The new assistive toolbar

Over 1 billion people worldwide encounter barriers when trying to read and understand content online. This can be due to disabilities, learning difficulties, visual impairments, or if people speak English as a second language. In today’s world, we expect to be able to do everything online, from booking repairs to paying rent. Every website user deserves an inclusive online experience that allows them to navigate and use the website.

Clann’s Quality in Our Diversity project ran a series of workshops for residents and staff. These workshops identified the need for an accessibility solution for the Clann website. Residents from a range of cultural and linguistic backgrounds spoke of their journeys to becoming Clann residents. A reoccurring theme throughout the feedback was the difficulty in understanding key questions about Clann, social housing, the residents’ rights and their responsibilities as tenants.

These conversations generated a range of outputs, including a more refined live telephone interpreting service for front-line staff and the translation of our Tenancy Agreement into six key languages spoken by our residents. But the Clann website was consistently highlighted as these residents’ primary source of information about Clann, and the one which made them feel most unequal, unable to research the basic information about life as a Clann resident which is so easily accessible to our English-speaking residents.

We have partnered with Recite Me, an organisation that specialises in digital accessibility. The Assistive Toolbar offers a range of support options, for example language translation, a screen reader, magnifine glass etc. These tools will support Clann to become a more inclusive organisation and ensure that the Clann website is user-friendly for individuals with specific needs.

To find out more about the new Assistive Toolbar, click here or visit, clannhousing.ie/accessibility-support