Thinking differently about accessibility
Tuesday 3 December 2024
For most people, accessing the internet and using digital skills is part of daily life. Digital skills are used at work, to socialise, to shop, to travel and to access many essential services such as banking and medical appointments.
Some dyslexic individuals prefer digital tools and rely upon them to access the world around them, but others find that their dyslexic challenges can create barriers that significantly affect how they interact with digital technology
Many websites and digital resources are not created with dyslexia in mind. Digital platforms are heavily text-based and require users to read and comprehend large amounts of information. Difficulty in reading can make navigating these sites, understanding digital instructions, and consuming online content more time-consuming and frustrating. Assistive technologies designed to help dyslexic individuals, such as text-to-speech software, screen readers, and dictation tools are not always widely available or integrated into mainstream digital platforms.
Often, the platform will not work with an individual’s assistive software. Accessing and navigating online forms, which are usually the entry point to a service, can be particularly challenging without screen reading, voice commands or spell-checking available.
All these factors can lead to some dyslexic people avoiding using digital platforms altogether, and others struggling to use them.
Using digital platforms used to be a choice, alongside telephone and traditional face-to-face channels, but technology and developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) are driving rapid change in many industries, and digital platforms are fast becoming the only way to access many services. Technology provides a cost-effective, easy to navigate digital experience which many customers prefer, but one which can present accessibility barriers and be challenging for some dyslexic individuals.
How do you open a bank account if you struggle to read and complete an online application form? Or ensure you only transfer £50.00 to a third party, and not £5000 if you struggle to know where the decimal point goes or how many zeros to insert. How do you access online shopping accounts if the cyber security and anti-fraud measures, designed to keep your account safe, present a barrier for you? Or register to see a GP via a website that does not have screen reading or voice recognition technology to help you complete the forms.
Historically, many dyslexic individuals have relied upon simple solutions such as visiting a local bank to make deposits and withdrawals face to face, or phoning or calling into a local GP surgery. But as digital platforms have grown, we have seen a decline in services offering other channels. Almost 60% of UK bank branches have closed since 2015, and 53.4% of GP surgeries have moved onto the NHS online registration service. All surgeries are required to offer online registration by October 2024
Less than 10% of jobs are now advertised in job centres or newspapers. Most recruiters only post jobs on their company websites, online job sites and social media, and those without digital skills also struggle to access the online application process as few employers openly offer accessible alternatives for job applicants.
Under the Equality Act, organisations have a responsibility to make sure that disabled people can access their services as easily as non-disabled people and should be making reasonable adjustments such as offering alternative channels (such as a phone service) or providing information in accessible formats. Indeed, this duty is anticipatory which means that service providers should be looking at common accessibility needs, determining suitable reasonable adjustments, and publicising these so that disabled people know what they can request. In reality it can be difficult to determine what’s available and ask for reasonable adjustments, particularly for those with hidden challenges such as dyslexia.Legislation also requires digital services to be accessible, but many fail to meet the minimum standards which include the ability to work effectively with the most popular screen reading
and dictation software.
Many organisations and charities are offering free digital skills training, and groups are working with a range of disability charities to understand and improve accessibility of their digital services. However, there seems to be a disconnect between the availability of these accessible services, and the experiences of some dyslexic customers who would benefit from these solutions. There are likely to be many factors influencing this; dyslexia is a hidden condition, so staff may not recognise that dyslexic customers have accessibility needs; dyslexic people may not see themselves as vulnerable or identify as disabled and so do not ask for adjustments to be made; dyslexic people may lack awareness of the available services so do not ask for help. Whatever the reason clearly more needs to be done to connect accessible solutions with the people who need them
What needs to change
Many dyslexic individuals are at a higher risk of digital exclusion due to the inherent challenges of dyslexia and the often inaccessible nature of digital environments.
Addressing this requires incorporating universal design principles into the development of digital content and platforms to make them more accessible, including ensuring that websites and applications are navigable using assistive technology.
There must be an investment in enhancing digital literacy skills including familiarity with the use of accessibility tools such as screen reading and dictation for those who need them, by offering free and easily accessible face-to-face training.
There must also be an acknowledgement that for some, a reasonable adjustment will continue to be offering a phone-based
service. Service providers must provide awareness training for all staff so that they can easily identify those who may have accessibility needs and offer reasonable adjustments to anyone who requests them without asking for proof of disability. They must also openly promote their accessible options so that people know how to request these.
These steps will reduce the changes of dyslexic people experiencing digital exclusion and lead towards a more inclusive digital world where dyslexic individuals can fully participate and thrive,