Why is this important?
At McGill we aim to create an accessible, diverse, and inclusive campus, and this includes our digital spaces. Our websites must strive to be accessible and inclusive to all users.
Our websites must strive to be accessible and inclusive to all users.
What to do
Ensure your digital communications projects meet our digital standards by learning more about how McGill's equity communities can be served on the web.
Digital accessibility
Create sites in compliance with McGill's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), understand how users with disabilities navigate the web, and provide alternatives for video and audio content.
Diversity & inclusion
Communicate a commitment to diversity and inclusion in your digital content. BIPOC and trauma-informed content considerations and language guidelines for mental illness, suicide, and addiction.
Gender-inclusive language
Craft writing that is gender inclusive in both English and French using our tables for gender-inclusive nouns, guidelines for gender-inclusive pronouns, and institutional resources.
Diversity & inclusion in our digital content
There are a multitude of ways in which we can communicate our commitment to diversity and inclusion in our digital content. A few are listed below:
- Consider the user experience of all members of your community when creating and structuring content
- Avoid tokenising when representing diverse groups in your photos and graphics
- Use plain language
- Use gender-inclusive language
- When collecting gender information, include an option for gender marker X
- Collect gender information only if you have a compelling reason to do so
- Avoid language that suggests victimhood, e.g. “suffers from”, “confined to a wheelchair”
- Use language that combats stigma related to mental illness, suicide, and substance use (see details below)
- Ensure racial and ethnic groups are designated by proper nouns and capitalized. For additional information see Racial and Ethnic Identity. APA Style
- Include an acknowledgement of the traditional territory. For more information, see, e.g., the Land Acknowledgement web page and the Traditional Territory web page on the Equity at McGill website.
- See Native Land Digital for a map of Indigenous territories.
For more detailed information. Visit our webpages on digital accessibility, BIPOC and trauma-informed content, and gender-inclusive language.
Diversity & inclusion in digital communications projects
In addition to reflecting diversity and inclusion in our digital content, work toward integrating diversity and inclusion at all stages of your digital projects - research and planning, building, ongoing evaluation and hiring of contractors and staff. When diversity is represented, avoid tokenising and stereotyping.
Important resources
To fully understand the importance of diversity and inclusion in digital content, we would encourage you to view the related resources below.
- GLAAD's Media Reference Guide – 11th Edition
- A Progressive’s Style Guide: Toward Harnessing Language in Support of Intersectionality and Cross-sector Power Building, Thomas, Hanna and Anna Hirsch
- Guide de communication inclusive: Pour des communications qui mobilisent,transforment et ont du style!, Université du Québec
- Indigenous Peoples: Language Guidelines, University of British Columbia
- Elements of Indigenous Style: A Guide for Writing By and About Indigenous Peoples, Gregory Younging
- Writing Guide for Indigenous Content, University of British Columbia
- The 519. 2018. Media Reference Guide
- Pronouns and gender identity
- Also see Pronouns and gendered language presentation