Why inclusivity and accessibility are important to consider in your veterinary practice’s digital marketing

November 21, 2024

Have you thought about how accessible and inclusive your digital marketing campaigns are? If the answer to that question is ‘no,’ here’s why that needs to change ASAP.

According to data from the National Literacy Trust, 16.4% [1] of adults in England have literacy skills that can be described as ‘very poor’. Most adults in England are classed as being ‘functional’ when it comes to literacy and are at a similar level to that expected of the average 11-14 year old [2].

But what does this mean in practice?

The majority of adults in England can understand straightforward, short pieces of text and access information from familiar sources such as newspapers, but struggle to obtain information on unfamiliar topics or from unfamiliar sources.

What does this mean for your digital marketing efforts?

Ensuring that your marketing materials are written using simple, plain language will help you avoid inadvertently excluding a large percentage of your pet owning audience. In turn, this will help you to get your educational messages regarding pet ownership, healthcare and welfare out to a wider audience and support people in your local community to ensure that their pets are consistently receiving the best possible care.

But your efforts should go much further…

We know that social media provides us with so many opportunities to engage and connect with people from all walks of life, however, brands and businesses routinely inadvertently exclude people with additional needs.

Inaccessible digital marketing campaigns can be detrimental to your veterinary practice in a number of ways, including limiting your audience, alienating less-abled pet owners, and minimising the impact your advertising efforts could ultimately make.

It is hugely important to actively demonstrate that you value your entire audience. So, let’s look at some of the most common accessibility related mistakes that veterinary practices are making right now in their digital marketing.

  1. Embedded text within images

Social media is overflowing with visual assets, including graphics and photographs. In fact, incorporating visual elements into social media posts is often recommended to boost your engagement rates. However, it is important to do this whilst also being mindful of accessibility issues.

Firstly, avoid falling into the trap of trying to share too much text within a single image. As well as simplifying your messaging, it will also be beneficial to think about whether there are other formats you could use to share information, such as a dedicated webpage or video with sound and subtitles.

When creating visual imagery to support your campaigns, ensure that:

– the fonts you choose are clear and legible

– you’re using a font size of at least 16 pixels

– there’s plenty of ‘white space’ around blocks of text

  1. Alt text on images

It is also important to add alt-text that accurately describes all the information within an image which is shared on websites and social media platforms, as this can be accessed by screen readers, ensuring that your messaging is reaching as many people as possible.

High quality, effective alt text will always describe the important information within an image that a person with normal vision would be able to determine simply by looking at it. It is best practice to add alt text to every image you share across your digital channels, as this will ensure consistency across your online content and help to reduce the chances that this important part of the upload process will be overlooked.

  1. Colour contrast

People with visual impairment or colour blindness can struggle to read text within graphics where there is insufficient contrast between the background colour and text colour. According to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) [3], large text should have a contrast ratio of at least 3:1, whereas normal sized text should have at least a 4:5:1 contrast ratio.

Many popular retailers use a lot of pastel coloured backgrounds in their imagery with a pale coloured text over the top. While this may be fashionable and currently ‘trending’, it is very difficult, if not outright impossible, to read if you have visual impairment or low vision.

It’s also important to note that black text on a white background can be too much of a contrast and some people with dyslexia may struggle to read your messaging. Instead, try to overlay dark text over a pale background, as this strikes the ideal balance and facilitates greater accessibility for your audience.

  1. Special characters and fonts

There are so many different fonts to choose from, however it is important to be mindful of the fact that many people find it difficult to read some of the more decorative options that are available. So, we would advise skipping over the handwriting style fonts and choosing something simpler that will help you to convey your messaging, such as Verdana, Arial, Calibri or Helvetica and save the fancier fonts for logos.

We also recommend avoiding using italics, special characters and symbols in your online messaging, as screen readers typically read these unusual characters differently, which will prevent a percentage of your audience from engaging with your content.

Ultimately, accessible digital campaigns will always be better and more successful than non-accessible campaigns. Plus, by incorporating good accessibility practices into your marketing strategy, you can actively demonstrate that you value each and every pet owner who is engaging with your practice.

 

Resources:

[1] https://literacytrust.org.uk/parents-and-families/adult-literacy/

[2] https://library.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2020/08/Health-literacy-how-to-guide.pdf

[3] https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/wcag/

Categorised in: , , , ,