Cheshire-based user-experience firm, Sigma, is urging broadcasters and creators to make their content more accessible and inclusive.
“It is fundamental that everyone in society has the same access to information, especially in situations like the current Covid-19 pandemic. Information that could prevent the spread of the virus and even save lives is inaccessible to many with disabilities, as it does not consider the needs of all users. It is a health risk for individuals to not be fully informed,” explained Hilary Stephenson, Managing Director at Sigma.
“There are more than 1 billion people living with some form of disability worldwide, with 14.1 million living in the UK. We urge all content creators to consider these tools and steps when creating and sharing content. Not only for those registered with a disability, but those who are not yet registered, as well as our ageing population, which is at higher risk of the virus. Increasing inclusivity could mean the difference between life and death!”
Earlier this year, Sigma was appointed to help the NHS launch its first digital accessibility lab in Leeds, to aid internal digital teams identify and fix accessibility problems with its apps and websites.
It’s now releasing a toolkit of free resources to help content creators. This includes information on the importance of video captions, transcripts of audio and video clips, image and video descriptions.
The guide also includes free tool suggestions and walkthroughs of how to start applying them to content.
