Accessible communications guidelines published by PRCA

The PRCA has published guidelines to help communicators improve the accessibility of their communication. It covers content, media, influencers and events.

Accessible communication guidelines published by the the PRCA

The PRCA has published new guidance in partnership with Current Global to help PR and communications professionals deliver accessible content.

The 35-page guide is packed with practical tools, advice and case studies designed to help PR professionals ensure their content is available and accessible to people of all abilities.

Download the guidelines:

Accessibility is a societal issue

According to the World Health Organisation, one in eight people has some form of disability. It estimates that two billion people will need at least one assistive communication, memory, or hearing aid in the next 10 years.

A 2021 study of more than 800 people with disabilities in the US and UK explored their experience with media and content. Commissioned by Current Global, the research revealed that the majority struggle with accessibility.

Even those who have access to and use assistive technology encounter significant problems. Looking at social media specifically, people of all disabilities reported a struggle with accessing the content: visual 22%, hearing 17%, speech 27% and cognitive 23%.

“As professional communicators, it is incumbent on us to make communications inclusive for people of all abilities so we can reach every member of society. Today, however, our industry falls short,” said Francis Ingham, director general, PRCA.
“One in eight people globally have some form of disability. And every day they struggle to access content and communications from brands and organisations of all kinds. They are excluded by default or by design. It’s time we changed this.”

Communication Access Symbol

In 2020, the PRCA helped launch a new disability symbol designed to make life easier for millions of people in the UK.

The Communication Access Symbol with underpinning training and standards, was created for businesses, organisations and consumers by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists. The partnership is known as Communication Access UK.

Anyone who undertakes free online training on accessible face-to-face, telephone and online customer service will earn the right to display the symbol - demonstrating they have all their customers’ needs close at heart. You can register via the Communication Access Symbol website.

Developing accessible tools and campaigns

The guidelines focus on the most common types of communications content. It spotlights the tools to use and the steps you should follow to apply best practice and ensure the greatest degree of accessibility. Highlights include:

Text

Write concisely in plain language and the active voice
Avoid the use of abbreviations and jargon
Use high colour contrast text

Video

Always include a transcript, closed captions and audio descriptions
Provide the option of switching captions on or off while watching a video

Images

Always include alternative text
Ensure that Alt Text is accurate, descriptive and succinct. Focus on describing the important message that an image is trying to convey
Avoid use of colour alone to convey important information

The guidelines also include accessibility advice for content on social media platforms, working with influencers and live and virtual events.

Accessibility tools

Most of the tools needed to produce accessible communications are free and readily available.

Microsoft has a suite of tools within Office 365 that includes an embedded Accessibility Checker tool, and Microsoft Teams offers live captioning.

PDFs cause issues for people with visual impairment as assistive readers can’t access the format. If it is necessary to produce a document in PDF format, it is strongly recommended that you publish a companion version in another format as well such as PowerPoint or Word.

Microsoft Accessibility Checker

Within each of the Office 365 products (Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, etc.) there is an Accessibility Checker. This tool automatically reviews your document for any areas that may create an accessibility problem.

Microsoft Color Contrast Analyzer

People with low vision often have difficulty reading text. Microsoft’s Color Contrast Analyzer is a feature in Accessibility Insights for Windows that helps developers and designers investigate contrast ratios.