‘If you need this information in LARGE PRINT or in braille, please let us know.’

I’ve seen this notice at the end of many pamphlets or posters. It’s always at the end. And the comment about braille is rarely written in actual braille. So either the person needing braille needs to have some ability to see or with someone who can help them.

Here’s the thing. It is all in all an odd communication choice and yet, it is an attempt. It is likely a response to regulation, so it’s compliance. If people who read braille or large print were their target customers or clients, a different approach would have surely been taken. Different channels and methods used.

And so it goes in conversations about consent. A script is added and a box ticked so we can move on. This either highlights our lack of care or highlights who are ‘customers’ are (donors and legal teams, not communities). Either answer is not great.

Therefore, perhaps we need to re-consider how we raise awareness about what we do with people’s data. Perhaps we need to ask them how they best take in information. Perhaps we do need to consider what it means to put them at the centre of what we do.

The choice is up to us.

Photo by Elizabeth Woolner