Digital inclusion: What it is, and how organizations create inclusive digital experiences

What is digital inclusion?

Digital inclusion is the work of making sure everyone can access and use digital technology, and the services, information and opportunities delivered through it. The National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA), whose definitions are widely used by policymakers, puts the relationship between three related terms simply: the digital divide is the issue, digital equity is the goal, and digital inclusion is the work.

At a societal level, that work is about affordable internet access, suitable devices and digital skills, which governments, libraries and community organizations lead. For an organization, there’s a narrower question it controls directly: once people reach your website, documents or app, can they actually use them? Someone who has a connection, a device and the skills can still be shut out by a form that doesn’t work with a screen reader, instructions written above their reading level, or a page too heavy to load on a slow mobile network.

This page covers that second part: how organizations make their own digital experiences inclusive.

Digital inclusion vs. digital accessibility

Digital accessibility is one part of digital inclusion. It focuses on people with disabilities and can be tested against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). Digital inclusion is broader. As the W3C’s Web Accessibility Initiative notes in its guide to accessibility, usability and inclusion, inclusion also covers differences in age, language, literacy, culture, device and connection. For a side-by-side comparison, see how accessibility and inclusivity differ.

The five dimensions of an inclusive digital experience

Inclusion on a website or app comes down to five areas of practice. Each has its own checks, and each tends to have a different owner.

1. Readability

Readability is how easily people can read and understand your content: sentence length, word choice, structure, and font size and spacing. It matters for people with cognitive disabilities, people reading in a second language and anyone reading in a hurry. Teams check it with readability tests such as Flesch-Kincaid and by applying plain language guidance. See how plain language and readability relate to WCAG.

2. Inclusive language

Inclusive language avoids words and phrases that stereotype, exclude or offend groups of people, and follows how communities prefer to be described. It works best as guidance in the style guide plus a standing review step, rather than an occasional clean-up. Here’s how to audit content for inclusive language.

3. Representation

Representation means the people, examples and scenarios in your content reflect the audience you actually serve. It covers imagery and illustrations, case examples and names, and the assumptions built into forms, such as name fields that accept only one format. Images also need alt text that describes what they mean in context.

4. Usability

Usability is whether people can complete what they came to do effectively, efficiently and with satisfaction. Clear navigation, predictable layouts, forms that explain errors, and pages that load quickly on slow connections all count. Usability testing checks it, ideally with a range of participants that includes people with disabilities.

5. Accessibility

Accessibility makes sure people with disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate and interact with your content, including people who use assistive technology such as screen readers. It’s the dimension with a published standard: organizations usually set a WCAG conformance target, such as WCAG 2.2 Level AA, and test against it with automated checks, manual testing and testing with assistive technology. Learn more about digital accessibility.

How organizations create inclusive digital experiences

Inclusion holds up when it’s built into how content and pages are produced, not added at the end:

• Set an accessibility target and measure the whole site against it, not just the pages someone happens to check.
• Put plain language and inclusive language guidance in the style guide, so writers across teams work to the same rules.
• Choose imagery and examples deliberately, and write alt text that carries the image’s meaning.
• Design for low bandwidth and small screens. Lightweight, mobile-friendly pages are where an organization’s own site meets the wider digital divide.
• Test with a range of users, including people with disabilities and people who use assistive technology.
• Build accessibility in early, at the design and template stage, where it costs least. See how to embed accessibility into your workflow.

Frequently asked questions

What is digital inclusion?

Digital inclusion is the work of making sure everyone can access and use digital technology and the services delivered through it. For an organization, it means making its own websites, documents and apps usable by the full range of people who rely on them.

Why is digital inclusion important?

More essential services, from banking and healthcare to education and government, are delivered online first. When a digital service excludes people, they lose access to the service itself, not just to a website.

What is the digital divide?

The digital divide is the gap between people who have affordable internet access, devices and the skills to use them, and people who don’t. Digital inclusion is the work of closing that gap.

What are examples of digital inclusion?

For an organization, examples include captions and transcripts for video, forms that work with a keyboard and screen reader, plain language instructions, translated content for the languages your audience speaks, imagery that reflects your audience, and pages that load quickly on older phones.

What’s the difference between digital inclusion and digital accessibility?

Digital accessibility focuses on people with disabilities and has a testable standard, WCAG. Digital inclusion is broader and includes accessibility, along with readability, inclusive language, representation and usability.