We’re creating several videos to make it easier to understand how to design documents anyone can access and everyone can read easily. Just as the government defined physical accessibility rules, we are now encouraging computer users to make the digital world as welcoming as possible too.
First, we created a campaign theme for the USDA Forest Service to enlist busy employees who are neither punished nor rewarded for changing their behaviors. We appealed to a communal responsibility.
Tagline and campaign theme
We then suggested that all of us may need special assistance to do certain things from time to time. A bear can’t fly unassisted, nor can an owl swim (easily). Most of us will need assistance at one or more points in our lives.
Animals were to be drawn in a friendly way
Here’s where we had a bit of fun with our woodland creatures. We explored different actions that animals would have trouble with unassisted. In the process, we wanted to carefully avoid making them soooo realistic that they might be frightening, as the bee below!
Our other thought in using animals was to make a point about being ‘differently abled’ in a supportive way that would prevent anyone from feeling either offended or left out.
Duck and cover!
The final video below was very well received and is only the introduction to several more that will provide suggested actions to make any digital document more accessible to everyone.