A week in the life of an inclusive and accessible communication consultant
What does an inclusive and accessible communication consultant do all day? Here’s what I got up to during a week at work.
Monday
I’m kicking the week off with one of my favourite topics: inclusive language training.
It’s National Inclusion Week, and I’m speaking at a mixture of organisations - from some that are just starting their ED&I journey, to some that are well on the way to transformation.
First up is a two-hour inclusive language training for a philanthropic foundation that’s trying to become community-led and anti-oppressive. We’ll cover:
How to talk accurately about the causes of inequality,
How not to blame people for their own marginalisation,
How to tell nuanced stories about injustice, while inspiring people to take action.
Then I’ll spend the afternoon researching and writing my newsletter, before delivering another workshop at the end of the day.
My newsletter takes complicated inclusive language and accessibility topics then boils them down into simple, practical steps. Recent ones have covered:
How to talk about disability and make your content more accessible,
How to be more LGBTQIA+ inclusive,
Why simple writing is better writing.
My next one is about the importance of spelling and saying people’s names right. I spend some time chatting to friends, colleagues and people I’ve met over Twitter and LinkedIn, about why getting our names right is so important, then read through academic research, and listen to some podcasts and videos. Sign up for my newsletter to get the next one as soon as it goes live!
📚 What I’m reading
I found this article by Janey Starling a revelation. It’s about how many charities are held back by respectability politics, threats and regulatory restrictions. My key takeaway? As charities we need to keep a laser focus on justice, not doing or seeming good.
Tuesday
Today it’s a webinar for almost 1000 people!
Last week, I designed the training by asking my clients what areas of inclusive language they find confusing, and how they’re working on different aspects of ED&I across the organisation.
Staff tell me they want to get more confident:
using gender neutral titles and greetings,
spotting sexist, racist and ableist figures of speech,
communicating in a way that’s clearer for people who are neurodivergent, tired or distracted, and
sharing their pronouns and asking other people for theirs.
I spend the morning practicing my presentation, then deliver the webinar over lunchtime.
The group is amazing – super engaged, and full of thoughtful questions. I leave the session buzzing with energy and ideas.
In the afternoon, I catch up with clients and colleagues over email and plan the rest of my week.
📚 What I’m reading
Martha Awojobi says EDI strategies are a ‘waste of money. I love this article. If we dare to call our work EDI, we must be here to name, analyse and unpick systems of oppression. Above all, we’ve got to dismantle White supremacy - which shows up in everything from “white saviour” storytelling to snowcapped senior leadership.
Want to learn more about anti-racism? I can’t recommend BAME Scholar’s webinars and essays enough. Khadijah Diskin’s session What is Race? is a brilliant breakdown of the history and origins of race.
Wednesday
I’m editing a report for a grassroots collective, about violence against women of colour. I’m helping make the report accessible, so I’ll make changes like:
Choosing dyslexia-friendly fonts,
Making sure graphics and images are accessible,
Simplifying complex language, so it’s easier for people to read (whether they’re tired, distracted or speak English as an additional language),
Structuring the report so it works for screen readers.
I’m giving it an inclusive language review too. The report quotes activists, social workers and community leaders talking about why violence against women of colour happens. I look out for:
Phrases that blame women for experiencing violence (like “chose to stay with her abuser”)
Racist stereotypes (for example, that men of colour are the main perpetrators of gender-based language),
Inaccurate language about young people and criminal justice (“youths with time on their hands get into trouble”),
Plus many more examples of biased or inaccurate language around welfare support, sex work, violent crime, and the role of faith and tradition.
As part of my research, I read books, ‘zines and reports by activists and academics, to figure out the history and symbolism of specific words (like “prostitute”, “sex worker”, “youth” and “young person”). In the afternoon, I talk with former colleagues, activists and people from local organisations.
In inclusive language, there often isn’t one right answer – it’s about rooting our language in the needs and wants of relevant communities, and making a choice that we’re willing to defend.
📚 What I’m reading
My weeks have been extra busy recently. So I’ve been taking comfort from Sinéad Molloy’s thoughts on why time restriction is good for our creativity: On Thinking Inside the Box.
I really recommend Lauren Crichton’s fortnightly newsletter Pass It On. It’s packed full of practical tips, resources and provocations for all of us in the nonprofit sector.
Thursday
Today I’m talking to a medium-sized UK charity with a big journey ahead of it.
They have a long history of using “poverty porn” (images and storytelling that reinforce racist, classist and sexist narratives about people living in poverty) in their fundraising. They’re trying to become a genuinely anti-racist and anti-sexist organisation. Together, we need to rethink what stories they tell and how they tell them.
It’s a three month project, with five elements:
Audit – I’ll put all their content under the microscope, analysing how inclusive and accessible it is.
Content planning – I’ll make a detailed content plan showing which bits of content need to be deleted, reimagined or created, and how to do it.
Policies and procedures – we’ll need to rethink their approach to communications safeguarding, and potentially other processes.
Inclusive style guides – a new style guide for the whole organisation,
Inclusive content and copywriting training for the communications team.
It’s our project kick-off call in the afternoon. We spend some time imagining the end of the project: how proud the team will feel, how much more confident they’ll be that they’re doing good when they communicate, and why it matters.
Later that day, I start designing the audit protocol (a tool for systemically assessing and scoring communications content, to measure how inclusive and accessible it is).
🎙️ What I’m listening to
As a consultant working with NFPs, TSOs, VCS, NGOs and INGOs (aka the charity sector) I loved this Transforming Jargon podcast. It served up a satisfying mix of satire and serious investigation into sector jargon. The sooner we all ditch the acronyms and speak like real people, the better.
Friday
After delivering a lunchtime webinar about how to be a more LGBTQIA+ inclusive communicator, I check in with clients and colleagues over email.
Then I’ll look back over my week and reflect on things I’m grateful for. This week: the chance to work with so many organisations that are genuinely committed to change.
📚 What I’m reading
Vu Le’s blog Nonprofit AF is a constant source of inspiration, insights into the charity sector, and cute animal photos. An article that particularly spoke to me was: Consultants, are you actually making the sector worse? Here are some questions to ask yourselves. Vu asks hard-hitting questions and gives thoughtful, practical nudges for how we can create more justice in the nonprofit sector.
I’m part of a team of social change consultants, called WRKWLL. For National Inclusion Week, my WRKWLL colleagues asked me to share a week in my work life. Originally published on the WRKWLL website.