Why we’re supporting Purple Tuesday

Accessibility and inclusivity are topics we care a great deal about and a topic we are starting to see moving up the agenda of many of the organisations we work with. 

Earlier this year, we commissioned a piece of research to understand how real people feel about the quality and effectiveness of the communications they receive from organisations they deal with. In particular, we wanted to focus on three vulnerable groups of users, who are often overlooked:

1. People with a disability that limits their day-to-day activity
2. People aged 65 and over
3. People with English as a second language.

We wanted to understand their needs, their frustrations and the opportunities to engage that organisations are missing.

67% of people experienced a problem

The key takeaway from our research was that 67% of all people we surveyed have experienced a problem when reading a corporate communication, which led them to not understand the message.

Users feel they are being let down

Many of the vulnerable people we spoke to felt a generic, one-size-fits-all approach was the norm and cited the amount of effort it takes for them to access information in a format they feel comfortable interacting with. Our research shows that, time-after-time, users feel they are being let down by the organisations they rely on most.

Our commitment to Purple Tuesday

Whilst the findings from our research (unfortunately) weren’t all that surprising, they were still very frustrating. The people we surveyed felt organisations have a duty of care to ensure what they produce is accessible and ask users how (and how often) they want to be communicated with. 

As an organisation, we have already started to make some changes to our own communications as a result of our recent work. We carried out a website accessibility audit and discovered some issues that mean we are not fully compliant with WCAG 2.1 AA standards. As a result, we are in the process of making some changes to our website.

We’re also reviewing our brand to see where and how we can improve. This is an ongoing project for us here at CDS and we’re determined to make positive changes.

So, we’re supporting Purple Tuesday and are calling on organisations to start prioritising accessibility and inclusion within their marketing and communications strategy. It’s no longer an optional nice-to-have. Organisations have a commitment to prioritise accessibility and inclusivity.