Inclusive marketing: fantastic tools and where to find them

Inclusive marketing: fantastic tools and where to find them
28
Nov 22

David Jenkin

If you’re reading the 10th entry in our series of blogs about inclusive marketing, it’s safe to say that you’re a convert. Or, at the very least, on the way to becoming one.

We’ve discussed why inclusive marketing is essential for your conscience and your business; we’ve highlighted brands that are doing it incredibly well and those that aren’t; and we underscored how data plays a vital role in any decent inclusive marketing strategy. We’ve done our best to make inclusive marketing as approachable as possible, but we wouldn’t blame anyone for finding it all overwhelming.

Where do you start looking when you need resources to help build your inclusive marketing framework? You’re not the only one wondering this, which is why we’ve gathered more inclusive marketing tools than you can count on both hands.

Google’s All In Inclusive Marketing Insights

Google’s inclusive marketing resource centre is full of insights that the company has collected while carrying out its own inclusive marketing initiatives over the years. It has hard-hitting statistics that you can use to get executive buy-in and valuable insights to help you build inclusive workgroups, drive impactful campaigns that resonate broadly and eliminate stereotypes from your marketing.

W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are universal principles that dictate how web content should be designed and developed to ensure that it’s as accessible as possible. These guidelines include optimising online content for screen readers, providing closed captions for audio and video content, adjusting screen font size, disclaiming any content that may cause seizures, and ensuring all web content appears and operates in predictable ways.

Atlassian’s Inclusive Language Guide

This guide is a near-exhaustive list of exclusionary terms to avoid and more inclusive ones to adopt. It helps brands eliminate any sexist, racist, classist, ableist and non-LGBTQ-friendly language from its messaging.

Google developer documentation style guide

Google’s developer documentation style guide contains developer terms that have offensive or disrespectful connotations. This includes terms like “blacklist”, “slave”, “master”, “abort” and “agnostic”. The style guide has neutral alternatives that developers can replace these terms with.

GLAAD Media Reference Guide

The GLAAD Media Reference Guide has been around for several years (and 11 editions) as a resource for journalists looking to write respectfully about the LGBTQ community. However, it can also be used by marketers who want to make their messaging more LBGTQ friendly. It’s a glossary of acceptable terms for denoting gender identity and expression and sexual orientation with a list of outdated and offensive terms to avoid.

Accessibility Insights for Web plugin

This nifty tool is a quick way to assess how accessible a website is. It can run automated tests which check a website for compliance with 50 accessibility guidelines based on the WCAG. It can also help developers fix accessibility issues as they are discovered.

The Gender Spectrum Collection by VICE

Finding decent stock photography that features non-binary individuals without ridiculing or fetishising their identities is challenging. That’s why VICE decided to create The Gender Spectrum Collective – a growing collection of high-quality stock photos of non-binary people in ordinary situations. The images are free and are suited for professional, personal or marketing purposes.

Nappy

Another collection of stock photography you’ll need is Nappy. While platforms such as Unsplash have racially diverse models, there is still a shortage of well-shot and freely available stock photography of Black and Brown people. Nappy features a broad range of photos featuring Black and Brown people from all walks of life and in a spectrum of skin tones.

MIT’s Gender Decoder

This gender decoder tool helps you spot gender-coded language in job ads. We’ve mentioned how gender-coded job specs apply a subtle form of sexism that signals the preferred gender for the job without explicitly stating it. With this tool, you can simply copy and paste the text of a job ad and it will highlight any discouraging language.

UC Berkeley’s DEI checklist

Inclusive marketing without inclusive culture is tokenism. You have to start from within your organisation to drive meaningful and authentic change. The University of California Berkeley Haas School of Business’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Checklist is not only a mouthful but a comprehensive guide for establishing inclusive practices within any team. It’s designed for larger organisations but can be easily adapted for any size workgroup.

The Drum’s Diversity column

Finally, because inclusive marketing is a commitment to ongoing education, it’s good to have a go-to source for relevant information for marketers. That’s why we recommend The Drum’s column. It’s the first place we look when we want to know what the latest conversations are, and even though it’s an American publication, the scope of its coverage has global relevance.

Now that your toolkit is full of resources, it’s time to put them to work. Get in touch with us to determine the next step on your inclusive marketing journey.

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