Making Communications More Accessible

This Spring the PRCA (Public Relations and Communications Association) updated its Guidelines for Accessible Communications. They provide more detail on video and animated graphics, thoughtful use of language and representation, and hosting of physical and virtual events.We talk about making our processes and materials more accessible and at times we even take steps on a specific project to make sure they are. But accessibility is seldom a core value that is delivered on. And yet the numbers of people impacted are staggering globally:Over 400 million people have severe hearing lossNearly 300 million people are visually impairedNearly 200 million people have cognitive disabilityPeople with disabilities make up 15% of the World’s populationPeople with disabilities control nearly $13 Trillion worth of buying powerUnderstanding the importance of accessible communications will force us as communications professionals to pay greater attention to engaging people with disabilities in our processes and materials. And accessible communication benefits all audiences, making information clear, direct, and easy to understand.Guest: George Coleman, CEO, Current GlobalLink to Current Global’s Making communications accessible by designLink to the PRCA Accessible Communications GuidelinesGeorge loves telling stories. Big, tall or short. He’s been doing it for more than 25 years for some of the world’s most iconic brands. He started his career as an electronics engineer, but craved a more creative canvas, and made the leap into marketing communications. Following a stint at the BBC, he joined his first PR agency and the rest, as they say, is LinkedIn profile history.He founded Interpublic Group agency Creation in 2011 and served as global president, before teaming up with Current Marketing to form Current Global in 2019.Outside of work he’s often found in his vegetable patch or brewing beer. He’s also a film fanatic, collects original cinema posters and has a cat called Butch Cassidy and a dog called Sundance. Email George: [email protected] with George on Twitter @theprmonkey Connect with Stories and Strategies on Twitter @stories_strats. We follow back.Send us a note about this episode. We'll reply and thank you on a future episodeSupport the show