How Leukaemia Care put accessibility at the heart of its rebrand
Leukaemia Care officially launched its major brand and website refresh in February The rebrand introduced a new look aimed at making its information, support services, and website more accessible and easier to use for anyone affected by leukaemia.
Here is a closer look at the steps the charity took to make the new brand and website more accessible, including involving patients in shaping the design.
Branding to meet accessibility guidelines
The new brand uses a new colour palette. The Leukaemia Care team checked colour contrasts for all combinations of brand colours and tints. Initially, only a limited number of options met accessibility guidelines - with adjustments, the final palette has a variety of colour combinations that meet contrast guidance.
Clear, sans serif fonts were selected. Brand guidelines also cover tone of voice and include tips for writing accessible content, and recommend a reading score target.
In addition, as part of the rebrand, the Leukaemia Care team introduced a set of visual icons. They surveyed patient volunteers to get input on different styles and tested icons to check people understand what they represent. The icons use approved colour combinations.
Making accessibility a building block for the web
When it came to the website, a new content management system was introduced that includes built-in accessibility checkers. It automatically flags accessibility issues such as skipped headings or missing alt text.
To make the website as easy to use as possible, the Leukaemia Care team ran a digital card sort exercise with patient volunteers to understand where people expect to find information on different topics. This was used to help structure the website and make it simpler to navigate.
The new website includes the ReciteMe tool. This enables people to customise the site to meet their needs. It includes automatic translation and audio versions.