Last month Martha Lane Fox, founder and chair of the digital inclusion charity Go ON UK, launched her DotEveryone campaign to the nation with the aim to push the next Prime Minister to form an institution focused on making Britain brilliant at digital.
Last week, the petition smashed through the 10,000 supporters barrier.
But how does this impact your business and why should you care?
Currently, one in five UK adults still do not have basic digital skills, which means they’re not able to efficiently benefit from the digital world. These people are your customers, your employees and your business partners.
Every organisation’s bottom line is impacted by this. The more efficiently people can transact and communicate with your company digitally, the more measurable financial benefits you will see.
So what can you do?
1. Focus on the user experience
Whatever your users’ digital skill level, adding unnecessary barriers in their path creates frustration. This is even more prominent in users with low digital skill levels.
Make your digital product easy to use and your customers will love you for it. People shout about great user experiences. Take a look at what happens when you search for “easy to use + love” on Twitter:
2. Design for every device
As people go online for the first time, they are no longer predominantly using traditional desktops or laptop computers. A large number of people starting out on the Internet are now skipping these devices in favour of tablets, smartphones, games consoles and even TVs.
Will their user experience on your website be the same as your current customers?
3. Test, test and test again
Do you really know how your users want your digital products to work? At CG, we’re experts in delivering digital projects with incredible user experiences.
However, we know enough to know that we don’t know everything. The only way you’ll completely understand your digital customers’ needs is by asking them. It could be as simple as just sitting down with a number of your key customers and watching them use your website, or running a detailed user testing session to gain a deeper insight into your digital customer base.
4. Invest and empower your people
Digital exclusion doesn’t only happen outside your business. With 31 per cent of organisations still lacking basic digital skills, are all of your employees at a level that allows you to capitalise on the benefits of a fully digital environment? Assessing skills levels and upskilling your work force is critical to full digital success.
5. Find support
CG works closely with organisations like Go ON UK to support its work around digital inclusion and digital skills. There are lots of great local and national organisations and campaigns that you can get involved with:
If you have any questions about improving how your business works digitally get in contact at [email protected] or 02380 238001.
We’re passionate about all things digital and helping businesses get the most out of themselves.
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