Digital poverty and engagement teams: why this week matters

I nearly missed this one. End Digital Poverty Week runs from 7 to 13 September, and it's the first time the Digital Poverty Alliance has expanded what used to be a single day into a full week. It marks their 25th anniversary too, and it brings government, industry and the third sector together to look at how digital exclusion shows up across education, employment, healthcare, finances and everyday access to services.

At Open Voice Lab we talk a lot about doing digital better. This week is a reminder that doing digital better also means recognising who gets left out, and what we can actually do about it.

Digital poverty is not one thing

The Digital Poverty Alliance are clear on this: digital poverty doesn't have a single cause, and it doesn't look the same for everyone. It's not just about whether someone has a device. It's affordability, it's skills, it's confidence, and it's whether the support is there for the long term, not just at the point someone gets online.

I put this at the centre of the talk I gave at a Consultation Institute coffee morning back in July, and the framework still holds:

• Can a person access it

• Could a person use it if motivated

• Would a person choose to do it

Most inclusion investment stops at "can." That's the technical access piece. But the real gap now sits in "could" and "would," in skills, confidence, trust and relevance.

Engagement teams see this first. It's in who doesn't respond, who drops off halfway through a survey, who avoids the digital route altogether, or who needs a lot more support than a webpage can offer before they'll take part.

Doing digital better is not the same as doing digital only

This is the bit we'll keep saying until it stops needing saying. Digital channels can widen reach, improve accessibility and make engagement more efficient, but only when people can actually use them. Digital-only approaches risk deepening the exact inequalities we're supposed to be closing, especially for the groups already facing the most barriers.

We champion modern, inclusive digital practice. We just never assume it works for everyone. Good engagement blends digital with human, local and offline routes, and End Digital Poverty Week is a useful nudge that inclusion has to sit alongside innovation, not trail behind it.

Digital poverty - the role of engagement teams

Engagement and consultation teams are often the first to notice digital exclusion in real time. Low response rates. Formats that don't work with a screen reader. Feedback from communities who tried the digital route and gave up. That puts teams in a genuinely useful position, because they can influence project design, commissioning decisions and social value commitments before a programme even launches.

Access is the bare minimum, and it’s genuinely surprising how many organisations still haven't cracked it. A great example of "comprehensive" access provision: twelve languages, BSL, Easy Read, Large Print, Braille, a dedicated multilingual phone line – then analyse and share who is actually using those routes.

If you want a genuinely good example of alternative access done well, it's worth looking at how Alexia's team in Greater Manchester used WhatsApp as an engagement channel. It's the most-used messaging app in the UK, and it turned out to be one of the easiest tools for reaching d/Deaf communities, people communicating in a second or third language, and neurodivergent residents who found it a far more comfortable space than a formal survey. Meeting people where they already are, on a platform they already trust, did more than any amount of extra accessibility formatting could.

Practical advice for teams using digital routes

If you use digital channels for engagement or consultation, you also have a responsibility to notice who gets left out and to be part of the solution. A few things worth building into everyday practice:

Align your organisational social value to your digital ambitions.

If digital is part of how you engage, then digital inclusion should be part of how you give back. Device donation schemes, connectivity support, or partnering with local digital inclusion networks are all straightforward ways to contribute.

Tap into existing local infrastructure.

Most areas already have digital skills groups, community tech sessions, library-led support, or VCSE organisations tackling digital poverty. Sponsor sessions, volunteer at them, or simply show up and listen. Don’t reinvent the wheel. Strengthen what’s already there.

Run sessions where your service is the barrier.

If your service requires digital access, confidence or navigation skills, offer practical help. Host drop-ins where people can complete forms, access accounts, or get support using your digital tools. This is social value in action.

Make sure non‑digital routes are genuinely accessible — and advertised.

Alternatives only work if people know they exist, can use them, and trust them. A phone line nobody answers, a community venue nobody can reach, or the fact you can request a paper survey hidden on the last page of a PDF isn’t an alternative route. Options should be visible and easy.

Treat digital accessibility as the bare minimum.

Captioning, alt text, readable formats, low‑bandwidth content, screen‑reader compatibility aren’t “nice to haves”. They’re the baseline for digital engagement. And they only matter if you check whether they actually work for the people you’re trying to reach.

Build digital inclusion into your engagement design.

Ask early: who might this exclude, what support is needed, and what routes will work for people who won’t or can’t use digital? Take an equality minded approach to planning your engagement work.

Use your own insight to spot digital poverty.

Low uptake on digital routes, repeated requests for offline options, or feedback about difficulty using your platforms are all signals. Treat them as data, not noise.

Work with comms and digital colleagues to reduce friction.

Low‑bandwidth formats, simple language, multiple formats, and content designed for real people (not organisational preferences) all reduce the “could” and “would” barriers.

Partner with trusted intermediaries.

Community organisations, WhatsApp groups, local leaders and peer networks often reach people you can’t. They’re already doing the work. Tap into it and support them.

What the campaign is asking organisations to do

The Digital Poverty Alliance’s suggested actions for the week are straightforward: host a workshop, webinar or community event, share the campaign content, donate unused devices, tell local stories, and sign the Charter for Digital Inclusion. There's a full Communications and Fundraising Toolkit available if you want to get involved properly rather than just posting about it.

Where Open Voice Lab stands on this

We set up Open Voice Lab to help organisations design digital journeys that actually work for real people, not just for the people who were always going to cope fine. We support teams to build accessible, inclusive digital practice from the start rather than retrofitting it. And we encourage every client to treat digital poverty as part of ethical, modern engagement, not a box to tick once and forget.

Over to you

Have a think about how digital exclusion shows up in your own work this week. Pick one practical thing you can actually commit to before Sunday. And if you want support embedding digital inclusion into your engagement, consultation or social value work properly, get in touch. We'd love to help. There is still time to register for our free Learning Lab on Monday 14th which is all about equality led engagement planning.