By Annie Hitchman, Marketing Lead
An exciting project is underway at MacIntyre, where we are developing a co-produced Easy Read website tailored specifically for the people we support. As the Marketing Lead, my role is to create content that truly resonates with those who draw on our support, focusing on what they want to see, hear, and understand. I work closely with the Co-Production and Easy Read teams to ensure we give a voice to the people we support on our platforms and co-create content that makes sense to them.
Over the past few months, I've been travelling across the country, working with individuals who draw on our support to understand what is important to see on the Easy Read website. I've also explored whether going online is important and how people typically use the internet. The feedback so far has confirmed the internet is important to chat to family, look for events happening in the local community and an outlet for hobbies and interests like sport, arts and crafts or activities. Interestingly, many people who are non-verbal don’t tend to go online often, highlighting a gap in how we can create better services to meet their needs.
Numerous ideas have emerged from the workshops, including topics like employment, an online sensory room, making friends, and world news. While not all of these ideas may come to fruition, it's been fantastic to understand what people want and to share in the excitement of creating a website specifically designed to support individuals with learning disabilities.
The next steps involve collating all the feedback from MacIntyre’s workshops and bringing the website together. We will then form focus groups to test the site, ensuring it is user-friendly for everyone. Once we've made improvements, we'll be one step closer to launching a website that truly serves its purpose.