Breaking barriers with accessible marketing - Emma King and Charlotte White | E15
In the latest episode of the Scaramanga podcast, Emma and Charlotte discuss all things digital accessibility— what it means, why it is important and what you can do to implement into your business activity.
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Breaking barriers with accessible marketing
Reveal transcriptBreaking barriers with accessible marketing transcript
Charlotte White
Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of the Scaramanga podcast. My name is Charlotte. I'm the Social Media Assistant here at Scaramanga. Today I'm joined by Emma, who is the Social Media Manager.
Emma King
Hello!
Charlotte White
Hello. Today we're talking about accessible marketing and why it's so important.
Emma King
So first we're going to do a little quiz. So you can play along as well, but I'm gonna quiz Charlotte on some disability facts.
Charlotte White
Can I just say, I know stuff about accessible marketing! I feel like I have to disclaim that and say that because we work in an accessible marketing agency.
Emma King
Yeah.
Charlotte White
However, stats and numbers are not my thing. So I just wanted to say that because if I get them all wrong, that would be embarrassing without prefacing it!
Emma King
You'll be fine, you'll be fine. It's so that we can sort of open up this can of worms so that people can understand, like the importance of accessible marketing and social media, because I think they're going to be shocked by the figures on here. So, do you want to do a little drum roll?
Charlotte White
(Drum roll)
Emma King
Your first question: How many people are disabled in the UK? 1. 16 million, 2. 18 million or 3. 19 million?
Charlotte White
Do you know for a minute, I thought you weren't going to give me options. I was like, I'll never get it right without options! I actually do know this one though. Only because we had to look at it last week for a campaign we did. So. I'm gonna say the answer is... A or 1? Did you put A or 1?
Emma King
I just put 1, not A, B, C, really. But here we are!
Charlotte White
Okay, 1. 16 million.
Emma King
That is right. Yeah, there are 16 million people disabled in the UK. So...
Charlotte White
That's a lot.
Emma King
That is a lot of people. Okay, second question: What percentage of adults are disabled? So first option is 24%, 2. 3%, 3. 23%.
Charlotte White
What 24%, 3% or...
Emma King
23%.
Charlotte White
Oh, they're just drastically different.
Emma King
Yeah. And then there's two that are quite close together.
Charlotte White
Well, hang on. Now I'm trying to do maths because I know that there's 16 million in the UK, but I don't know, the current population. So I'm gonna say... I'm gonna say 23% and everybody else lock in your answers.
Emma King
You ready?... That's correct! 23%, see I told you you'd be alright!
Charlotte White
I didn't get a B in Maths for nothing!
Emma King
Here's another one that you're going to be like, I need to do the maths. So number three is: What percentage of households have a disabled person? 1. 45%, 2. 64%, or 3. 32%.
Charlotte White
The thing is though, like, I know there's 23% in the population, but you don't know how that's divided into households, right?
Emma King
Hmmm.
Charlotte White
Sorry, can you say the options one more time?
Emma King
45%, 64% or 3. is 32%.
Charlotte White
Okay. I'm gonna say... 32%.
Emma King
You're actually right!
Charlotte White
Yes!
Emma King
I actually thought it would be higher, just because I have a lot of, you know, I know a lot of parents and like mums and dads and older relatives that are disabled. So I actually thought it'd be higher.
Charlotte White
Do you happen to know, is this statistic like... do they include like very minor... I guess they don't include very minor impairments as well, right?
Emma King
I don't know.
Charlotte White
We'll have to have a look for everyone.
Emma King
Yeah.
Charlotte White
But I'm presuming it's, if they're talking about households, it's disabilities that maybe affect the household in some way. Maybe they need a mobility chair or something like that.
Emma King
That's what I assume. So that last question, and this one's more relevant to what we do in our job: What percentage of websites are not ADA approved?
Charlotte White
Ooooh!
Emma King
So 1. 92%, 2. 97.4% or 3. 35%?
Charlotte White
Hmmm.
Emma King
And I'll give you a little more insight into this: it is for websites of the top 1 million. So it's the top 1 million websites.
Charlotte White
Right.
Emma King
Out of all of them, what percentage are not ADA approved?
Charlotte White
Is that in the UK, do you know?
Scaramanga Marketing
(Pause)
Charlotte White
Sorry, you're supposed to be quizzing me!
Emma King
I know, bloody hell! Um...
Charlotte White
No it's fine, don't worry. Top million, I'm just gonna presume they would be maybe similar for the rest of the world.
Emma King
I think it's worldwide.
Charlotte White
Okay.
Emma King
If I remember when I had a look.
Charlotte White
I don't think that region will really change much anyway. I don't think it's the 30-something option. I think it's way more. So I'm going to say... sorry, what was the discrepancy between the two?
Emma King
92 and 97.4.
Charlotte White
I think it's going to be... 92.
Emma King
It's 97.4.
Charlotte White
Noooo! Really?
Emma King
Websites, yep, that are not ADA approved, which is shocking, shocking, really.
Charlotte White
That's shocking.
Emma King
It is. It's really bad.
Charlotte White
Wow.
Emma King
The fact that most people who are disabled can't use 1 million websites, because they're not approved.
Not even just not even just 1 million, but 1 million of the most popular websites.
Yep!
Charlotte White
Wow, that's really interesting, honestly. Was that all the questions?
Emma King
Yeah. I've just got a fact for afterwards.
Charlotte White
Oh, okay.
Emma King
Which is more like to do with content wise, but 26% of images found on home pages lack descriptive ALT-text.
Charlotte White
Is that on websites?
Emma King
Yeah.
Charlotte White
I wonder... I feel like the percentage will be similar, if not higher for social media as well.
Emma King
Yeah. I feel like it's gonna be higher.
Charlotte White
I feel like it's going to be higher.
Emma King
And basically to everyone obviously that's listening, to help sort of understand. By not making a website accessible, you're actually missing out on a whole demographic of people, potential customers, by not literally being inclusive.
Charlotte White
I mean...
Emma King
That's what I can't get in my head. Why you wouldn't...
Charlotte White
I mean, I guess, yes. From a more business standpoint, that's true. But I think... obviously, of course, it's also just the inclusivity, like, the DE&I aspect as well. Which is the, I guess, the more good intentioned reason. But even for conglomerates that might not care so much about that, then yes, in that case, to not even look at it from their point of view of missing out on more revenue, even though that sounds like a little bit more of a selfish reason to do it for. The fact that they're not even doing it for that, is just... crazy.
Emma King
And I think probably a lot of people who haven't got a disability or suffered in any way, probably wouldn't even think about it, because it doesn't come into their head.
Charlotte White
No.
Emma King
But that sort of leads us on to why we're talking about it today. And it's because we've launched our new service, Digital Accessibility. Our Director, Simon, who has 30 years experience of working in web design, sort of said enough was enough and wanted to make a difference. And Claire, who is our Director at Scaramanga knew there was a gap in the market. And having accessible websites was actually something that's really important and something people just don't put a lot of thought into.
So the services that Digital Accessibility are going to be offering is training, which includes engaging workshops. So it helps you understand the importance of accessibility within your team, and what changes you need to make. They'll also give you an audit of your website to help you understand the changes that are needed and provide free accessible resources, which is very helpful.
They also offer multiple packages. So depending, obviously, on the clients, so for example, one is for technical teams who work on websites themselves that may not know the tips and tricks of what they need to change and if it's actually properly accessible. We also have one for content creators, and then there's a few other ones. So yeah, that's why we launched our new product.
Charlotte White
I think this year, our Directors, Claire and Simon, decided that it was too big of an issue and too big of a... too big of a thing to tackle within the branding of our marketing.
Emma King
Yeah.
Charlotte White
So they decided to separate it and have Digital Accessibility.
Emma King
As a separate entity.
Charlotte White
It's technically a separate business, but sort of affiliated with Scaramanga because there's just so much information that businesses and people are unaware of that needs to be shared. And it was becoming a bit muddied within all the marketing stuff we were doing, and we didn't want that. It needs that light of clarity on it, because of how much of an issue it is. So that is essentially why we're launching it as a... or have launched it as a new service.
Emma King
But we also have a new LinkedIn. So make sure you go and follow it, and we also have an Instagram. So make sure you go check it out and give us a follow, and we share tips and tricks on how to make things accessible. Website designing and all the services we offer.
Charlotte White
Yeah, Simon does these really great presentations... workshops, workshops!
Emma King
Workshop videos, and so you can get sort of taste of what sort of subjects he covers. But the workshops have got a really good response and he's worked with some really high clients that we're not allowed to name.
Charlotte White
They are really, really...
Emma King
Yeah. I wish I could say!
Charlotte White
I wish we could say!
Emma King
But we can't.
Charlotte White
But we can't.
Emma King
Yeah.
Charlotte White
I think it's, I'm not a business owner. Shock! But if I was, Digital Accessibility would definitely be something that I would consider or consider paying for their resources.
Emma King
Yeah. 100%.
Charlotte White
If I had, say, a medium sized business. Because at the end of the day, it's, it's like, why should a certain population be segregated for things that they cannot help and they cannot do anything about? And moreover, it's, I didn't know much about it when I started Scaramanga back in 2023. But the more I've learnt, the more I realise, at least from a social media standpoint, I can't speak for websites. It's very easy.
Emma King
Like, it's some of the smallest things that make a difference. And you should go watch Charlotte's video that she did the other day. It's on TikTok and Instagram and LinkedIn. And it was really informative about the stuff that she's learned since she's been here and social media wise, what you can do to literally improve your content, and it is so simple, such as ALT-tags, and making sure you've got live captioning on your videos.
So it's just really simple things that people forget about. And do you know what I love? Is now when I go on social media, I watched a video the other day, I was like, I actually commented and said can you make this accessible? Because there's no captioning on it. But I couldn't play the video out loud. I was in like, an environment where I couldn't have it. And I was like, I really wanna watch this, but I can't. So, I actually commented.
So, I like that I'm a lot more aware. And it's also like things that I didn't even realise. Websites, which, people should go on to our website and there's articles on there about these but...
Charlotte White
Yeah.
Emma King
Just like typeface, colours. I just always thought someone who's colorblind, they can't see the colour, does it really matter? Well actually, yes, it does matter. And I didn't know that different colours affect people's minds when reading stuff. I obviously know from someone who's dyslexic that I can read better with a different colour. And it's more pronounced, it's easier to read. But I didn't really think that there's like a wide range of colours that you can and cannot use.
Charlotte White
Yeah, I think Simon's taught us a lot about that, because Simon is actually colorblind as well. So I can't speak as to whether that was part of his motivation for wanting to do more accessible design and marketing. But...
Emma King
I think so and I think Claire as well.
Charlotte White
Yeah, Claire also does have minor visual problems. But this is the thing like it's, of course, inclusivity is not just one thing, it's a spectrum. It's going to cover people who have major disabilities, deafness, blindness, where they can't hear your video, so they need captions, they can't see your picture, so it needs ALT-text.
It can also be for very, very minor impairments, like dyslexia. And I mean, colorblindness is a spectrum too, but say, like minor colorblindness. Also, for me, like, I have captions on everything, because I have tinnitus. And sometimes, it's so loud that I need the captions just to relate, I can still hear it, but I sometimes struggle. So it's, it's not just one, you know, like, I've lost the ability to articulate myself!
Emma King
I know what you mean But I think also, from a business point of view, it says a lot about you, if you're championing it, because what you've got to remember is, you could have a business that got a huge team of people. There's somewhere on that team, you're gonna probably have someone who's dyslexic, someone who has hearing issues, whatever, but you're gonna have multiple disabilities.
Now to show them that you care about them as a worker and show that you've been supportive, then championing digital accessibility is really, probably like a highlight that you could do as a company. And I think it's worth investing the money because people might be like, "oh, it costs a lot", or, "you know, we don't have the budget for that". But you should have the budget for that.
Charlotte White
Yeah, it's just I think, if you're not doing it as a business, it's like, why? If you have the resources. I mean, I say that, but also like, you have Google, I don't think anyone doesn't have enough resources, at least to do something. And I think for businesses as well, for me as well, it's been a journey. I still make occasional slip ups, because I'm learning. But the learning is a process and also the rate with which things change.
Emma King
Yeah.
Charlotte White
Is something I'm also trying to keep up with, but I think you have to, at least as a business, be on that journey and be committed to at least taking those steps. It's the commitment to saying that you're gonna...
Emma King
Do it for years to come basically.
Charlotte White
Do it for years to come and, and adapt accordingly and learn as much as you can.
Emma King
I think, because it's really, it's a good point, because I think a lot of times company focus on disabilities in the workplace where it's physical. So you've got to have the right chair, you've got to make sure you've got wheelchair access, you've got to have this, you've got to have that, the right mouse or screen at a certain height.
Charlotte White
Yeah.
Emma King
And that is like a law. So they have to do it.
Charlotte White
Yeah.
Emma King
So to me, there should be a law that websites with content, and anything technology wise, should be made accessible for everybody. That's how I see it. So it should have the same. Just because you can't see it all the time. Doesn't mean it's not there. And it's not going to go away.
Charlotte White
Yeah, definitely.
Emma King
We are going to have hopefully a special guest soon in one of our podcasts. So we'll be covering a lot more subjects around digital accessibility and tips. And hopefully, have someone on who can give us a real eye opener into what their day is like. What using technology is like and have a better understanding of how it affects them and why it's important for the work that we're doing and the difference that we're making.
Charlotte White
Yes, I think as well, I would also add. If, you know, if you have listened to all of this and you're someone who is interested in this, has experienced this, or wants a platform to talk about it with people that are passionate about it, get in touch with us because we want to shine a light on it as much as possible, not just from our perspective, but from as many perspectives as possible.
So if there's anyone listening that would like to speak to us, do a session with us, kind of highlight things that maybe we don't even know yet, or experiences that we've not had. We would love that.
Emma King
Yeah that would be nice. That's a perfect way to end.
Charlotte White
Yeah, I actually really enjoyed this podcast!
Emma King
I did!
Charlotte White
Thanks for doing the quiz.
Emma King
That's alright! You actually got it all right apart from one.
Charlotte White
That last one slipped me up, the million most popular websites; I'm coming for you! Yes, thank you for listening if you've listened this far, and we will see you next episode!
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