A Guide to Create Accessible Documents with and for Children
Accessible information is key to meaningful participation. Discover Eurochild and Learning for Wellbeing Foundation’s practical guide to creating clearer, more inclusive documents.
Every child has the right to participate in decisions that affect them. But if a document is difficult to read, understand or navigate, it can become a barrier to participation. That is why Eurochild, in collaboration with the Learning for Wellbeing Foundation, is launching a new practical guide to help organisations create more accessible documents.
The guide provides simple, practical advice on how to make written and digital information easier to access and understand. It looks at different aspects of creating a document, including language, structure, layout and visual presentation. Rather than requiring organisations to completely rethink the way they work, the guide focuses on concrete changes that can make information more accessible to a wider range of people, including children.
Importantly, the guide has been developed with children experiences and perspectives in mind. Their input has helped highlight the barriers they can face when information is too complex, unclear or not presented in an accessible way. This reflects an important principle of child participation: if we want children to have a meaningful say, we also need to make sure they can access and understand the information they are being asked to engage with.
Accessibility is therefore not an additional step that comes with participation. It is part of creating the conditions for meaningful participation in the first place. Whether children are being consulted, involved in developing a project or taking the lead, they need information they can access and use to make informed decisions and express their views.
With this guide, Eurochild and Learning for Wellbeing Foundation hope to support organisations to identify and remove some of the barriers that can prevent people from accessing information and participating fully. Making our documents more accessible is one practical step towards making our work more inclusive and ensuring that more voices can be heard.
