Thinking out loud: Cisco’s got less jargon.

Embrace cultural humility and curiosity

The fastest way to lose a reader is to make them feel excluded. Cultural humility happens when you learn about other cultures while reflecting on yourself and your own. And it starts and ends with curiosity.

Try this: 

• Inclusive language policies and tone of voice guidelines: They help us get rid of jargon, slang, or culturally focused idioms while maintaining a welcoming tone.

• Never stop learning: Academy sessions. Office hours. Inclusive community events. Heck, even webinars on financial literacy. Tyler’s team has done them all (and keeps it up every quarter). Ongoing growth helps fill skill gaps, so everyone can be a part of inclusivity.

• Include alt-text and text-to-speech: Both of these standards are critical for people with disabilities. Including them in your writing is simple and makes a huge impact.

Create safe spaces to take risks

Learning happens when we push ourselves out of our comfort zone–but you can’t grow if you’re too scared to take the leap.

Tips to try: 

• Slow down the urgency culture: Making time to review work, and having a thoughtful structure when starting your writing makes it easier—from start to finish. And builds trust between teammates.

• Start with empathy and proximity: The closer you get to empathy and proximity, the closer you get to breaking down what global readability and accessibility is. It’s all about making people feel heard, seen, and valued.

Want to know more?

Curious about how to make your writing more inclusive and accessible? Contact The Writer or Tyler at Cisco here.