Chances are that you’ve noticed a common thread throughout most of this textbook: the importance of audience. It’s common sense that you’d create content with your audience in mind to capture their attention, guide their understanding, and compel deeper levels of thought and action. However, it’s often easier said than done, especially when the audience is unknown. You’re not writing a text message to one of your friends, for instance, but you’re posting a blog article on your website, and you’re not really sure who exactly might read the article. It’s also difficult to predict the needs, expectations, and perceptions of people in an audience who are unlike you in some way. You might easily reread and revise content for people whose background, experiences, and identities are similar to your own because you probably have a very similar way of engaging with and interpreting information. But what about people who are a different age, gender, race, nationality, religion, or sexual orientation than you? What about people with disabilities who can’t engage with some forms of digital communication the way that other people do? These people are also part of your audience, and it’s crucial that you create content with them in mind, prioritizing their needs and experiences so that your content is both accessible and inclusive.

The goal in this chapter is to focus on marginalized identities: minority groups who are often overlooked or devalued in digital content, which not only creates a more negative user experience but limits their ability to have meaningful interactions online or even to complete basic tasks. It also reinforces their marginalized positions. To improve the quality of your digital content for these groups (and for everyone else, too), we’ll be focusing on accessibility and inclusion.

The accessibility of your content refers to users’ ability to understand and interact with the material provided. The Bureau of Internet Accessibility defines accessibility as “a set of practices intended to remove barriers for people with disabilities.” These disabilities might include physical impairments, such as limited vision or hearing, as well as cognitive limitations. Though more than a billion people worldwide suffer from some sort of disability (World Health Organization), often affecting their ability to interact meaningfully online, WebAIM reports that 96.8% of home pages aren’t compliant with accessibility standards. This includes things like poor color contrast, color usage as the only method of conveying information (on a pie chart for instance), lack of alt text information, lack of captions for videos and audio files—all things that could limit a disabled person from understanding or navigating through digital content.

Similarly, inclusive web content is welcoming to all potential audiences. It’s an umbrella term that includes the accessibility of a web page but also takes into account other factors that might cause someone to feel excluded in some way. Bianca Belman-Adams from Elementor explains, “It is important to keep in mind when designing a website that not every user interacts with it the same way.…Inclusive web design removes bias and assumptions from a website so that users won’t feel excluded due to an impairment, demographics, or other temporary or permanent circumstances.” Assumptions or biases about language, socioeconomic status, race, gender, ethnicity, and sexuality can all create feelings of exclusion.

This chapter focuses on how to create web content that is accessible and inclusive so that users can engage meaningfully with your content. In both instances, we will consider the experiences of users who are often marginalized from web content, and we’ll identify best practices in the design and implementation of your content that will remove these barriers. In the end, developing inclusive content isn’t just beneficial to those specific users. It’s good for your brand, and it sends a positive message to all audiences about the importance of equality and social justice.

Accessibility

This section of the chapter focuses on accessibility of web content for people with disabilities, who are limited in their ability to understand or use various aspects of a web page. Yes, this includes people with visual or auditory impairments who will struggle to read the text, see the pictures, or hear sounds in a video or audio file, but it also includes people with neurological, cognitive, speech, and physical limitations. The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) explains that true accessibility allows people with permanent or temporary disabilities to “perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the web” as well as “contribute to the web” with their own content. Providing tools and accommodations for various situations not only helps people with permanent disabilities but also people with temporary limitations—maybe because they have a broken arm, they are in an environment with a bright glare on the screen, or they don’t have their glasses (W3C). Explained that way, it’s easy to see how most people would benefit at some point from improved accessibility.

Before we dive into accessibility standards and best practices, let’s pause for a moment to consider why this is such an important concept. As stated above, the vast majority of websites don’t meet accessibility standards, but there are several fundamental reasons why accessible web content should be a priority:

• Legal. Most websites are bound by either the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA.gov) or Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (Department of Justice, “Section 508”). While the ADA is very broad, encompassing a wide variety of public spaces that should be accessible, the law was created to be flexible and to adapt to changing circumstances. Therefore, the internet is considered as a public space that must accommodate the needs of people with disabilities. Violators are subject to lawsuits and hefty fines (Userway).
• Financial. Obviously, paying a fine or a lawsuit settlement would be expensive, but that doesn’t include the loss of revenue from people who aren’t able to interact with your content and therefore don’t continue through the buyer journey. According to a 2018 report from American Institutes for Research, people with disabilities have a significant amount of purchasing power and are much more likely to make a purchase when they are provided with a positive user experience.
• Social. Being sensitive to the needs of different people can go a long way to strengthen your brand. A website that is accessible, that has taken every measure to ensure a positive experience for people with disabilities, not only makes it possible for those people to engage with the content but also cultivates a sense of trust and goodwill so that people want to engage. This includes not only people with disabilities but everyone who considers accessibility to be an important issue and appreciates your effort.
• Ethical. All of the other reasons aside, providing accessible content is simply the right thing to do. This is especially true following the COVID-19 pandemic, where so many of our basic activities and daily interactions shifted to the digital realm. Recently the U.S. Department of Justice noted that “people rely on websites like never before for all aspects of daily living,” citing examples like voting information, bus schedules, health care information and resources, and so on (“Guidance”). Everyone should have the ability to access the information they need and to contribute in various ways to share their ideas and perspectives.

WCAG Standards

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are the most comprehensive and widely accepted standards of accessibility. It’s currently on its third revision with version 2.2 scheduled for completion in May 2023, which builds on existing versions but will enhance “accessibility guidance for three major groups: users with cognitive or learning disabilities, users with low vision, and users with disabilities on mobile devices” (Web Accessibility Initiative, “WCAG 2 Overview”). In essence, as new technologies, trends, and problems emerge, the guidelines are updated so they remain as relevant as possible. Because they are developed collaboratively with constituents in the “global accessibility community” and because they offer broad principles in conjunction with specific techniques and technical applications, the WCAG guidelines are widely used by web designers, content writers, software developers, and marketing professionals. According to Mark Shapiro, president of the Bureau of Internet Accessibility, “Rarely does a single document have such a direct impact on people’s lives, but the guidance that WCAG provides allows developers and content creators to include people who have historically been excluded from digital experiences” (qtd. in Bureau of Internet Accessibility).

The WCAG has four fundamental principles of accessibility, and each one is further developed with guidelines and success criteria, which provides more specific strategies for how each principle can be applied. Each of those principles as well as the guidelines and some of the success criteria are identified below:

• Perceivable—content must be provided in such a way that users can perceive what it is. The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative explains, “This means that users must be able to perceive the information being presented. (It can’t be invisible to all of their senses)” (“WCAG 2.1”). Guidelines and specific strategies for these principles are listed below, taken from the Web Accessibility Initiative (“How to Meet”):
  • Provide text alternatives for nontext content. This includes labels and short descriptions for objects, photos, and buttons. It also includes descriptive information for things like diagrams and charts, which wouldn’t provide the same information but would give users an idea of what the information is about.
  • Provide captions and other alternatives for multimedia. Captions are especially important for prerecorded videos and audio content as well as live content. This category also includes sign language alternatives.
  • Create content that can be presented in different ways, including by assistive technologies, without losing meaning. This relates specifically to the way information is sequenced and the relationships between elements on a page, which can often be done with labels and headings tags, grouping related content, and using standard text formatting conventions.
  • Make it easier for users to see and hear content. This includes separating the foreground and the background with color and contrast, providing options to pause audio and control the volume, making the font large enough, and providing enough spacing for the text.
• Operable—elements on the page must be functional. “This means that users must be able to operate the interface. (The interface cannot require interaction that a user cannot perform)” (Web Accessibility Initiative, “Introduction”).
  • Make all functionality available from a keyboard. In other words, users should be able to perform the same tasks using keyboard commands as they would with a mouse. This includes providing keyboard shortcuts, providing keyboard-triggered handlers, avoiding keyboard traps (in which a user can’t move away from an element on the screen), and so on.
  • Give users enough time to read and use content. This includes letting users know if there is a time limit, allowing users to adjust or turn off time limits, allowing content to be paused, getting rid of time limits when it’s not an essential part of the content, preventing interruptions, and preventing users from losing data if they do hit the time limit.
  • Do not use content that causes seizures or physical reactions. More specifically, “web pages do not contain anything that flashes more than three times in any one second period, or the flash is below the general flash and red flash thresholds” (W3C). It also includes allowing users to disable animations.
  • Help users navigate and find content. This can be accomplished through page titles and headings, consistent navigation links on each page, labels that identify a logical reading order or tab order, information about the purpose of each link, and providing multiple ways for users to access a web page.
  • Make it easier to use inputs other than the keyboard. W3C explains, “The intent … is to ensure that content can be controlled with a range of pointing devices, abilities, and assistive technologies. Some people cannot perform gestures in a precise manner, or they may use a specialized or adapted input device such as a head pointer, eye-gaze system, or speech-controlled mouse emulator.” The specific strategies here allow for different pointing methods, as opposed to only allowing users to drag and drop content, for instance, or to swipe right.
• Understandable—“Users must be able to understand the information as well as the operation of the user interface. (The content or operation cannot be beyond their understanding)” (Web Accessibility Initiative, “Introduction”).
  • Make text readable and understandable. This includes applying page attributes that identify the default language used, providing a mechanism for defining unusual idioms and jargon, providing the expanded form of abbreviations, and writing content that isn’t more advanced than the lower secondary education level.
  • Make content appear and operate in predictable ways. For example, new windows and tabs would only open when necessary, users should be able to update settings without changing the context of a page, navigation should be consistent from one page to the next, and similar elements should be identified in similar ways.
  • Help users avoid and correct mistakes. This includes providing text that helps identify errors on forms, indicating items on a form that are required, identifying the rules for how data must be submitted, providing other clear instructions, and providing suggestions for how to correct input errors.
• Robust—Content should be developed so it can be interpreted accurately by a wide variety of users and assistive devices. “This means that users must be able to access the content as technologies advance. (As technologies and user agents evolve, the content should remain accessible)” (Web Accessibility Initiative, “Introduction”).
  • Maximize compatibility with current and future user tools. This includes using markup languages that conform with specified instructions, validating the type of web page it is, using labels appropriately, and using HTML according to relevant specifications.

Obviously, the specific guidelines and strategies can get very technical, often requiring a deeper knowledge of HTML and other principles of web design. The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative provides much more detailed information about practices that they consider “sufficient” (necessary) for accessibility as well as “advisory” (recommended but not required) (“How to Meet”). While you may or may not become familiar with the more technical aspects of accessibility standards, it’s important that digital writers, content strategists, and marketing professionals have a working understanding of the principles as well as the basic guidelines that can easily be incorporated into the design of a web page. Another helpful resource is provided by the U.S. Access Board, which provides guidelines based on Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.

Inclusion

In addition to being accessible to people with disabilities, web content should also be inclusive, providing a space where people of all different backgrounds and demographics feel welcome. Obviously, making the website accessible is one very important step toward that larger goal because it provides very tangible and specific strategies—color contrast, alt text, closed captioning—that influence whether or not a person can engage with your content. Other aspects of inclusion are a little more subtle, pertaining to the assumptions that are made about the audience, about the kinds of identities that are “normal” or acceptable. It has to do with the way that groups of people are portrayed in language and in photos. For a person to feel welcome on a website, they would see themselves reflected positively in the content, or they would at least get the sense that the text was written with a wide range of identities in mind. This type of content creation can be tricky because it requires you to identify your own assumptions and biases and to consider your text from the perspectives of people who are different from you. It’s also just as much about what you don’t say or the types of identities that you don’t feature in the imagery as what you do. In other words, the inclusivity of a website exists on a spectrum, and the more positive steps you can take in the right direction, in a spirit of openness and humility, the better your content will be for all audiences.

Hopefully it’s obvious why inclusion is important. In fact, we can point to many of the same reasons that explain why accessibility is important. Similarly, inclusive content has financial, social, and ethical implications, many of them directly benefiting the individual or the organization sponsoring the content as well as the larger community. For the individual organization, the benefits are largely financial. A 2019 article by Adobe reports that 61% of Americans said they find diversity important when it comes to marketing content, and “38% of consumers are more inclined to trust brands that effectively embrace diversity in advertising” (CMO.com Team). On the flip side, the article reports that LGBTQ+, Black, and Gen Z audiences were apt to boycott brands that they felt did not adequately represent their identities. This can have significant financial and social consequences. Just as importantly, efforts toward diversity and inclusion reinforce larger movements focused on equality and social justice. According to Crownpeak, “Diversity, equity, and inclusion matter because they help build a fairer society, strengthening the bonds between people and within organizations. Companies have a responsibility to act against the barriers and historical factors that have caused unfair conditions for underrepresented groups.”

As a brief reminder from chapter 5, inclusion is part of a larger framework called DEI, which should guide many of the decisions within an organization, going far beyond the written digital content on a web page to also include things like employment practices, audience research, product development, and so on. It’s an entire culture that seeks to include and understand a variety of identities. Let’s take a brief look at the elements of DEI:

• Diversity is about representing a wide range of identities based on age, race, gender, ability, sexuality, and so on. An organization that values diversity and a range of different perspectives engages a diverse group of people—as employees, managers, consumer research participants, product testers, and so on. They also strive to include those perspectives as they communicate externally about their brand. Influencer Marketing Hub says that diversity is the first step because it extends the invitation, making people feel that they are welcome (Molenaar). They are more likely to feel welcome, for instance, if they see positive representations of their identities in an organization’s digital messaging.
• Equity refers to the actions you take to cultivate an environment of diversity and inclusion, reflected in your policies and daily practices that ensure different groups of people participate and that their perspectives are valued. Equitable practices provide resources and opportunities to groups that have traditionally been marginalized.
• Inclusion goes beyond inviting diverse groups of people to be present. It encourages them to take an active, important role in the development of ideas. “Diversity is being invited to the party; inclusion is being asked to dance,” says Verna Myers, an author and influencer (qtd. in Molenaar). Inviting people to participate might include the way that you invite feedback from various audiences or the way that you use that feedback to improve digital marketing strategies or product development. It’s about inviting participation from diverse groups in every aspect of the business process, from product development to customer service and everything in between.

Before we look at specific best practices for inclusive digital content, it might be helpful to distinguish between being exclusive and crafting content for a target audience. As we’ve discussed all along, identifying your target audience and the characteristics that define that audience is an important aspect of effective communication. For instance, a company that caters specifically to women’s athletic gear—shoes, sports bras, running shorts, and so on would obviously feature women more prominently in their advertising and create content that addresses the concerns and experiences of women. They’d also probably target women in a certain age group, perhaps in a particular income bracket if the clothing is expensive. That company would rely heavily on market research to discover who is in its target market and to create content that those people would find compelling. However, using our same example of a company that sells women’s athletic gear, it would be a mistake to exclude (either implicitly or explicitly) certain types of women who do fit in the target audience—women of color, women with disabilities, and women with all different body types. These are segments of the target audience that may very well be interested in purchasing workout gear, but because they don’t feel fully welcomed on the site perhaps because of language that is used or a lack of diversity in the photos, they aren’t likely to engage. Not only that, but their marginalized status is reinforced by their experience on the website.

DEI Best Practices for Digital Writing

Hopefully it’s clear that DEI is more than checking off a box on a to-do list or “tacking on” language or pictures that will appease certain groups. It’s an entire culture in which inclusivity is fostered at every level of decision-making and management. Crownpeak also reminds us that DEI should go beyond tokenized representations of minorities during certain times of the year—featuring a Black person on the front page of the website exclusively during Black History Month, for instance: “It’s essential to lay the groundwork for year-round DEI with fair and thoughtful representation of underrepresented groups throughout your content—both internally and externally.” Many organizations struggle with creating inclusive web content because it requires that, at their core, they establish practices and policies that actually are inclusive. What’s more, people with identities that are more mainstream often feel intimidated by the process of talking through inclusivity issues with other people or by writing text that is sensitive to the many different types of experiences and identities that exist. Fortunately, as discussed by Ann Gynn, the key to writing inclusive content is to have an open mind and to be intentional at every step of the production process to include other voices. She identifies several strategies for making content more inclusive:

• Be intentional about market research that helps you identify different segments of your target population. As noted above, this doesn’t mean trying to cater to people who are clearly outside of your target population. It does mean that you’d conduct thorough research to get a better sense of who they are: “Look at the available data to understand representations that can be documented such as gender, income level, geography, race, etc. Then go deeper. Ask front-line team members, go to industry events, conduct focus groups in part to better understand those characteristics that are not easily tracked, such as physical ability or point of view” (Gynn). Gynn goes on to suggest that this type of research can be used to create personas of people with different characteristics that can be used to humanize those members of your target audience and help you better understand their needs.
• Include diverse voices in the content. Ideally, an organization will prioritize diversity and inclusion at all levels of staffing, so that different identities are represented across various departments and in all decision-making activities. It would also be ideal if content was written by people from a variety of backgrounds in order to better understand and engage with different parts of the audience: “At a minimum, a team should be sensitized and trained to ask tough diversity and inclusion questions and encouraged to consult with those communities where a possible problem or misunderstanding could arise.”
• Use inclusive language. On one level, inclusive language relates to a friendly and professional tone, writing that is clear and easy to understand, and a respectful approach to different topics that resists making biased assumptions about what is “normal” or “right.” On another level, it’s about being sensitive to the way that language is used, demonstrating that you’ve made an effort to research and effectively incorporate preferred terminology that people won’t find offensive. For instance, the 2019 version of the Associated Press Stylebook added an entire section on race-related topics, identifying language that people of color from various journalism organizations said they preferred (Berendzen). Another great resource is the Conscious Style Guide, which covers a wide variety of sensitive topics and recommends specific terminology (Yin, Conscious). The guide’s author, Karen Yin, says her mission is to “help writers and editors think critically about using language—including words, portrayals, framing, and representation—to empower instead of limit” (“About”).
• Think about representation. While it might not be possible to provide representation for every type of identity in your target audience, making an effort to be diverse will go a long way to build trust with your audience. This means using photos that have different types of identities represented in a positive way. It might also mean including testimonials from a variety of different customers or writing employee profiles in order to highlight the diverse voices from your team.
• Don’t overdo it or be inauthentic. Gynn ends with a warning not to “go overboard” when it comes to being diverse. You don’t want to come across as inauthentic or like you are using people’s marginalized identities to make yourself look better. You also don’t want the content to come across as unnatural, as if you are forcing a message of diversity into a context where it doesn’t fit. “Make sure your content reflects a sincere commitment to diversity but in a way that’s organic for your brand and your audience” (Gynn).

Writing content that is accessible and respectful of all audiences is crucial to effective communication and the success of your brand, but as you can see from this chapter, writing content that is truly inclusive is a complex process and requires a great deal of intentionality, planning, and critical thinking. It also requires both courage and humility. Taking steps toward social justice is always a risk. Not everyone will be on board for different reasons and may choose to disengage from your brand. It’s also possible that despite your best efforts at being inclusive, you’ll say something wrong or something that is taken the wrong way by someone in your audience. That’s where humility comes in—a genuine apology for the misunderstanding and an effort to better understand that person’s perspective so you can address that concern in the future. There’s always room to improve your inclusivity efforts and to better understand the people in your target audience if you are willing to listen.