Making research more inclusive

Making your participant information material inclusive and accessible is essential if you want to recruit—and retain—diverse populations. Many research applications are now rejected due to issues around participant information.

Considerate content design for material like consent forms, information sheets, recruitment adverts, consultee declarations and leaflets is not only ethically imperative when seeking informed consent but will help to ensure your research findings are representative of a broader population and more impactful.

Making sure participant information is accessible and inclusive is now a vitally important step in any modern research project.

Clear and accessible information benefits everyone, not just those with specific learning needs. It helps people who are tired, stressed, have little time, or speak English as an additional language.

We want to help researchers make their participant information materials more accessible and ensure that all individuals can participate in research without unnecessary barriers. Here’s how we can help!

At Go Easy Read, we offer training for research staff to help them to create more accessible—and therefore more inclusive—participant information materials.

Suitable for any researcher who wants practical advice and guidance on creating participant information materials to reach diverse audiences, our course is particular helpful to PhD students and Early Career Researchers, although researchers at any stage of their career may benefit.
We can provide training for individuals or groups in an online or in-person setting.

So what’s involved?

First, we introduce the fundamental ideas in language awareness and the barriers that might exist for potential research participants, drawing on practical examples from a wide range of research participant information materials. For example, consent forms, information sheets, recruitment adverts, consultee declarations and leaflets.

We will also review opportunities for audiovisual information and consider communication channels throughout the research process.

Although we draw largely on health and social care examples, the training is designed for researchers from any discipline and attendees are encouraged to bring examples of their current materials to discuss together in a supportive environment.

We will also explore a layered approach to communication to reach a wide audience, including digital, print, and in-person methods, as well as identifying appropriate platforms to share information about their project, such as social media, networking, forums, support organisations, and so on.

Key areas include:

• Understanding barriers to inclusion
  Inclusion is essential for a diverse population, especially for disabled people. However, various barriers can hinder this process. These barriers might be physical, social, or even related to communication. Our course will help researchers to understand, identify and address these barriers effectively.
• Communication needs of your audience
  Effective communication is vital for inclusion. Different individuals have different communication needs, and it’s important to cater to these needs to ensure everyone can participate fully. Our course will ensure researchers in understand the specific needs and tailor their communication materials accordingly.
• Identifying underserved groups
  Certain groups of disabled people are often overlooked in research, including disabled people seeking asylum or those who lack the capacity to make informed decisions. Our course will raise awareness of these underserved groups and how best to consider and include them in research projects.

Our approach to supporting researchers is built on the following principles:

• Trust: Building trust with participants through transparent communication.
• Accessibility: Ensuring all materials and activities are accessible.
• Layered Communication: Using various methods to communicate effectively.
• Co-Design: Collaborating with participants in designing materials and methods.
• Support: Providing guidance on payment, travel support, and other assistance.
• Flexibility: Being adaptable and responsive to participant needs.

We know first-hand how challenging it can be to manage participatory research projects.

As well as training, we can provide direct support for researchers, making your participant information materials more accessible.

Our service ensures that all materials are accessible and co-designed with input from those with lived experiences. We will convert your existing material using easy-to-understand language to ensure clarity and can produce information in various formats, including images, alt text, large print, audio, and videos with subtitles. Finally, we recommend all materials reviewed by our experts by experience advisory groups to meet accessibility standards.

By working together, we can create a more inclusive environment for research participation.

For more information on how we can help, please contact us.