This fascinating blog has been written by Richard Boggie, VONNE’s North East and North Cumbria VCSE Health Partnerships Strategic Manager. He draws on his experience and expertise in disability rights, access and inclusion to reflect on digital inclusion in our region.
During the pandemic, the topic of digital inclusion was very high on many of our agendas. I sense that it has slipped down the priority list since things returned to ‘normal’. But it is so vital that we continue to focus on tackling the barriers that exist, so here are a few thoughts and reflections from my recent work at VONNE.
First, an unashamed plug for this Open Blab podcast that I took part in with Newcastle Uni researcher, Adam Parnaby and Tech specialist from Sunderland Software City, Adam Hill. In the podcast we look in some depth at accessibility and inclusion – how and why we should make the North East a more digitally inclusive place.
We talk about the need for systems change, and for organisations to take more responsibility for inclusive design, rather than tagging it on as an afterthought, or in response to complaints from disgruntled users who can’t access the information they need due to poor design.
And nowhere is that more important than in health and care. More and more services are now online, which is fantastic, as long as you can access them. So I was really pleased to see an early draft of a new digital inclusion strategy coming out of the ICS’s advisory group on the wider socio-economic determinants of health. If we don’t make sure our citizens are digitally included then we will further widen health inequalities in our region, which already experiences some of the country’s worst inequalities.
As we saw very clearly during the pandemic, the voluntary and community sector has a massive role to play in delivering on this agenda. It was charities and community groups working in partnership with local authorities and the NHS that helped people access services and information to keep them safe and well. So I’m really glad that in my role at VONNE, working as part of our NENC VCSE Partnership Programme, I’m able to contribute to this work. We will only succeed if we work in a truly integrated way across the whole health and care system.
A couple of weeks ago, I was also lucky enough to attend ‘Let’s Get Digital’, an event run by Digital Voice for the VCSE sector. At a session run by Ronnie Johnson, we were reminded of the power of using creative digital technologies when engaging with communities. Being a bit creative and using free editing software can help make events more inclusive and accessible, and the results can be far more persuasive and engaging than a dull report.
Finally, let’s all take a moment to think about what we can individually do to promote digital inclusion in our region. If we all take responsibility for making our own work as inclusive and accessible as we can, it would go a long way to solving the problem. Remember, it’s not about providing assistance, it’s about removing barriers that stop citizens from accessing what they need and are entitled to. There is tonnes of guidance on the web on how to make your digital content accessible. We all need to get into the habit of checking our work before we publish it – and fortunately Microsoft have made it very easy for us with their in-built accessibility checker, which will not only identify issues but help you to fix them. If we all do a little then together we can make a huge difference.