Accessibility

Accessibility

¶12.98. During a pandemic, it is critical that everyone receives government communications in a way that they can understand and with sufficient information to make an informed choice.

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¶12.99. Furthermore, it was known from the early stages of the pandemic that people who were at greater risk of dying from the virus – such as older people, disabled people and ethnic minorities – were also more likely to require assistance with accessing information about the risks and restrictions. In particular, some vulnerable people were more likely to experience digital exclusion, which is typically understood to mean those who are unable to use the internet in the ways needed to participate fully in modern society. Digital exclusion was a significant disadvantage as communications about the pandemic and support moved online.¹⁶⁵¹⁶⁵ INQ000280067_0008 para 25; INQ000280057_0014 para 40; INQ000280058_0015-0016 paras 57-62 These vulnerable groups and others likely to require assistance with accessing information – such as children – were among those most susceptible to adverse effects of the countermeasures. Thus, any problems with these groups' access to information about risk, restrictions and mitigation strategies threatened to cause significant harm.

Children

¶12.100. The evidence heard by the Inquiry indicated that inadequate steps were taken throughout the pandemic by both the UK government and the Northern Ireland Executive to address the need to communicate effectively with children. While children, generally speaking, were at the least risk of harm as a direct result of the virus itself, they suffered immeasurably as a result of other restrictions, such as the closure of schools.

¶12.101. Despite a request from Anne Longfield (later Baroness Longfield), Children's Commissioner for England from March 2015 to February 2021, the UK government did not hold any briefings specifically to address the concerns of children and young people.¹⁶⁶¹⁶⁶ INQ000239702; Anne Longfield 6 October 2023 50/12-19 Koulla Yiasouma, Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People from March 2015, also made several similar requests with respect to ministers in the Northern Ireland Executive Committee, but no specific press conferences aimed at children were held in Northern Ireland.¹⁶⁷¹⁶⁷ INQ000147119_0002; INQ000147121; INQ000147122_0002 Some ministers in Northern Ireland expressed misgivings as to the necessity and desirability of separate press conferences for children.¹⁶⁸¹⁶⁸ INQ000408058_0028 para 69; INQ000418976_0063 para 209

¶12.102. Ms O'Neill and Deirdre Hargey MLA (Minister for Communities in Northern Ireland from January to June 2020 and from December 2020 to October 2022) acknowledged that the Northern Ireland Executive could have done more to communicate effectively with young people during the pandemic.¹⁶⁹¹⁶⁹ INQ000436641_0089-0090 para 345; INQ000446235_0044 para 180 These were missed opportunities on the part of the UK government and the Northern Ireland Executive to engage directly with children and young people in order to offer reassurance and ensure clear communication.

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¶12.103. In Scotland and Wales, ministers did hold some press conferences and question- and-answer sessions for children and young people during the pandemic.¹⁷⁰¹⁷⁰ INQ000224573_0009 para 31; INQ000361393_0070, 0071 paras 10.6, 11.10 Further sessions would no doubt have made communications surrounding the pandemic more accessible to children.

¶12.104. In future pandemics, the UK government and devolved administrations should take steps to include children and young people in their communications strategies. The impact of the pandemic on children, and the measures taken to respond to that, are being explored in more detail in Module 8: Children and young people.

Access for deaf and disabled people, translations and accessible formats

¶12.105. The Inquiry received evidence that the needs of the more than 80,000 deaf people in the UK whose first language is British Sign Language were not properly considered in UK government communications.¹⁷¹¹⁷¹ INQ000185241_0002; INQ000281296_0040-0041 para 101 The UK government's critical press conference on 16 March 2020, introducing household quarantining and social distancing, did not provide any translation into British Sign Language. An on-screen interpreter was provided for press conferences from 26 March 2020 onwards, but this service was only available via the separate BBC News channel and BBC iPlayer, rather than on the main BBC One broadcasts.¹⁷²¹⁷² INQ000198850_0051 para 125

¶12.106. Similarly, although daily public media briefings in Northern Ireland were later supported by British Sign Language and Irish Sign Language interpreters, this was not the case for the first few weeks of the pandemic. Disability Action Northern Ireland criticised the initial failure to have sign language interpreters available in the daily briefings to disseminate information about social distancing and preventative measures, describing this lack as "further alienating" to deaf and disabled people.¹⁷³¹⁷³ INQ000400520_0017 para 66. See also 'How the pandemic is further alienating the disabled community', Bronagh Byrne, Queen's University Belfast, no date (https://www.qub.ac.uk/coronavirus/analysis-commentary/pandemic-alienating-the-disabled; INQ000396818). Indeed, it was not until 23 April 2020 that the Department of Health (Northern Ireland) and the Department for Communities (Northern Ireland) jointly launched a remote interpreting service for sign language users. This service enabled British Sign Language and Irish Sign Language users to access NHS 111 (the non-emergency NHS helpline) and other health and social care services during the Covid-19 pandemic.¹⁷⁴¹⁷⁴ 'Remote interpreting service established for sign language users', Department of Health, 23 April 2020 (https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/news/remote-interpreting-service-established-sign-language-users; INQ000346720)

¶12.107. The UK government, responding to a request from the Equality and Human Rights Commission immediately to implement live British Sign Language translation for all press conferences, noted:

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" In accordance with Public Health England (PHE) guidelines, we cannot safely include a BSL [British Sign Language] interpreter in the room as this would require additional cameras and operators to be present."¹⁷⁵¹⁷⁵ INQ000185241_0002; INQ000185242

¶The Inquiry is not persuaded by this argument. The system worked in Scotland and

¶Wales, both of which provided an in-person British Sign Language interpreter at all press briefings.¹⁷⁶¹⁷⁶ INQ000339033_0180 para 559; INQ000366148_0080 para 239. In Scotland, this was implemented following representations from Inclusion Scotland, which informed Scottish Government officials that British Sign Language interpretation needed to be provided for the 'daily briefings' (INQ000371664_0014-0015 para 70). The UK government and the Northern Ireland Executive should have planned their press conferences in a manner that both adhered to safety measures and met the needs of deaf people from the outset. Accessibility measures should not be treated as secondary to public communications – they are a fundamental component of effective public communications.

¶12.108. The Scottish Government published its daily briefings on its website, GOV.SCOT, enabling those having issues accessing the live broadcasts to view them afterwards.¹⁷⁷¹⁷⁷ INQ000273984_0083 para 355 The Scottish Government also arranged for British Sign Language, easy-read and audio versions of core campaign information to be produced for key Covid-19 guidance.¹⁷⁸¹⁷⁸ INQ000340111_0005 para 14 Although there were some instances of issues relating to the accessibility of key information with regard to the Scottish Government, these were few in number.¹⁷⁹¹⁷⁹ INQ000371664_0009 para 44; COVID-19: A Framework for Decision Making – easy read, Scottish Government, 15 May 2020 (https://www.gov.scot/publications/covid-19-framework-decision-making-easy-read; INQ000514992)

¶12.109. In Northern Ireland, information was also made available in a variety of formats, including Braille and sign language, in addition to multi-language options. Special campaigns were also developed for a number of target groups deemed hard to reach, such as young people, students and members of the farming community.¹⁸⁰¹⁸⁰ INQ000381512_0015 para 83

¶12.110. In Wales, in early June 2020, an Accessible Communications Group was established to "improve access to information about Covid-19 by members of the public during the pandemic".¹⁸¹¹⁸¹ INQ000273937_0028 para 100 The group included representation from a wide range of organisations that represented the interests of those who might have faced barriers in accessing Welsh Government communications. It met for the first time in June 2020. Following feedback from the group, the Welsh Government took steps to make its communications more accessible.¹⁸²¹⁸² INQ000366148_0080 para 240; INQ000273937_0028-0029 paras 100-102

¶12.111. The devolved administrations each took certain steps to improve the accessibility of key information about the management of the pandemic. Such steps should be implemented by all four governments in the future. While the Welsh Government took positive steps to address accessibility, in the event of a future pandemic it should ensure that regard is had to such considerations from the outset.

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¶12.112. The Inquiry heard evidence of key communications and guidance not being translated into other commonly spoken languages in order to aid communication with ethnic minority communities. The UK government's policy was not to translate documents unless it was considered that the:

" inability to comprehend an English-language document could expose an individual to physical or other harm".¹⁸³¹⁸³ INQ000083940_0002

¶12.113. Although the pandemic clearly met that exception, key communications were not translated swiftly enough during the early stages of the pandemic.¹⁸⁴¹⁸⁴ INQ000118931 For example, the Prime Minister's 'letter to the nation' of 28 March 2020 was not made available in any alternative languages until 3 April 2020.¹⁸⁵¹⁸⁵ 'PM letter to nation on coronavirus', Prime Minister's Office and Boris Johnson, 28 March 2020 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pm-letter-to-nation-on-coronavirus; INQ000182381) It was not until the summer of 2020 that guidance was provided to departmental communications teams on when to consider the translation of documents.¹⁸⁶¹⁸⁶ INQ000198850_0050 para 122

¶12.114. Issues with translation represent one example of a failure by the UK government to consider alternative formats for key communications. Letters sent to clinically extremely vulnerable people in March 2020, advising them to shield, were only sent in standard print – this represents a similar failure.¹⁸⁷¹⁸⁷ INQ000280035_0028 para 91 A consortium of charities representing disabled people wrote to the Prime Minister in April 2020 to draw attention to these issues, noting that they had engaged with officials but had not seen "the improvements in accessibility needed to prevent risk to these vulnerable groups".¹⁸⁸¹⁸⁸ INQ000119411

¶12.115. By contrast, the Scottish Government worked closely with NHS 24 (which delivers digital health and care services), Public Health Scotland and the charity and voluntary sector to ensure that key public health information was available in 17 languages and accessible formats via the website of NHS inform (a national health information service for Scotland).¹⁸⁹¹⁸⁹ INQ000273984_0083-0084 para 355; INQ000340111 _0005 paras 14, 16 Materials relevant to the management of the pandemic were also co-created for various specific communities.¹⁹⁰¹⁹⁰ INQ000273984_0083-0084 para 355 The public's access of key public health information was tracked within the Scottish Government using an online dashboard tracker for the NHS inform Coronavirus Hub webpages in English, in all translated languages and in accessible formats.¹⁹¹¹⁹¹ INQ000273984_0084 para 359 Scottish Government Communications also worked with, and provided funding to, key stakeholders to help deliver messaging by (or in collaboration with) trusted community voices – including on the take-up of vaccination.¹⁹²¹⁹² INQ000340111_0005-0007 paras 17, 19, 21, 22

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¶12.116. Steps were also taken in Wales and Northern Ireland to ensure that key public communications were available in different languages.¹⁹³¹⁹³ INQ000366148_0034, 0062, 0080-0081 paras 107, 189, 240; INQ000381512_0015 para 83 In its evidence to the Inquiry, Public Health Wales did acknowledge that more could have been done to ensure better accessibility, including for those whose first language was not English.¹⁹⁴¹⁹⁴ INQ000235212_0092 para 282(b)(i)

¶12.117. Accessibility within the UK government's communications approach improved as the pandemic progressed. In June 2020, Kemi Badenoch MP, Minister for Equalities from February 2020 to July 2022, led a cross-government review to examine why Covid-19 had a disproportionate impact on ethnic minorities.¹⁹⁵¹⁹⁵ INQ000215534_0004 para 9a Progress reports on improving communications were included in each of the UK government's four quarterly reports on Covid-19 health inequalities between October 2020 and December 2021.¹⁹⁶¹⁹⁶ Quarterly Report on Progress to Address COVID-19 Health Inequalities, HM Government, 22 October 2020 (https://www.gov.uk/ government/publications/quarterly-report-on-progress-to-address-covid-19-health-inequalities; INQ000089742); Second Quarterly Report on Progress to Address COVID-19 Health Inequalities, HM Government, 26 February 2021 (https://www.gov.uk/government/ publications/second-quarterly-report-on-progress-to-address-covid-19-health-inequalities; INQ000089744); Third Quarterly Report on Progress to Address COVID-19 Health Inequalities, HM Government, 25 May 2021, updated 3 September 2021 (https://www.gov.uk/ government/publications/third-quarterly-report-on-progress-to-address-covid-19-health-inequalities; INQ000089776); Final Report on Progress to Address COVID-19 Health Inequalities, HM Government, 3 December 2021 (https://www.gov.uk/government/ publications/final-report-on-progress-to-address-covid-19-health-inequalities; INQ000089747)Show full note These reviews helped lead to initiatives, such as partnerships with regional and community publications, to assist the communication with ethnic minority and religious communities.¹⁹⁷¹⁹⁷ Quarterly Report on Progress to Address COVID-19 Health Inequalities, HM Government, 22 October 2020 (https://www.gov.uk/ government/publications/quarterly-report-on-progress-to-address-covid-19-health-inequalities; INQ000089742); INQ000072565_0014 The embedding of staff from the Cabinet Office Equality Hub into the Cabinet Office Covid-19 Communications Hub also helped to develop initiatives, such as the transcription of UK government webpages (from GOV.UK) into spoken-word formats and the communication of exemptions from face-covering regulations to disabled people.¹⁹⁸¹⁹⁸ INQ000198850_0050, 0051 paras 121, 126

¶12.118. The Inquiry recognises that, in an emergency, it will not always be possible for all announcements and guidance to be available in other languages and alternative formats straight away. However, in the early stages of the pandemic, the UK government failed – in some instances – properly to recognise and respond to those needs, or to respond adequately to concerns raised by those representing vulnerable people. The improvements that the UK government made subsequently serve to highlight the difference that proper consideration of these issues can make. Accordingly, consideration of how to communicate information effectively, and immediately, to different groups in the most appropriate formats must be a core part of the communications strategy for future pandemics in all four nations of the UK.

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Recommendation 14: Plans for accessible communications

¶The UK government and devolved administrations should each develop action plans for how government communications will be made more accessible during a pandemic. As a minimum, these should include making provision for the translation of government press conferences into British Sign Language (and Irish Sign Language in Northern Ireland) and the translation of key announcements into the most frequently spoken languages in the UK.

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