056 │ Igniting Smart Marketing for 2025 Part 4: Digital Accessibility, Inclusive Marketing for All

In this compelling episode of the Tourism Hub Podcast, host Despina Karatzias delves into the crucial topic of digital accessibility in part four of her seven-part series, "Igniting Smart Marketing for 2025." Inspired by the International Day of Persons with Disabilities and the latest course from the Institute of Excellence, Despina explores how small to medium businesses can make their digital spaces more inclusive and impactful.

Listeners are introduced to the importance of accessibility, highlighting its benefits such as broadening audience reach, boosting SEO, and fostering customer loyalty. Despina provides actionable steps to enhance digital content, including writing in plain language, using descriptive headings and links, adding alt text to images, and ensuring videos are captioned and transcribed.

The episode also shines a spotlight on Hayley Brown, founder of Vacay It, an innovative audio-first platform revolutionising tourism for individuals with low vision. Hayley's inspiring journey and commitment to inclusivity serve as a powerful example of how accessibility can transform industries.

Despina encourages tourism professionals to audit their digital presence and embrace accessibility as a responsibility, not just a compliance task. By doing so, businesses can expand their reach, build trust, and create positive community impacts.

Join Despina in this enlightening discussion and learn how to make your digital content more inclusive. Discover the transformative power of accessibility and prepare your business for a more inclusive future.

01:33 - Introduction to Digital Accessibility

02:26 - Why Accessibility Matters

04:21 - Practical Steps for Inclusive Content

06:44 - Spotlight on Vacayit

09:30 - Actionable Checklist for Your Business

 

Hailey Brown TedXBrisbane: An audio guide to the world: Revolutionizing accessible Tourism - https://youtu.be/Je2kd-jJ3II?si=voYiNM0fitHnBTlt

 

Connect with Despina Karatzias:

Website: Institute of Excellence

LinkedIn: Despina Karatzias

Instagram: @despinakaratzias

 

Follow us on social media for updates:

Facebook: Institute of Excellence | Tourism Hub Podcast

Instagram: @instituteofexcellencehq | @tourismhubpodcast | @despinakaratzias

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Show hosted by Despina Karatzias and brought to you by Tourism Hub in association with Institute Of Excellence.

Embrace digital accessibility and create a more inclusive world for everyone!

 

Episode Transcript

(00:05):
Welcome to the Tourism Hub podcast,a podcast devoted to you and your
excellence, providing inspirationand education for the entrepreneurs,
experience makers, and excellent seekersof our industry to take your tourism
business and career to a whole new level.
Relax.

(00:29):
Hello, beautiful tourism, businessleading brothers and sisters, and
welcome to the tourism hub podcast.
I'm your proud host Despina Corazias.
And today we're diving into part fourof our special seven part series,
igniting smart marketing for 2025.
This episode is in.

(00:51):
by the recent International Day ofPersons with Disabilities and the latest
online course to drop on Instituteof Excellence, Digital Accessibility,
Writing Accessible and Inclusive Content.
This course is designed to help smallto medium business owners make their
digital spaces, places and onlinecontent more welcoming and accessible.

(01:15):
impactful and inclusive for everyone.
And because I believe in sharingthe love, I have a special offer.
If you're interested in participating inthe course, use tourism hub on checkout
and you'll receive some more of that love.
In today's episode, Digital AccessibilityInclusive Marketing for All, we'll

(01:37):
explore why accessibility matters,how it benefits your business, and
practical steps to start implementingaccessibility in your digital content.
And stick around, because we'll alsospotlight an incredible tourism leader.
Inaccessible tourism, Hayley Brown,the founder of vacayit, check
it out, vacayit, V A C A Y I T.

(02:01):
com.
Hayley is a true inspiration.
I'll share one of herpowerful quotes up front.
Our commitment begins with providingaccurate accessibility information
so anyone can make an informeddecision before they travel.
That's from her latest TEDtalk and I'll have that.

(02:22):
in the show notes.
So let's get started.
Why accessibility matters for yourbusiness and for all business.
Accessibility is about creating a worldwhere everyone can fully engage with
your content, your services, and yourexperiences, regardless of ability.

(02:43):
But it's not just the right thing to do.
It's really good for business.
Now let's look at some reasonswhy digital accessibility matters.
Broadening your audience.
According to ABS, the AustralianBureau of Statistics, 5.
5 million Australians livewith a disability and this

(03:08):
number is expected to grow.
Making your content accessible ensuresYou're reaching the significant audience
and also it is a practice that boostingSEO and usability is another reason.
Search engines prioritizeaccessible websites.

(03:30):
So features like alt text anddescriptive headings improve search
engines prioritize accessible websites.
So features like alt text anddescriptive headings improve.
Both your visibility and user experience.
And let's not forgetbuilding loyalty and trust.

(03:51):
Inclusivity resonates with customers,fostering trust and long term
relationships and legal compliance.
In Australia, businesses arerequired to meet Web Content
Accessibility Guidelines, WCAG.
Compliance not only avoidslegal risks, but positions you

(04:13):
as a leader in inclusivity.
Accessibility isn't just a trend, it'san essential part of doing business.
Let's dive into some actionable steps tomake your digital content more inclusive.
Writing in plain language is one of them.
Simplifying your writing to make it clearand easy to understand for everyone.

(04:38):
Instead of saying, Explore ourcomprehensive range of offerings, say,
check out our tours and activities.
Using descriptive headings and linksby organizing your content with clear
headings and meaningful link design.
text.
Avoid click here in your hyperlinks.

(04:59):
Instead use, learn moreabout our accessible tours.
And of course, adding alt text to images.
Alt text describes images forusers relying on screen readers.
So an example, rather than just thedefault image title, IMG649, Or using
old text to just to say family on beach,you could use an example of say a family

(05:27):
kayaking through calm turquoise waters inByron Bay, New South Wales, for example.
And of course, then we also, thereare a very good practice to get
into and something we do and,you know, have a systems in place
to do as much as we can here.

(05:48):
In our own business and anybodythat I'm working with is capturing
captions and transcribing videos.
So including captions forvideos and transcripts for
audio content, really important.
These benefit users with hearingimpairments as well as those engaging
in noisy or quiet environments.

(06:11):
And choose readable fonts and colours.
Use simple fonts like Arial orVerdana and high contrast colours
to make text more readable.
These steps don't just improveaccessibility, they enhance the
experience for all your users.

(06:31):
Um, something like Caption forVideo, for example, that's a default.
The volume's already off on yourvideos, particularly for social media.
So something to keep in mind.
Now, collaborating for accessibility.
Let's do this spotlight on Vacayet.
Accessibility is a journey andcollaboration can amplify your efforts.

(06:53):
An inspiring example of this is Vacayet,a groundbreaking audio first platform
founded by my tourism sister Hayley Brown.
Vacayet is designed to revolutionizetourism for individuals who are blind or
have low vision by providing immersive,sensory rich audio descriptions

(07:14):
of destinations and experiences.
Hayley's work was inspired by herfriend Henry, who shared how difficult
it was to navigate a travel worldthat relies heavily on visuals.
Now I can't wait to have Hayley onthe podcast and share her story.
Hayley's work was inspired by herfriend Henry, who shared how difficult

(07:37):
it was to navigate a travel worldthat relies heavily on visuals.
Motivated by his experience andcountless similar stories, Hayley set
out to create something transformative.
And transformative it is.
Here's what makes Vacayit special.
Inclusivity.
Inclusivity, it prioritizes.

(07:57):
sensory and emotional experiencesover visuals, ensuring everybody can
fully engage with the magic of travel.
Collaboration.
The platform was co designed withindividuals who are blind or have
low vision to meet their needs andimpact within the The first year
Vacayit transformed how Australiandestinations market themselves,

(08:22):
proving that accessibility isboth ethical and innovative.
Now, Hayley is such a game changerand an inspiration to many, and the
work that Vacayit and the team do,I mean, shout out to Lisa and Martin
and everybody else on the team.
Now.
And I can't wait, I can't wait tohave Hayley on the podcast, but she's

(08:47):
also done a TED talk, which I'lladd into the notes of this podcast.
And she shared in another quotefrom her TED talk that Hayley
shared is that an audio guide tothe world revolutionizing accessible
tourism is the mission for Vacayet.
And that's something that, youknow, it's a must watch for anyone

(09:09):
passionate about inclusive tourism.
Travel, visit vacayette.
com to explore this incredible platformand just following the journey and being
on the circuit with Haley over the years.
It's something worth a watch that,and really brings to light the content
and the context of this particulartopic of digital accessibility.

(09:30):
So it's time to take action and abit of a checklist for your business.
Now it starts with auditing your business.
Your website, use free tools likea wave accessibility checker to
identify barriers and improve.
Even if it's just one area, enhance yourcontent, do an audit on your images.

(09:55):
Add alt text to them, simplifyyour writing or structure your
content with clear headings.
And of course, explore a platformlike vacayit for your business.
Visit vacayit.
com and experience how sensoryrich content can transform visitor

(10:15):
experiences and our industry at large.
So it's a homework,watch Hayley's TED talk.
So the link.
The link is in the show notes and Hayley'sinsights, the link is in the show notes
and Hayley's insights will inspireyou to embrace digital accessibility

(10:36):
in your content and in your business.
Accessibility is more thana compliance checkbox.
It's a commitment to creating inclusivedigital spaces that welcome everyone.
By making small changes, you're expandingyour reach, building trust, and making

(10:56):
a positive impact in your community.
If you're ready, To refine your entiredigital approach, download our free
ebook top 25 marketing mistakes yoursmall business must avoid to thrive
by visiting instituteofexcellence.
com.
And don't forget to subscribeto the Tourism Hub podcast

(11:19):
so you never miss an episode.
Until then, remember thataccessibility isn't a task.
It's our responsibility as businessowners and leaders together.
We can create a tourism industry thattruly welcomes everybody from that
first point in the visitor journey.

(11:41):
When.
Your potential visitors are on the Googleand searching for those key experiences.
Everybody needs clear informationof what they can do and what they
can't do when they visit you.
And I hope this episode with thosereally simple tips and tricks.
Strategies that you can do right now,as soon as you can, as soon as you

(12:05):
stop watching or listening to thispodcast can make those small audits to
go down this journey of accessibilitywith looking at your digital content.
Until next time, my friends,thank you for joining.
Thank you for listening.
And I do hope and wish for your excellenceto be ignited, to be better, do better.

(12:28):
Today, than we all did yesterday.
Thank you so much.