Impact was proud to be a sponsor and organizer of the recent DMAW Creative Day on May 5th. It was a full day with 10 speakers and tons of great content. Dian Holton from AARP shared insights on designing for the full and beautiful diversity of your readers. Here are some tips and resources that will make your materials more appealing and accessible to all.

1. Even if your content is not as diverse as you would like it to be, you can use visuals, photos, and illustrations to help you create a bridge while you continue to improve your content.
2. Dian recommends seeking out diverse writers, designers, and artists to bring a fresh perspective to your creative. For example, for AARP’s Sister publication, designed for Black women, she retains Black women artists for all her illustrations. Here are just a few sources she shared: Diversity Photos, Design, Latinxs Who Design, The A11Y Project, Black Artists and Designers Guild , Revision Path, and Women Photograph.
3. Admit you don’t know what you don’t know. Learn by following content creators within diverse communities, writers covering BIPOC issues, Gen Z, people with disabilities, rural communities, and more.
4. Show people of all sizes, shapes, and colors in EVERY article. Don’t only use plus-sized models when the article is about weight loss.
5. To make your website accessible to people with disabilities, use Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) accessibility tools such as Google’s Accessibility Checker for Docs.
6. Always keep learning … we will all make mistakes on this journey, but it’s a journey worth taking. 

Thanks to Dian Holton and all the other speakers who made this year’s Creative Day a great success.