When dealing with a broad cross-section of the general public there will always be a proportion of people who have difficulty in understanding conventional graphics. They can be summarised as follows:

1. Those with sight difficulties. Some 2 million people in the UK self define as having seeing difficulties (4%). A further 21% are over 60 years old and are likely to have sight problems.
2. Dyslexics. Between 4% and 6% of the population have severe dyslexia - a further 10% are thought to have a milder form (up to 9.6 million people).
3. Literacy levels. Over 7 million people in the UK have poor levels of literacy and will have difficulty understanding, for example, simple percentages and fractions.
4. Ethnic and/or cultural issues. 3.6 million people in the UK are foreign born and of those 62% are from non-English speaking countries. Most of these have English as a second language.

Certain 'hard to reach' groups are liable to have a profile where the proportion of those with these types of difficulties is higher. Consequently if you wish to engage with, or communicate to the whole audience your material must take these issues into account.

The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 created a legal duty on service providers to make reasonable adjustments to the way they provide services, to make sure that less able people can use them.

In 2004, the Disability Rights Commission identified that 81% of websites were failing to uphold the world wide web consortium guidelines and specifications for accessibility.

We design conformance into all websites we create.



Conformance to these guidelines is mostly concerned with the way in which a website operates and the way in which material is displayed on your website, and is a vital part of making sure that your electronic communications are properly accessible.

At Dialhouse, we take accessibility and readability a step further.

There is no nationally recognised accreditation for accessibility in graphic design. Some organisations audit text for clear use of language, but messages are also conveyed in pictures and in the way in which your material is laid out.

This is why Dialhouse also offer accreditation of the content of the communication material itself. We have carefully researched the means by which to maximise the chances of communication being properly understood and we have developed an accreditation process to demonstrate that communications material has been designed with accessibility built in.

Our CAT accreditation shows that all relevant aspects of accessibility and readability have been incorporated into the design of your communications material. When you come to Dialhouse you can be sure that we will take care of all the accessibility issues for you.

As a result you can expect a higher than usual response, provided you follow the guidelines. These guidelines apply to all printed communication and an extended set is used that includes electronic communication such as websites and email shots.