In the vast tapestry of online spaces, where every click leads to a new journey, how do we ensure inclusive design for Art Therapists in the digital world speak to the hearts of all who enter? Picture a website as a canvas, each stroke holding the potential to connect, inspire, and transform.
In today’s reading, I’m talking about stereotypes and the need for inclusivity while designing your art therapy website. To start the importance of inclusivity is essential in today’s new world and unfortunately websites cater to a certain demographic. Let’s kick that stereotypical thought right out the door because this can change if there is a enough of awareness about it and how to make adjustments. Unlearn what’s been told and what is no longer serving us and learn the new believes and start applying today.
Websites almost always cater to a younger crowd that are able bodied and can digest information in a blink of an eye. This is only one segment of the population, what about the others? The minorities that need art therapy just as much as the average person. It’s time for inclusiveness towards other communities and making an effort to design for them as well so they can receive art therapy services, mental healing, and self development.
The Minorities included but not limited to the following:
- Ethnic/Racial Minorities:
- African Americans/Blacks
- Hispanic/Latinx
- Asian Americans
- Native Americans/Indigenous Peoples
- Gender Minorities:
- Women
- Non-binary individuals
- Transgender individuals
- Sexual Orientation Minorities:
- Lesbian
- Gay
- Bisexual
- Queer
- Religious Minorities:
- Muslims
- Buddhists
- Hindus
- Sikhs
- People with Disabilities:
- Physical disabilities
- Intellectual disabilities
- Sensory disabilities (blindness, deafness)
- Age-Related Minorities:
- Elderly individuals
- Youth/Children
- Socioeconomic Minorities:
- Low-income individuals
- Working-class individuals
- Health-Related Minorities:
- Individuals with chronic illnesses
- Mental health conditions
- Cultural Minorities:
- Immigrants
- Refugees
- Language Minorities:
- Individuals with languages other than the dominant one in a region/country
Elders, kids or neurodiverse individuals strive for simplified readings and more visuals. Others strive better with audio than visuals for the best experience. This is getting to know your audience and what works for them.
These finer details around integrating inclusiveness in our communication materials and website pushes for an inviting and accepting atmosphere to other minorities that need help as well. Boosting your art therapy brands reputation. We certainly don’t want to exclude elderly or others minorities who are looking for art therapy but maybe can’t use a website or don’t know how to navigate it. Or even use a computer!
Website Tools & Widgets
There’s so many possibilities to meeting people’s needs by using different tools or widgets on your website. From screen readers to translations and font sizing. There are lots of branches went it comes to addressing accessibility and inclusivity. Take it one step at a time you don’t need to tick off all the check boxes but start leaning towards that idea and philosophy in sounding ourselves with inclusive design.
Inclusive Design/ Universal Design
Inclusive Design going to be the new normal in the coming years because accessibility is now becoming more of a priority more than every before. This growth in inclusive beliefs, values, and language in general is becoming prioritized in every way possible. Striving for an inclusive world with a goal, globally, that everyone’s trying to reach is to be fully accessible by 2025. Whether that be buildings or websites.
Start thinking proactively in these times because accessibility is something that is going to change the world. Thus becoming universal design where stairs become ramps for everyone. This is no different than actual website work as well. Simplifying the navigation system so there’s clear buttons, and maybe larger than normal because they have to look good on the phones.
Mainly people struggle with navigating, clicking or reading, so those are the top areas to address first.
When it comes to website page loading, look to audio greetings for those prefer auditory learning. These are all things that we are exploring as humans in the realms of universal design, the goal here is to try to eliminate as many barriers as possible in the communication realms.
If we could do this in a couple of different steps we’re already on the right track to becoming collectively more accessible. I just wanted to emphasize that inclusiveness is becoming a global phenomenon. From gender identities, ethnicities, and people with disabilities. The minorities need to be seen, heard and nurtured.
In general the shift towards building communication that the collective all understand and interact with as human beings. From speaking the same language to body language and colour psychology.
Addressing different types of barriers
Next point to share is embracing the diverse audience and it’s not even just about addressing you the minority communities, but the cultural barriers as well because there’s language barriers so what would be really essential here is to dive into learning different cultures.
Your website is a global place so anyone from around the world can access your website. Dive into ways that you can reach those people through communication with a language barrier. First thing to do is use imagery, know what is okay to use and what is not okay to use several different types of cultures.
This is become much easier when you begin to understand your ideal client, you will easily identify what they like and don’t like. That will take some time to discover as you continuously work with them.
Your ideal client might be fixated a culture background so maybe you’re targeting a certain culture. Either way you still want to be very open and receptive to the other cultures out there, and knowing that would certainly make sure that you’re keeping a positive image on your brand in general and the overall user experience too.
Given the language barriers and not having time to invest in learning other languages or hire a translator. You still got options for doing translations on your website.
Multilingual Website Tools
You can look to add-ons to actually change the language on your website. If you have a WordPress art therapy website you can use https://wpml.org/. If you have Wix or Squarespace art therapy website you actually have it as a built in feature, it just needs to be activated https://support.wix.com/en/article/wix-multilingual-an-overview https://support.squarespace.com/hc/en-us/articles/205809778-Creating-a-multilingual-site-with-Weglot.
It’s possible you can use chatGPT https://chat.openai.com/ as well to shift your languages. Through my experiences there are plugins out there that simplify this complex task. You change from Mandarin, French, English to Spanish.
Incorporating this feature into your website design is a step in the right direction for inclusivity and reaching a diverse audience and not just the locals but Internationals too. This even gives you some good brand reputation points!
The use of other ways to navigate
Touching on the community of the disabled the common barriers would be people unable to use a mouse and much prefer to use keyboard to toggle through your website.
Be sure you run a test on your website of using only your keyboard to navigate to see if the functionality works.
Next is colour contrast, a big one as well, to those that might not see all the colours only selective colours. How to solve this is, run the grayscale test.
Take a screenshot of your website and put your website in grayscale using any visual editor like:
Fotor: https://www.fotor.com/
Photopea: https://www.photopea.com/
Canva: https://www.canva.com/
VSCO: https://www.vsco.co/
Snapseed: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/snapseed/id439438619
When you change it to grayscale you’ll see if any colours that turned grey are merging together. If they’re merging together that means there’s not enough contrast. (see my other blog) https://cmtdsgn.com/art-therapy-accessibility-myth-exclusion/ Push to make the colour more lighter or darker in your colour tones. Then you’re on a path of creating more contrast and that eliminates another barrier in better readability and identifying differentiating sections on a page.
Here are five take aways that you can start implementing more inclusive content and inclusive elements in your websites today!
Number 1: Embracing diversity in your images
Embracing diversity in your images is crucial for your art therapy brand photography. Include people of colour, individuals with disabilities, the elderly, and members of the LGBTQ community. It’s essential to bring in a variety of individuals, considering factors like gender, different cultures, looks, and various attributes. This diversity not only makes your brand more inclusive but also fosters a sense of community and social acceptance.
Number 2: Prioritizing accessible features
Prioritizing accessible features is a key step in making your website more inclusive. Check your fonts for readability and consider using clean, easily readable fonts like Helvetica, Open Sans, Lato and Roboto https://fonts.google.com/. Adding alt text to images and incorporating subtitles and organized paragraphs in your content improves accessibility for various users, including those using screen readers. These changes also benefit your website’s SEO, making it more recognizable and searchable.
Number 3: Testing with a diverse audience
Testing with a diverse audience is crucial for gathering valuable feedback. While friends and family can provide input, reaching out to your ideal clients or even strangers ensures a more comprehensive understanding of your website’s functionality. Collect enough feedback to make informed decisions for improving your website continually.
Number 4: Be mindful of cultural nuances
Be mindful of cultural nuances to maintain cultural sensitivity. What may be acceptable in one culture could have a different meaning in another. Avoid triggering symbols or imagery and ensure that your language is inclusive and respectful of gender, ethnicity, and other sensitive areas.
Number 5: Creating inclusive language
Creating inclusive language is vital in fostering positive feelings and inspiring your audience.
In summary,
These five takeaways aim to eliminate stereotype issues and promote inclusivity in your website design work. I hope these tips are helpful for your art therapy brand, and if you have any questions, feel free to ask!”