This Tuesday, VIA: Visually Impaired Advancement’s education and development coordinator, Ray Zylinski, was a panelist for AAF Buffalo and Leadership Buffalo’s Equitable Marketing: Crafting Inclusive Communications for People with Disabilities. The event was moderated by Leadership Buffalo’s Sean Ryan and AAF Buffalo’s Samantha Burfiend and hosted two other panelists, People Inc.’s Liz Kahn, Vice President, Marketing and Communications, and Deaf Access Services’s David Wantuck, Community Engagement Specialist. The event also had tips and tricks for inclusivity. Read AAF Buffalo’s Equitable Marketing handout below.
Equitable Marketing
All audiences benefit from inclusive marketing, and approximately one billion people worldwide have some form of impairment!
Accessibility is a phrase that is becoming increasingly used in the creative sector. This is mainly due to brands worldwide realizing that their existing advertisements need to be more inclusive. The goal of accessibility is to provide an experience that meets the needs of everyone in your audience, including people with impairments.
Here are some tips and tricks to create inclusivity in Buffalo’s advertisement industry!
- Do not make assumptions
Not all individuals who have impairments consider themselves to be disabled. Don’t marginalize access information. For example, elderly people with various impairments related to aging would never think to look at a page labeled “disability.”
- Understand experiences:
Dexterity: what kind of movement must an individual perform to interact with the site or content?
Vision: What shapes, colors, text, and graphics must an individual understand to consume my content?
Hearing: What sounds are required to be heard for an individual to consume my content?
Thinking: How much time must an individual spend with my content to truly interpret and understand it?
- Ask
- Consult with actual people who are disabled. This is the key to getting it right and building audiences.
- Ask for feedback, then act on it.
- Allow users to request multiple formats without making it sound like a burden. For example, say, “please ask us for this information in alternative formats” rather than “this information is available in alternative formats upon request.”
- Create an opportunity for people who are disabled to advocate for themselves.
Accessible Content Tools
- WebAIM Color Contrast Checker: A contrast color checker that gives you results in real-time for regular and large text.
- Inclusive Components: A pattern library with a focus on inclusive design. Each post explores a common interface component and develops a better, more robust, and more accessible version.
- Vox Product Accessibility Guidelines: A comprehensive checklist for designers, engineers, and project managers.
- axe Google Chrome Extension: Test any site for accessibility violations using the Chrome inspector.
Who you should know
In the city of good neighbors, we have many organizations and companies leading the way; here are a few to know.
Local Diversity & Accessibility Leaders
- 211 Western New York (https://www.211wny.org/)
- Accessibility Services (http://www.accessibility-services.com)
- Aspire of WNY (https://www.aspirewny.org)
- Beyond Support Network (https://beyondwny.org/)
- Buffalo Hearing & Speech Center (http://www.askbhsc.org)
- Buffalo Prep (https://buffaloprep.com/)
- Deaf Access Services (http://www.wnydas.org/)
- Evergreen Health (http://www.evergreenhs.org/)
- Greater Buffalo Adaptive Sports (https://www.sledhockeyfoundation.org/)
- People, Inc., (http://www.people-inc.org)
- Say Yes Buffalo (https://sayyesbuffalo.org/)
- The Summit Center (https://www.thesummitcenter.org/)
- The Parent Network of WNY (http://www.parentnetworkwny.org)
- University at Buffalo – Center for Inclusive Design & Environment Access (https://idea.ap.buffalo.edu/services/ada-consulting/)
- VIA: Visually Impaired Advancement (http://viawny.org)
- Western New York Independent Living, Inc. (WNYIL) (http://www.wnyil.org)
Buffalo Companies Making Waves
- Aille Design (https://ailledesign.com/)
- Feed Buffalo (https://www.feedbuffalo.org/)
- MarketingTech (https://marketingtechonline.com/)
- Niagara Arts & Cultural Center (www.thenacc.org)
- Niagara Frontier Radio Reading (https://nfradioreading.org/)
- Starlight Studio & Art Gallery (https://www.starlightstudio.org/)
- And so many more!