Accessibility tools

What is an equitable recruitment website?

Equity is a term that is being used more and more when talking about diversity and inclusion in the workplace, but it's often the term that's least understood. We found this description in a McKinsey article articulates the meaning well:

"While equality assumes that all people should be treated the same, equity takes into consideration a person’s unique circumstances, adjusting treatment accordingly so that the end result is equal."

By making your recruitment website equitable, you acknowledge that not all candidates consume online information in the same way, and not all candidates have had the same lived experience in the job search and application process. An equitable recruitment website presents your candidates with choice and control over how they navigate your content and search and apply for your jobs.

​What are the barriers to candidate attraction on recruitment websites?

​When we talk about barriers to candidate attraction, we refer to flaws in the job search and application process that exclude underrepresented communities, resulting in candidates either not wanting to engage with your services, or physically being unable to.

We categorise these barriers in two ways:

  • Physical barriers - this refers to aspects of your website that may be inaccessible, particularly for neurodivergent candidates who consume information in different ways.

  • Psychological and emotional barriers - this refers to the positioning of your business and services that may exclude or appear un-welcoming for underrepresented candidates with lived experience of discrimination in the recruitment process.

Woman looking at recruitment website on laptop
Disabled candidate navigating recruitment website on laptop
Image stock libraries specialising in DE&I

So how do you break down those barriers in the online candidate journey?

​The recruitment industry is perfectly placed to make positive change and tackle the underrepresentation of minority groups in our workforce. Your recruitment website is your main candidate attraction tool, so what better place to demonstrate the inclusive candidate experience your agency puts into practice? Or perhaps it's the perfect place to start on your journey of doing better for all candidates - but certainly don't stop there!

We've partnered with specialists to deliver an eBook packed with practical guidance around web accessibility guidelines, inclusive imagery and language, inclusive job adverts and descriptions and accessible design. Download your free copy today and let us know your takeaways!

Download inclusive candidate experience eBook

How we're making DE&I a key focus in our product roadmap

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In our annual customer event, Access All Areas, we delivered an update on the key upcoming features on our product roadmap that will support recruitment agencies in delivering more inclusive services to their candidates. We also introduced key partners who are specialists in multiple areas of DE&I, from workplace inclusion to website accessibility and D&I training. ​

Watch the session on demand via the link below.

Watch DE&I roadmap webinar

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How we are embedding accessibility into the website design process

On our mission to mastering the candidate journey from hi to apply, a critical part of this is ensuring we're embedding accessibility into our recruitment website design practices. This means thinking beyond our own experiences and applying rules to our designs that ensure as many candidates can engage with our websites as possible. These design considerations may go unnoticed by many, but for the 15-20% of the world's population who are estimated to be neuro-diverse, these changes could be the difference between clicking apply for a job or hitting a dead end. If that application then results in a secured role, just think of the power that a simple design change on a recruitment website has made to someone's life.

Our design team have spent hours researching these key design considerations, and you can hear them talking passionately about this on our accessible design webinar. Check it out!

Watch accessible website design webinar

We are proud to offer an accessible design consultancy within our range of design services, find out more here.

An example of accessibility guidance for designing for dyslexic website users

We'd love to power your digital journey

We're leading the way in equitable recruitment websites, and we'd love to support you with your DE&I objectives by powering your online experience. Request a demo with our product specialists today.

Speak to our website specialists

Answering your questions on how to deliver more inclusive candidate experiences

If you've scrolled this far, you will have gathered that we are passionate about providing our customers, and the wider recruitment industry, with the knowledge to make their services more inclusive and accessible to all candidates. If you're looking to learn and want to make changes in this area, have a read through our blog posts on this topic. We've collaborated with our own internal experts as well as specialist partners to bring you this practical guidance.

Woman smiling at camera while working on laptop

Partnering with specialists to support your DE&I journey

​We work with specialists who are committed to making positive change in our industry and would be happy to support you on your DE&I journey.

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Diversity in Recruitment Logo

​Diversity in Recruitment supports recruitment teams through training and advice, giving recruiters the insight, tools, and confidence to attract diverse talent, make their processes equitable and accessible, recruit inclusively and confidently partner with their clients and hiring managers.

Founder Jo Major, who has 20+ years experience in recruitment, has delivered a number of DE&I training sessions for Access Volcanic customersspecifically focusing on the impact their website content has on underrepresented candidates and those with lived experience of discrimination.

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Recite Me Logo

​Provide your website visitors with an inclusive and customisable online experience with Recite Me Language and Accessibility Tools. Recite Me's core message is that Accessibility + Usability = Inclusion. Their technology and supporting services bridge the gap between accessibility and usability, creating more inclusive online experiences. Access Volcanic websites come fully integrated with your Recite Me toolbar (you can see it in action by clicking on "Accessibility tools" at the top of our website).

How our customers are delivering inclusive online experiences through their recruitment website

We love it when we see our customers using their website as a platform to make their candidates feel included, valued and welcome.

If you're doing great work in this space, we'd love to talk to you about it and showcase your efforts. Get in touch with Lillie Ubeid at lillie.ubeid@theaccessgroup.com for more information!

View all customer success stories

Start taking action today

Looking for a new recruitment website provider? We'd love to power your digital journey.

Request a demo with our team of product specialists and find the right website solution to suit your business objectives.

Speak to our product specialists

Are you an existing customer looking for design changes to improve your online experience?

Get in touch with your Account Manager, or contact us via the link below and we can discuss your options.

Get in touch

​Are you an existing customer looking to integrate your website with an accessibility toolbar?

Get in touch with your Account Manager or Customer Success Manager, or raise a request via your customer support portal.

Visit customer support portal

  • Ensuring an accessible online experience for all candidates

    ​We were evaluating our own Diversity and Inclusion and when looking at national stats found that 19% of working age adults in the UK consider themselves to be disabled in some manner, and a lot of those are neuro disabilities. So we realised that a lot of people weren’t being given the opportunity to use our website and apply for roles. Adding an accessibility toolbar to our Volcanic website was hugely beneficial to us and the usage stats have been really positive.

    Global Marketing Director, Aspire