That’s the motto of the county of Essex, and it sums up my experience working at Essex County Council. In the public sector it’s not enough to be creative, every piece of communication must comply with accessibility guidance.
But it’s not just about ticking boxes. Accessible content demonstrates that you genuinely care about being inclusive.
Inclusion is more than changing the colour of your logo
I learned about accessibility and inclusive design for the first time at Essex County Council. As a creative, it was my job to make sure every piece of design to promote the organisation, its services, and uphold its reputation, was also Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) compliant.
I worked with the campaigns, social, and content teams, the internal and external teams in the communications department, and provided consultancy support to colleagues across the organisation. Supporting a county council that serves around 1.5 million people in Essex means delivering consistently high quality design work and campaigns, and not creating any barriers. From key strategy documents and partnership communications, to designing a flexible internal signage system for the Chelmsford head office and other council buildings in Colchester.
Working in the public sector brings a whole different set of considerations and values. I quickly realised that the marketing content from most businesses is neither accessible nor inclusive, and it was the start of my journey to help change that.
If you’ve never heard of accessibility, you can’t create inclusive content. But the same is true for your competitors, so why not make accessibility your competitive advantage.
Now it’s how I always work, because accessible design benefits everyone.
Making sure as many people as possible can engage with your marketing and social media content.
Sometimes, all you need is some different thinking.
Becoming known as an inclusive brand, that does more than just pay lip service, will win you loyal customers.
Maintain your brand consistently everywhere, across all your teams and departments.
Deb’s been an amazing part of the team working on the Ways of Working project… she really has gone above and beyond and enabled us to do something a bit different.Jade Downing, Project Manager Transformation Delivery & Support, Essex County Council
I just wanted to extend a huge thank you for the work you have done to enable us to finally launch and distribute the Anti-Racist Practice Strategy. It is a significant one for Children and Families. Not only for what it stands for and the intentions behind it, but also because you have made it look fabulous.Sukriti Sen, Director of Local Delivery Mid Children & Families, Essex County Council