Digital inclusion : making digital accessible for everyone

Some groups of learners are more likely to be digitally excluded and can have different barriers/challenges to digital inclusion. These can include confidence, motivation and practical barriers.

Here is a video about why digital inclusion is so important and what the barriers are for certain groups of people.

We have tested the best ways to support different groups of learners.
Read the guides below to help you successfully meet your learners needs.

General top tips for working with disadvantaged learners

Working with specific types of learner

Every learner* can have different barriers.
Each guide will give you
– information on the challenges/barriers facing your learners
– solutions and top tips on how to successfully overcome these barriers
– links to helpful resources
– links to published research, reports and publications.

*Always remember that every learner is an individual who may not be typical of their group and may also have multiple additional needs. You may therefore want to read all the guides so you can help a diverse range of people.

Image : Younger woman showing older woman something on mobile phone

Older learners

Image: Young person working on a laptop displaying a Google search of "social media" images. Photo courtesy of Signal Film and Media

Young learners

Image: Photo of a man using a laptop on a stand & wearing headphones with speaker

Learners with physical disabilities

Image : Photo of woman using a Smartphone

Learners with mental health issues

Image : a smiling learner holding up his tablet with his drawing of a Halloween pumpkin

Learners with learning disabilities

Image: Photo of a man in a baseball cap looking at a computer screen

Homeless learners

Learner at Clarion Futures digital workshop

Learners whose first language is not English

Image : Red circular wanring sign with £ symbol inside crossed out in red

Financially disadvantaged learners

The aim of the workshops during the event was to:

These guides were created from learning generated at the Community of Practice March 2019 event workshops and subsequent review by the One Digital partners of the great work being done by the 21 contributing partners who work with different disadvantaged groups of learners.

Understand the digital inclusion barriers and challenges for the particular group – including confidence, motivation and practical.
How partner contributors were working to overcome barriers and challenges
Contributors experience of working with those groups –what was working well, and not so well
Participants then had a chance to ask questions and share their experiences
We asked for a focus on resources which were being used
We asked contributors to look for learning opportunities between the partners involved.

The event also offered practical sessions on:

The contributing partners were:

and

BT
Enable Scotland
MIND
Streetwork