CICC teams and researchers study all aspects of making climate content inclusive. Example projects include:
Extreme Inclusivity
No one is left behind. That is the mantra. But how do we get there? What are the tools, methods, training, policies, and other resources needed to ensure no one is left behind on climate communications. This requires thinking outside the box, for sure. And it requires transdisciplinary approaches. But that’s how we roll.
Well, what does “inclusive” mean?
Define “inclusive”…It certainly includes accessibility, usability, comprehensibility…but what about inclusive in terms of education level, language and language level, culture, lived experience, affordability, and more? How about numeracy and graphicacy (yup, look them up)? We are working with all our experts to lay out what makes a communication or a STEM artifact truly, broadly inclusive.
Just how inclusive are major climate sites, anyway?
We are surveying a broad range of content, from web sites to text books, to assess how Inclusive they are. And, just as important, how could they be made more inclusive? We are, of course, assessing accessibility; and then layering on our assessment of broader inclusivity. Our emerging case studies are extremely enlightening!
How do we make graphs and charts more inclusive?
Sure, a picture tells a thousand words…and yes, we can have more effective ALT TEXT for graphs that are images…but not a thousand words worth! So what about multimodal graphs? Sonification? Haptic graphs? Etc., etc.?? We are studying all these novel approaches, and developing tools and training, in collaboration with our research partners like Highcharts.
How do we make maps more inclusive?
Maps are extremely common in climate communications; but just like graphs, maps can be an inclusivity hurdle. We are working on better description approaches, as well as novel presentation approaches like Audiom maps from XR Navigation; and Highcharts maps with sonification. But these are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of creative solutions we are collectively working on!
Training climate content creators
Influence the influencers! Training, tools, and motivations for creating inclusive climate communications.
What do YOU want to work on…? How can YOU make a difference…?