What is digital literacy?
Digital literacy is about having the skills to live and work in a society where communication and access to information is mainly through digital technology.
This includes using internet platforms, social media, and mobile devices.
Digital literacy in Birmingham
Birmingham has seen a faster rate of digital inclusion in recent years. It has now moved to 91.4% (2019) from 88.6% (2018). The percentage of digitally excluded people has reduced from 11.2% in 2018 to 8.6% in 2019.
Digital inclusion means having the skills to use digital devices and the internet, having the connectivity to access the internet and the level of accessibility required to use it.
Whilst the increase in digital inclusion is greater than the national average, digital exclusion remains persistent and is becoming difficult to address. This issue has been further highlighted during the pandemic.
Birmingham’s Digital Inclusion Strategy and Action Plan sets out how the Council will work with its stakeholders and partners to address digital exclusion.
Including users with low digital literacy
As we move towards becoming a digital council, we must design services that are accessible and work well for all our users.
This means that we must include both digital natives, that is, those who are using devices and the internet on a regular basis, and those who struggle to access services online.
Including users with low digital skills in user research can be difficult, but we must not discount this group.
Many recruiters use recruitment methods that exclude people with low digital skills or limited internet access.
These include:
- social media advertising
- online registration
- online sign up for research events
- complex instructions sent in emails and attachments
It may also be the case that the people we want to reach will exclude themselves.
They might:
- not be interested in participating
- believe we will not be interested in them
- be frightened of making mistakes and embarrassing themselves
How to reach people who have low digital skills
Pop-up research
We can conduct pop-up research at places where people who are digitally excluded or have low digital skills go to for advice and support.
These include places like:
- libraries
- day centres
- education centres
These are familiar and safe spaces for most of the people there, so we get to see participants who would not normally sign up for lab-based research.
Paired research sessions
We can use paired research sessions. The pair is made up of a user with low digital skills and a friend or a relative they trust and often go to for help.
Recruiting pairs like this can be easier than recruiting participants with low digital skills on their own. The pair can work together to manage the recruitment process, and taking part together can help to give them the confidence they need to sign up.
It is also interesting to see how the pair interact in completing tasks, and a good way to learn how we can design services that will benefit them both.
Working with recruiters
We are encouraging recruiters to improve their practices:
- we select recruiters based on their ability to recruit participants from all parts of the digital inclusion scale
- we give specific feedback on the participants they recruit
- we help recruiters build contacts with relevant organisations
- we review the questions they use to assess online skills and experience – we find that specific questions about sending emails or using mobile phone apps work better than general questions about using the internet
Working with internal services and communications teams
You may be able to gain access to these participants if you work with internal communications teams, or relevant service areas. These colleagues may have contact details for local community groups, community leaders or advertisement opportunities that will help to connect you with potential participants in a way that reaches them directly, without the use of digital devices.
Designing services that work for everyone
A common flaw in user research is to focus too much on experienced users.
Ignoring inexperienced users guarantees that their needs are not met. That is not a mistake we can make in designing our services.
Working to meet the needs of those who are currently not online, or do not have basic online skills, helps us to remove barriers, improve interactions and refine our content.
We should strive to make our services simpler, clearer and faster for everyone.