Building true accessibility doesn't happen overnight. It's a process you can tackle step by step.
Step 1: Audit current content
Begin with a thorough analysis of your current digital setup. Not just technical WCAG compliance, but also:
Language level of your content (measure this with tools like Tekstanalyse.be)
User experience for different target groups
Places where people get stuck or drop out
Frequently asked questions that are actually already answered on your website
Step 2: Develop Personas and Scenarios
Develop concrete user profiles that go beyond demographic data. Think about:
Persona example: Maria (67 years)
Maria has diabetes and mild heart problems. She can read and write, but isn't very handy with computers. She'd rather trust a phone call than a website. Her Dutch is good, but she often doesn't understand medical terms. She mainly wants to know if something's serious and what she should do - details about why interest her less.
Step 3: Build content modularly and test
Build your content in reusable modules that you can combine differently for different users. Test this continuously with real patients from your various target groups.
For example, a medication module:
• Basic module: what does this medicine do?
• Practicalities module: how and when to take?
• Warning module: side effects to be aware of
• Science module: how the medicine works biochemically
• Experience module: stories from other patients
Step 4: Implement technology incrementally
Start small with one component or one patient group. Learn from what works and expand slowly. Better a small accessible part than a large incomprehensible website.
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)