The Australian community (currently around 27.7 million of us) is a wonderfully diverse tapestry of people with different abilities, from different cultures, with different views and needs.
As specialists in communications that drive positive community outcomes, we want to make sure everyone gets the information they need about services, support, health, financial wellbeing, social wellbeing and safety. At its simplest, that means creating and delivering information in a range of formats and on different channels, but the magic happens in making the information meaningful.
How do we do this?
At Fenton, all projects begin with audience mapping, which is essentially putting ourselves in someone else’s shoes. This means we need to research and build empathy, we need to listen to people – to fill information gaps we need to find the right space and shape to deliver information.
From here we can craft communications that are accessible to the intended audiences.
Then we ensure that content is easy to understand, culturally appropriate and accessible. For communication to be accessible it must do three key things:
- Be presented in a way that it can be easily understood – this could be a video that includes captions and an Auslan version, or making a resource available in target languages or printed in Braille. But it also means that information is clear and language is not ambiguous or confusing.
- People can identify personally with the message – it is tailored to who they are and their stage of life. It is relevant and suitable.
- Information appears in the right place – producing content that hits home is crucial, but distribution is just as important. You have to plan where it will be viewed, read, listened to and talked about.
We’re proud of our history of creating communication that can be accessed and understood. We believe accessible communication should be more than an aspiration. Not only is it foundational for effective awareness and behaviour change, it’s also a human right.
Some recent examples of our work highlighting the importance of accessibility for reaching diverse audiences.