Digital inclusion
What it covers
- Places of access and support: public digital spaces, libraries, associations, help desks
- Training in basic uses: an online procedure, an email, a video call with a relative, recognising a scam
- Public and private services designed to be understandable, with a human counter as backup
- Accessible hardware and connections, refurbished or subsidised
- Organisations equipped to help their public, with tools they keep
The role of associations
Many digital inclusion actors are associations: they run the help desks, train, support a procedure, lend a computer. They themselves need reliable tools to run these desks, follow their public, report to their funders. Equipping them at cost is acting on inclusion without replacing them: the programme trains the associations' teams, and they are the ones who support their public.
What an inclusive website does differently
- Practical information first: address, hours, phone, without searching
- Short texts, in plain language, one idea per sentence
- Sufficient contrast, readable characters, buttons a thumb can find
- Fast on an entry-level phone and a weak connection: no video that starts on its own
- A path to a human: a number, an address, a help desk
These are design choices, not paid options. They serve everyone, including those who are not in a situation of vulnerability.
Where to start, for an association
- Look at your website on an entry-level phone, in the street, with a weak connection
- Have the home page read by someone who does not know the association, and time how long it takes to find the address and the hours
- Rewrite the three most visited pages in plain language
- Put a phone number and a help desk on every page that asks for a procedure
In Kern4Good
The programme's websites are designed to be readable and fast on an entry-level phone, in plain language, with practical information first; it is a criterion of the mock-up, not an extra. The digital training of the editors is part of every cohort. The Digital divide theme describes the approach, and the King Baudouin Foundation's Digital Inclusion Barometer gives the reference figures, cited in the digital divide definition.
Further reading
Can a website be "inclusive"?
Yes: readable on mobile, fast, in plain language, with sufficient contrast and simple navigation. These are design choices, not paid options.
Does Kern4Good train the associations' public?
No, it trains the associations' teams. They are the ones who support their public.
Are accessibility and digital inclusion the same thing?
They overlap. Accessibility targets people with disabilities (screen readers, keyboard navigation, captions) and follows standards; digital inclusion targets everyone kept away by access, skills or uses. A clear website serves both.
Are there aids for digital inclusion projects?
Yes, calls for projects by foundations and regional schemes, with their calendars. The grants guide cites them with their sources; always check the date of the official page.