Blog | 30 September 2021
Who is welcome on your website?
Part 1: Start the process by mapping the current situation
We propose a three-step approach: map, challenge and write. In this first post, we will tell you how to map your organisation's texts to find possible problems. Part 2 will look at how you can challenge yourself and your texts. In part 3, we will give advice on how to work with language as a tool.
Suppose you are the web editor of your organisation, and your mission is to reach as many different readers as possible. Obviously, your organisation doesn't want any visitor to feel forgotten, invisible or discriminated against when they come to your website. But how to do this? And what are the pitfalls?
In this three-part blog series, you'll learn about the Language Consultants' approach to working with language to create anti-discrimination and inclusive websites. Of course, it's about complying with the Discrimination Act – but not only. Inclusive texts make websites more welcoming to more people, which leads to better democracy and better business.
Part 1: Start the process by mapping the current situation
Unfortunately, there is no simple recipe to ensure that a website is fully inclusive. Instead, it is a matter of starting a process that questions ingrained beliefs about people and their lives. The aim of this process is to create a living approach to these issues. It can feel big and abstract before you start, so start small. Take one issue at a time, work methodically. For every single person who feels included in your communication, you have won a reader – and a victory against discrimination in society!
Start the process by asking three questions:
- Who do you want to include in your communication?
- Who is currently visible on the website?
- Who is included in the 'we' of the website?
Consider whether the answers you come up with are inclusive enough. Do they reflect reality?
1. Who do you want to include in your communication?
First of all, think about who you are writing for and what you want them to do. Is it working well at the moment? Are your intended audiences interested and engaged in your activities? Can they understand, absorb and implement the purpose of your website?
Are there other audiences you would like to reach or engage with? The chances of success increase significantly if these groups recognise themselves in what you communicate.
2. Who is visible on your website?
The next step in mapping is to simply count. Count the people you describe in pictures, examples, interviews and portraits:
- How many women and how many men?
- How many children and how many older people?
- Are they all of the same ethnicity?
- Are there people with different disabilities?
Could there be more people visible? You don't want to risk alienating or missing any target group that is relevant or interesting for your communication.
3. Who is included in your "we"?
In step three, think about who is included when it says "we" on the website, and who is excluded? Don't assume that the reader is a certain way, for example heterosexual, of a certain age and with a certain economic standard. Don't assume that everyone celebrates Christmas, can afford to go on vacation or lives with two parents. Start by reflecting on your own starting point and consider that the person reading your texts may not live the same way you do.
Avoid dividing people into categories
If you find that the website often lists people's gender, background, disability and age, you may be on to something. Ask yourself if it is really relevant to categorise people in this way. It might even defeat the purpose of the website to attract as many people as possible, whether you work in a public or commercial organisation.
One of the most common examples of this is when we write women's football or girls' bands, even though the gender means nothing in the contexts it is described. By writing girl band when girls play together, but only band when it is boys playing together, we have confirmed that it is the boys who are the norm and the girls who are the exception.
Map out the site together
Starting a study on inclusive communication can feel big and complicated. It IS big and complicated, but it can also be very uplifting. Start small and simple, with the first question, and without trying to solve the problems. Talk to your colleagues and ask them to look at the texts from their experiences. Together, you probably represent several of the groups present in society. Together, you can figure out who else you need to let onto your website, so that more people feel welcome!
Now you have advice on how to map your website. The next part of the blog series will look at how you can go a step further and challenge yourself and your texts to not only fight discrimination but also promote inclusion.
