6.2 <3 diversity and inclusion

• Diversity


  The range of political beliefs, race, culture, sexual orientation, religion class and/or gender identity differences
• Inclusion

  Everyone feels involved, valued, respected, treated fairly and important to the business
• Inclusive workplace


  • Everyone feels valued and safe to put forward ideas, raise issues and suggestions, and try new things (with management approval)
• By making the workplace inclusive and implementing policies and procedures, an organization can increase diversity and inclusion for all employees irrespective of demographic characteristics
• Benefits of diversity and inclusion

  • Expansion of customer bases
  • Increasing profits
  • Increasing innovation
  • Increasing appeal to job applicants
  • Designing more inclusive products
  • Authentically connecting to minority groups
  • Avoiding reputational damage
• Diversity means all employees have a range of backgrounds and different perspectives
• Inclusion means everyone feels involved, valued, respected, treated fairly and important to the business
• An inclusive workplace means everyone feels valued and safe to put forward ideas, raise issues and suggestions, and try new things (with management approval)
• Expanding customer base


  Increases profits
• Considering diversity and inclusion when designing products


  Results in more innovative products
• Many large companies actively advertise that they are diverse and inclusive, leading to an increase in job applicants
• Inclusive recruitment involves removing personal details like name, gender or racial background before the selection process, so applicants are considered only for their qualifications, skills and experience
• Many job applicants research an organization's inclusion and diversity policy before applying, to ensure the company aims to be inclusive and does not discriminate
• Inclusive product design


  • Products are designed to be accessible and usable by as many people as possible, without special adaptations
• Inclusive website features


  • Transcripts for videos
  • Audio description
  • Alt tags for images
  • Load more options instead of scrolling
  • Pinch-to-zoom gestures on touch devices
  • Grid or list options of content
  • Larger images
  • Consistent layout, fonts and colours (contrast)
  • Avoiding red and green together (for colour blindness)
  • Placing new and important information on home page
• Red-green color blindness affects up to 1 in 12 males (8%) and 1 in 200 females (0.5%)
• Businesses must connect authentically with all existing and potential customers, particularly those from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds who are often historically excluded and marginalized
• A properly diverse and inclusive workplace allows all employees to bring their whole selves to work rather than being favorable to one group or another
• The Equality Act provides legal requirements that everyone should be treated equally
• Ensuring products are inclusive


  Reduces the risk of reputational damage
• By removing barriers and increasing inclusivity of products and services, the company's reputation will increase, leading to more customers and more money