wasn’t good, I would need to read again to even realise what here was for. But also if I was using a screen reader, lots of screen readers are very clever.

Jodie Greer – 22:52

So what you can actually do, you can give yourself a list of all of the links on a page so you can read, you know, everything that’s happening, and then you can actually get yourself a list of the different links to make that, um, informed decision of where you actually want to navigate to.

Jodie Greer – 23:07

But if you get that list of links up and it says more and more. Here, here, more, no idea what they’re for. So if your link said be people smart website, see what I did there. Um, you know exactly where that link is taking you.

Jodie Greer – 23:26

And I would go one further to say if you were going to put a link in that said, um, sorry, that was taking you to a video, it’s always good to make that clear. So, for instance, um, a three minute introduction video to CareScribe.

Jodie Greer – 23:42

That lets someone make a decision there and then first of all, they’re going to go to another platform. Secondly, that they are now kind of electing to spend that three minutes right now to be able to watch that video, or they can choose then to come back later because they know where to find the link.

Jodie Greer – 23:58

And they also know that that video is available and they can come and find out that information. So yeah, those intuitive hyperlinks really matter. Now on social media. That’s not as easy because we can’t actually make links from our text directly.

Jodie Greer – 24:14

But you can still explain what the link is. And then provide it. So you can still be as intuitive as possible and make it as clear as possible. But no, you can’t necessarily do it with the direct text inclusive and accessible images.

Jodie Greer – 24:33

So yeah, there is lots of imagery. Um, online and certainly on socials. That many people are completely excluded from. So I am going to talk about colour, contrast in a moment anyway.

Jodie Greer – 24:48

But for instance, if the colours aren’t sufficiently contrasted and they’re merging together, or the information isn’t even visible because of it, that’s part of that. But then you’ve also got for the people that can’t see them clearly either, because, um, it could be super colour blindness.

Jodie Greer – 25:04

It could do with, um, be because of a visual disability. Whatever the reasons, if somebody needs the text alternative, it’s really important that that is provided. So on your platforms. Um, you can absolutely add alt text behind an image which is read by a screen reader.

Jodie Greer – 25:22

And so that alt text should give the same context of the image. And the reason I say that as, um, reason that’s so important is for instance, if I wrote alt text that said a woman smiling. Any particular woman if I wrote alt text that said Joe Greer.

Jodie Greer – 25:46

In front of a B people smart banner. Smiling and waving. That was the context of the image. So I hope that makes it really clear what I mean by context. What I would say as well, with alt text, though, is don’t get too hung up in what’s correct.

Jodie Greer – 26:03

You know, the meaning of your image. You know why you’ve put it in your socials, on your website. So that’s the purpose and that’s what you need to share. Because I do get a lot of people contact me and say, I’m a bit concerned that I don’t get it right or what should I add for this one?

Jodie Greer – 26:21

Because I’ve seen other people do it a bit differently. That’s fine. We’re all going to do it differently as long as it’s given the correct message. So and that correct. As sorry. By correct, I mean the context. So that’s something to bear in mind. I will add. However, that for actually for all platforms, but particularly for social media, it’s really important to note that not everybody who needs a text alternative uses a screen reader.

Jodie Greer – 26:49

So some people actually need to be able to read for themselves. Be that because they will magnify the text whichever way they consume your information, they will need to read for themselves what that image is. So if, for instance, you look on any of my LinkedIn posts, you will actually see an image description in the post itself.

Jodie Greer – 27:10

And so what I do, I do a very short alt text because it just helps people navigate and understand what that image referred to. And then I elaborate and I put it in the, um, post itself so that everybody is included. Um, you screen reader users can absolutely navigate and understand where they are, but everybody can understand the context of my image.

Jodie Greer – 27:31

And that’s what I do. But even on your websites for instance, just think within the text that’s around your imagery. Is it still clear if somebody can’t see your image clearly? So I hope that that all makes sense because I know that people often feel quite overwhelmed when it comes to providing alt text and image descriptions.

Jodie Greer – 27:54

It really doesn’t need to be a scary space. So, um, please ask your questions. If anything, I said felt like a second language. Um, I really do want to make sure that that was as clear as it should be. Um, careful use of colours and check in your contrast.

Jodie Greer – 28:14

So I’m going to talk about contrast first. Actually, because I referenced it in images. It is so important that when we’re using any colours together, you know, when they’re overlapping, when they’re touching, that those colours have a sufficient contrast. I’ll give you an example.

Jodie Greer – 28:30

Yellow and white. It is used so often and for most shades of yellow with white it’s like the worst. Um, contrast. So for so many people it is literally invisible. It’s not the only, um, combination.

Jodie Greer – 28:46

Of course, but it’s just an example. Whereas if you were to put black text on a yellow background. Then you start realising it pops. So actually, actually also becomes more creative because not only can people see your messages, but they’re literally getting more of a pop to your media.

Jodie Greer – 29:05

You know, to your images that they’re basically they’re doing their job. They’re capturing attention. So that’s really important. But so is colour. And you do have colour. Contrast analysers. I will tell you for free.

Jodie Greer – 29:21

Um, that you can use online. Um, anyone needs me to signpost them. Please do ask because, um, I’m sure that Care Scribe also um, will be looking at these kind of tools as well. Um, but one particular one I will share is web.

Jodie Greer – 29:38

Just because it’s web based and it is really simple. You can either put your colour code in if you need it or you can, um, actually select the colour with your mouse. So it’s really quick and easy to use and you can just compare two colours. It tells you if it’s sufficient.

Jodie Greer – 29:54

Um, but if you need any more information, like I say, that is what the Q&A is for. Now, careful use of colours is another really key aspect First of all, um, one simple thing. Is overly bright colours.

Jodie Greer – 30:11

Your neon type colours. Now I know that some people they want a wow factor. And so sometimes they use them intentionally trying to capture attention. And in the right setting, maybe that can work, but I will tell you that for a lot of people, it’s not just overstimulating.

Jodie Greer – 30:30

It can actually cause physical pain. So those overly bright colours. Can send your audience running for the hills. So I would be very, very cautious with colours that are too bright. Uh, but just be aware of that because of course you do want to capture attention and not scare people off.

Jodie Greer – 30:49

Um, the other thing with use of colours is not relying on colour to share information. So that could be, um, if you were going to show a bar chart or a pie chart for instance, if you were just going to have a key that said, you know, red was summer, green was winter, yellow was autumn, and blue was, um, spring to think then if people can’t see your colours.

Jodie Greer – 31:19

Or for instance, um, because of a visual impairment, they actually couldn’t see your chart. There. No information. So adding a simple label to those sections makes a world of difference. So that’s something that always to be really aware of is when you’re using colour.

Jodie Greer – 31:38

But for instance, even if you were going to say, um, the red line shows you the information that we’re trying to share, which line is red? If I can’t see colours? So always think about that.

Jodie Greer – 31:56

Using colour to share information just doesn’t work for so many people. So it always needs to be an alternative, making it really clear what information you’re actually trying to share The next one on here is about captions.

Jodie Greer – 32:13

Um, and of course you’ve you’ve heard about captions today already. But accurate and accessible captions are so important when we are sharing all the information. So your videos, your podcasts. And the reason I say accurate and accessible.

Jodie Greer – 32:30

Is, first of all, accuracy really is key. Making sure that the captions actually go in time with the audio because unfortunately, some automated, um, captions. Just don’t do that.

Jodie Greer – 32:46

It doesn’t mean you can’t use them, but it’s looking at that and seeing if you can then need to make some changes to make it work for people. I use automated captions myself, and sometimes I just need to make changes. When I say accessible captions.

Jodie Greer – 33:04

I’m going to say that not the horrible ones, and I can’t think of a nicer word. This is one particular way I am. Absolutely excluded from so much social media content at the moment. Because some person has decided to create this new type of captions.

Jodie Greer – 33:23

And when I talk about this new type of captions, I’m talking about the ones that I have a bounce around the screen, a word at a time. Or they dance around because the words change colour. Um, or they seem to think it’s a karaoke. Um, I literally can’t watch them.

Jodie Greer – 33:41

And I know I’m not alone and I and lots of people grimace at these on a regular. I literally have to try and quickly scroll past. I can’t even comment on people’s, um, social media posts often to tell them I can’t watch because I can’t get rid of them to within the, uh, comment section.

Jodie Greer – 34:01

So accessible captions are good contrast text to background. Ideally only one line at a time. And and in time with the audio that is it. That is as simple as it is.

Jodie Greer – 34:17

The reality is captions are an accessibility tool for lots of people. You know. Of course there are people who are deaf or hard of hearing who absolutely rely on them, but we have so many more people now who rely on captions. It could be depending on the setting, you know, someone watching on a train, they haven’t got a headset.

Jodie Greer – 34:38

They don’t want to play the video to the entire carriage. Nobody likes that. Let’s be honest. Um, so it could be because of their setting. It could be because some people find too much audio quite overwhelming. And so for sometimes it’s just better to give them some kind of release by reading the content rather than listening to it.

Jodie Greer – 34:59

There’s lots of reasons people choose to do this. The good thing is these accessibility tools have given people options. They’ve given people choices, and we can now consume different media styles in ways that work for us. I mean, that’s wonderful. So when technology works, it’s a fantastic thing.

Jodie Greer – 35:16

So yes, absolutely. Make sure you captions are accurate and accessible. And if you have been using what I call horrible captions, um, I’m I’m not making personal slights to your content, but I am making you aware that so many of us are scrolling past we can’t even look, um, audio descriptions.

Jodie Greer – 35:40

This is another big thing I see. So much content that first of all, you haven’t got audio descriptions for captions, so I’ll give you an example. You haven’t got, um, if there was a road safety video within the captions.

Jodie Greer – 35:59

There’s no context. If you had a parent and child just about to cross a road and you could hear a fast car coming, that’s a big part of that video. But if that’s not in the captions, then the fact that they go to cross has no real impact.

Jodie Greer – 36:18

If you actually said, you know, sound fast, car approaching, they’re going to step out. It gives everybody the same experience. So that’s something to bear in mind. The other thing also with audio, um, which is more about voiceover, is about making sure if you can see it, you can hear it, because for people that can’t see your content, are you providing a voiceover?

Jodie Greer – 36:44

Alternative? So it could be, um, that you actually design that in from script. Because if you’re creating something new that’s always going to be the best way. And if not, it is about adding voiceover. Because of course you can share wonderful information about yourself in writing.

Jodie Greer – 37:00

But if I can’t see it. It isn’t there. So that’s one key thing. The other thing I would say is sometimes, um, videos are silent intentionally, as in, that’s a big part of the impact. And you don’t want to reduce that.

Jodie Greer – 37:17

But if that is the case, it’s really important that you provide a very clear video description. So on social media, that would be in your post. Um, if that removes the impact, you could say, um, video description in comments for instance, there’s always a way to do it to make sure you’re including absolutely as many people as possible.

Jodie Greer – 37:36

But just remember, if you see it, you should be able to hear it. And if you hear it, you should be able to see it. That’s pretty much the rule of thumb to keep your videos and your audio feeds as accessible and inclusive as possible. Accessible dates and times.

Jodie Greer – 37:54

Um, this is something that’s very interesting. Um, because particularly and not just for people with dyscalculia, but particularly for people with dyscalculia, um, this comes up to me all the time. If you wrote three.

Jodie Greer – 38:11

Five. 20, 25. Depending on where someone was in the world. Was that on the 3rd of May, or was that on the 5th of March? I’m not actually sure where I’m looking for this information. If you wrote 3rd May, 2025.

Jodie Greer – 38:29

Everybody gets the same message. So that’s something that really does help now. Time formats. The reason I mentioned this earlier, particularly, is I know a lot of people who have dyscalculia and cannot, um, use a 24 hour clock.

Jodie Greer – 38:46

The the numbers just don’t compute. So when we say things like 1600 hours. What time is that? What time do you need me? What time is our meeting? So simple. Timing. Like 4 p.m..

Jodie Greer – 39:02

And remember the time zone. If you’ve got a wider audience. So for pm BST really does make a massive difference to your communication. So I know I’ve covered that in quite a short amount of time, but I hope I’ve given you what you need and I’ll find that in the questions Something else about imagery, and this isn’t always easy, but if you are going to include group images in your materials, please make sure that you’re also thinking about visible disabilities.

Jodie Greer – 39:32

I know that lots actually majority of um disabilities are actually invisible, but of course in imagery it is important that when people are thinking about different genders, when people are thinking about different ethnicities, which of course are also essential, we are also thinking about disabilities.

Jodie Greer – 39:50

Now, the reason it’s not always easy is because unfortunately, stock images aren’t, um, very progressive and often you get, you know, a section of a wheelchair will and not much else on offer. So, you know, all I can say is, you know, do your best, but just think about it.

Jodie Greer – 40:08

Because making sure that we capture, um, disabilities in those images really helps to drive those inclusive, um, conversations. And on screen. Now I have all of the BP pull smart personas. They actually do have proper stories and are all made up from lived experiences of multiple people.

Jodie Greer – 40:27

So if you do go to the website later, you can meet them under tools and resources and find out all about them for yourselves. And I just want to touch on inclusive meetings.

Jodie Greer – 40:42

So hopefully, um, some of this is quite clear, but again, please get your questions in. If it isn’t, make it simple for attendees to share their accessibility needs. You know, making sure people know that you care, that you want to know what their access needs are.

Jodie Greer – 41:01

But it needs to be a very simple method. Who are they telling? How are they telling them? And are those means of communication also accessible? Share agendas and accessible slides in advance because not everybody absorbs information in the same way or not.

Jodie Greer – 41:19

Everybody reads in the same time. It’s really important that people can take in information in a way that works for them. It could be with a screen reader, it could be just a reading speed that works for them. You can absolutely withhold impact slides so that you don’t spoil moments.

Jodie Greer – 41:36

But sharing your agendas to set a scene so that everybody’s on the same page. And those accessible slides really helps to keep people part of your meetings. Manage your speakers. Now, this may sound obvious to some people, but we’ve all been there and we’ve all been in those meetings, particularly if they’re hybrid meetings and some are in a room and some are online.

Jodie Greer – 42:00

So making sure audio is clear and there isn’t overlap in conversation, not only is that more inclusive for absolutely everyone, but also if you’re relying on a sign language interpreter or your captions.

Jodie Greer – 42:16

Inaudible. Is not helpful. So that’s why. Clear audio makes an absolute world of difference. Allow time for sharing and welcome input. Some people will need to be invited into a conversation to make sure that they actually do feel invited in, and they feel welcome.

Jodie Greer – 42:36

And I know I sound like I’m repeating myself, but you know, some people are very confident and they will share their thoughts and feedback. But actually, in a smaller setting, for instance, going around the table, checking with people if they have anything to share can make all that difference, because everybody realises you do mean them sharing notes and actions after meetings.

Jodie Greer – 43:00

This can really help everybody stay on the same page. Um, I know we don’t have time for a story, but um, I will very quickly tell you that if somebody leaves a meeting and there has been any, you know, sarcasm.

Jodie Greer – 43:17

Humour. Used where something was considered a good idea. And it was a joke. For lots of people who take things very literally. They’re leaving thinking that’s a good idea. And that’s an action for them. If you take notes of all the actions and everybody leaves with exactly the same understanding, the world is a happier place and everybody’s more productive.

Jodie Greer – 43:42

I’ve mentioned about providing accurate captions, and the reason I say that for meetings as well is sometimes automated captions are not sufficient. It really does depend on the type of meeting. Obviously, automated captions. Now, we’ve heard about some today already can work wonders because they’re progress so much.

Jodie Greer – 44:01

But sometimes they aren’t sufficient. And we do need the human interface. So consider that depending on the size and the subject matter of your meeting. Um, just to be very conscious of it, for things like big town halls and that kind of thing. And be ready to provide sign language interpreting, lots of people often think that captioning is a great replacement for sign language.

Jodie Greer – 44:26

And actually it isn’t anyone who uses sign language as a first language. So for instance, British Sign Language is not signed English. It is a language all of its own. It has its own grammar. So learning English is learning a second language. So following captions the whole way through a meeting is reading a second language that entire time.

Jodie Greer – 44:47

Exhausting? So please do bear that in mind. Very briefly to let you know, um, about presentation skills. It isn’t always what you say. It can be how you say it. So just for very few, like literally just a few seconds, because I know we need to go to Q&A.

Jodie Greer – 45:08

I’m going to ask you all to please close your eyes when I present the next slide three. Two one. Because this is exactly what I was talking about with Howe disability inclusion makes a difference.

Jodie Greer – 45:25

If all of these graphs here can show us. Absolutely. The height, the rise of people that need more access and aren’t receiving it Now, hopefully that gave you a little bit of insight.

Jodie Greer – 45:40

You can open your eyes. There is nothing on this slide, but the reason I wanted to give you a very, very brief insight because I know time is so limited, but often that is how people perceive information, particularly if they can’t see your slides or they can’t read the information quick enough.

Jodie Greer – 45:59

If if presenters make any assumptions that people can do all of those things. The information literally doesn’t exist. So yes, that was a dummy. There was nothing for me to share with you, but I am hoping that very brief.

Jodie Greer – 46:14

Um, experience just helps trigger something in the fact that we need to be very clear about what we’re sharing and why this is a free resource that you can shine find on the website. And I know that the kind people that care Scribe are going to share this with you anyway.

Jodie Greer – 46:32

And this is a disability inclusion maturity model that will enable you to assess yourselves across ten business areas, including inclusive communication, set your goals and define your action plan to get there. As very granular detail. So it’s not like anything else out there.

Jodie Greer – 46:48

And it really is free. You don’t even register. You just launch it directly from the website. So hopefully I’m not in trouble because I’m a couple of minutes into Q&A time. But I hope that was really helpful. I just want to say thank you in advance to everybody who came today.

Jodie Greer – 47:05

And of course, the chair scribe. And now I would love to see all the questions

Claire Dibben – 47:11

You could never be in trouble. Never. Thank you.

Jodie Greer – 47:16

Going to hold you to

Claire Dibben – 47:17

That. Thank you so much. The, um, the exercise you asked us all to do. Are we closed our eyes and you talked through that slide was so powerful. I found that really interesting and very illuminating. So thank you so much.

Claire Dibben – 47:34

Um, and also just on. There’s a. So the chats been going off, people have been sharing their own tools and tips. Um. David commented on your point around sort of note sharing. Um, making sure everyone understands that output and the actions and, um, yeah, I think that’s that’s critical.

Claire Dibben – 47:52

And what’s one of the things that I like about, um. The, our product Caption.Ed, which we’ve talked about already and yes, I am biased, but I think it helps illustrate the point that you make very nicely, Jody, which is that Caption.Ed actually records the call and the video content of the call and the audio of the call.

Claire Dibben – 48:09

If you choose to set it up in that way. So when you’re reviewing notes afterwards, when you’re reviewing the transcript, you can play the audio and the video back, and then you can see the body language that the intonation. And that’s really helpful for making from helping people understand and making that content more accessible afterwards.

Claire Dibben – 48:27

So thank you, Jody, for raising that. And thank you, David, for commenting because that I just wanted to highlight, um, my observation around that too. And it really resonated with me. Anyway, enough about me talking, getting lots of comments and thank yous in the chat. Jody, um, we’ve got a couple of questions coming in.

Claire Dibben – 48:44

Um, so I’ll start with a nice easy one, which we’ve had come in from an anonymous attendee, which is, um, what ratio should we be looking for? For inclusive colour contrasts

Jodie Greer – 48:57

So, um, officially it is, um, so I don’t want to get too technical, but there are different types of, um, accessibility compliance, if you like. But as a minimum, really, I would say it is. And if anyone doesn’t understand ratios, you don’t have to worry.

Jodie Greer – 49:14

It would be 4.5 to 1 for um, regular text. And 3 to 1 for large text. So that’s the um, like 18 point. Plus or 14 point plus. If it’s bold. So if that is bamboozling anyone, please don’t worry because when you check your colour contrast on an analyser, it will literally tell you if it passes or fails.

Jodie Greer – 49:36

So um, yeah, that’s something to bear in mind.

Claire Dibben – 49:39

Perfect. Thanks, Jody. I love that you knew the ratios off the top of your head. Um, great. And we’ve had another question come in. Um, again, from an anonymous attendee. Um, which says, how can you ensure that colour blindness is not a barrier to information sharing?

Claire Dibben – 50:00

They say, I tend to use coloured highlighters for key information. So should this be done in shades of grey instead? So they said, for example, if I’m using a yellow highlighter and it can’t be seen, are there any other ways to highlight information for those who are colour-blind?

Claire Dibben – 50:16

What a great question!

Jodie Greer – 50:17

It is a really good question and I’ll be honest, it’s not. Um, as simple only because of course, everybody’s preferences and needs are very different. Um, but if, for instance, you were using black text and I am going to tell you. Pure black and white isn’t actually, um, fully accessible or there’s no such thing as 100% accessibility.

Jodie Greer – 50:38

But it’s difficult for people to read. So I use dark grey on white. But if you were highlighting it in yellow and so the colour contrast was still sufficient. Um, that can work for people with good vision. But you are right, when it comes to colour, contrast.

Jodie Greer – 50:56

Um, sorry. When it comes to coloured colour vision, it’s not going to help if people can’t see the colour. Not just because a colour blindness, but if you literally can’t see the content. So it is about finding other ways that can work.

Jodie Greer – 51:12

Um, and it may even be that what you actually do is emphasising your text. If it’s existing text and you’re limited, whether or not you can annotate, um in a different way depending on how you’re sharing. It’s not to say you can’t use highlighting if that contrast is sufficient, but always think if people can’t see the colour or can’t see the content and are listening to it for instance, on a, you know, a narrator or a screen reader, how are they understanding my priorities?

Jodie Greer – 51:39

So it is, you know, that’s why I say it’s not as simple answer, because it really depends on your ways of working and your materials. But it is about thinking a little bit outside the box so that you can capture everybody

Claire Dibben – 51:50

Um. And I suppose there’s also this actually Segways me nicely into a question I have for you. Jody, but I suppose there’s also an element of, if you know someone in your team is colour-blind, you could just you could ask them if they have a preference for how you sort of highlight information.

Claire Dibben – 52:06

Oh yeah. Bringing them into that conversation, isn’t it?

Jodie Greer – 52:09

Absolutely. If you know somebody has a need, then of course they know their needs better than anybody. And so that’s always the best way to do is to ask the person if you’re just talking about an audience in general, you aren’t sure what people’s needs are, then that’s obviously where you need to consider it. But you learn from people so much.

Jodie Greer – 52:25

I learn from people every day.

Claire Dibben – 52:28

Yeah, yeah. Um, so the question that I had for you. Jody, is about the role of feedback from people that have lived experiences and how, uh, you one can, like, utilise that in, like creating very accessible communication.

Claire Dibben – 52:45

So if I am a manager of a team and I’m wanting to make sure I am being as inclusive with my communication as possible, do you have any tips for how to like seek out feedback from the team?

Jodie Greer – 52:59

Yeah, and this is going to sound very sort of, you know, just wired inclusion and equity. Well it is but it’s first of all it’s about having those wider conversations, letting people know that actually we want to be fully inclusive.

Jodie Greer – 53:14

And your needs matter and start having those conversations. So you create that psychologically safe space where people can share that’s that’s got to be the first point, because then if people, you know, it’s just business as usual, I’m letting you know. And then people can say, you know, that colour combination just doesn’t work for me.

Jodie Greer – 53:32

I, you know, I can’t use it. Um, now, sometimes we can’t in a generic sense, accommodate every single need. It can be difficult. And so it’s finding and adjustment for that individual so that they obviously still get what they need.

Jodie Greer – 53:47

But if you can, if you can find something for your team that then works for everyone, why would you not want to do that? I mean, that’s that’s amazing. So there feedback is actually so valuable. It’s finding means in general conversation in all of your team meetings to make that very clear that you need.

Jodie Greer – 54:03

You don’t just want it, you need that feedback because you want to do better

Claire Dibben – 54:06

Um, so almost like one of your tips would be to like lead by example. So like demonstrate and vocalise that you are seeking that feedback and like to be open to it, essentially, to start.

Jodie Greer – 54:18

That. Yeah, absolutely. If feedback not welcome that’s what puts people off. Isn’t it. Like people often don’t want to give feedback generally because they’re not sure how it’ll be received. If you’re actively welcoming it, it makes it so much more, you know? Open door for people to then let you know actually what isn’t working so well.

Claire Dibben – 54:37

Yeah. Um, Jody, you spent some time during, uh, your talk talking about sort of colour contrasting tools, and then you also talked about, I think you called them horrible captions, if I’m remembering correctly. I did you did you did. Um, so I would love to know, like, are there any emerging trends or, like, maybe technologies that excite you about the future of inclusive communication beyond what you’ve already talked about

Jodie Greer – 55:04

Oh, that’s a really good question.

Claire Dibben – 55:06

Put you on the spot.

Jodie Greer – 55:07

You have. I mean, for communication itself, there’s probably people that are actually in the audience now thinking, oh yeah, this for me, I’d love to know. By the way, um, so communication, I guess I’m seeing some really negative trends.

Jodie Greer – 55:23

So I can’t help my head kind of wrapped around them. Like the captions I mentioned. And but I do think I mentioned have called captions generally, as in, you know, being able to have automated captions. So us all having access. So even if you don’t have the budget and things us all be able to have access to these kind of tools is just so valuable that you can provide them in your meetings.

Jodie Greer – 55:45

You can provide them in your media, um, that is wonderful. But I think going a bit further, we’re seeing so much more, um, I generated tool. So I can be a hit or a miss, depending on quite how, you know, how well it’s used.

Jodie Greer – 56:00

But we’re seeing, for instance, you know, I being able to give people who are blind or have low vision, um, better understanding of their surroundings. Better inclusion in football games, whatever it may be. Um, so that is quite exciting.

Jodie Greer – 56:16

And actually, I guess the glasses, I know they’ve got to progress a bit with the captions that can actually live time caption conversation for people, um, who maybe, you know, deaf or hard of hearing. That’s amazing.

Jodie Greer – 56:31

Like, what a forward thinking technology. And yes, they may need to, you know, progress a bit further to be fully accessible to people. And also commercially. Let’s not pretend these things come on the market and they’re far too expensive for most people to get access to them.

Jodie Greer – 56:47

But it’s still really exciting to see them happening

Claire Dibben – 56:50

Yeah. And what what are positive direction we’re moving in? Um. Yeah. Couldn’t agree more. Some, some. Yeah. I’m excited to see, you know what the next. Well, I was going to say ten years, but the pace of everything maybe the next 12 months. Brings us, you never know.

Claire Dibben – 57:07

Um, right. We’ve got a few more minutes left, so thank you, everyone, for all of your questions. And Jodie as well, just thank you so much for joining us today on the call. And for for engaging with us and answering those questions that everyone sort of sent in.

Claire Dibben – 57:22

Thank you so much for your for your time. Um, so everyone again, say thank you very much to Jodie. Jodie, I’ll invite you to turn your camera off now so you don’t have to hang around for the close of the session. Um, but really wonderful to hear all of the tips that that Jodie shared with us today at Skill Sessions.

Claire Dibben – 57:38

So, um, in just a second, one of the team’s going to post a link to the feedback survey in the chat. So do take a minute to share your thoughts with us as we always welcome feedback and we do our best to implement it where appropriate as well. And don’t forget that the accessibility and action. Webinar takes place on the 17th of July.

Claire Dibben – 57:55

So if you’re keen to understand more about how assistive technology can play a part in supporting the deaf community in your workplace, um, do make sure that you sign up to that. The link will be in tomorrow’s email, along with that exciting update about the future of Skill Sessions event.

Claire Dibben – 58:11

So please do keep an eye on your inbox. Um, thank you so much for engaging with us today and for joining in the chat. It’s always an absolute delight and a pleasure, and we will see you next month. Bye, everyone.

 

 

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