NHS Public Health Wales has improved the quality of their communications online by providing accessibility and language options to support a diverse range of people.
NHS Public Health is the leading organisation in Wales working to improve the well-being of 3 million people in the UK. As part of the NHS, their aim is to continuously improve care to help create the safest and highest quality health service.
1 in 5 people (17.9%) in the UK are disabled and often encounter obstacles online when searching for information on healthcare, services and COVID-19 advice. By using Recite Me assistive technology those who are visually impaired, neurodiverse or who speak English or Welsh as a second language can gain access to healthcare information hassle-free.
Rebecca Fogarty, Engagement and Collaboration Manager at NHS Public Health Wales commented, “We know the information on our website needs to be available in different formats and languages to reach our diverse audiences, so we worked hard to find a solution that will make information we publish online more accessible.”
The assistive toolbar on the NHS public Health Wales website offers users features such as translating content into different languages, read aloud and styling assistance. This includes adjustments to colour, font type and size.
In the first month of launching the Recite Me toolbar, there have been over 1600 unique users, accessing the assistance they need to support their online journey at https://phw.nhs.wales/ .
Leah Morantz, Head of Communications at NHS Public Health Wales explained, “User experience has been at the heart of our website redevelopment project and we’ve always tried to keep the needs of the audience central to our content planning and layout design.
“Working with the National Wales Informatics Service (NWIS) we’re piloting a way forward for the other NHS Wales websites. If the new developments meet audience needs, we’ll be able to roll them out to the other health boards and trusts across Wales.”
Ross Linnett, Founder & CEO of Recite Me explained, “We want to provide an inclusive online experience, where everyone can customise content to suit their needs. Organisations like NHS Wales who have a diverse range of website users, can now offer healthcare information more effectively to all users, this is particularly crucial in current circumstances for COVID-19 advice and services.”
Recite Me is quick and easy to implement on your website. Join the thousands of companies who have already adopted our inclusive software to make the digital world accessible for all.
