Graphic by Justin Olivares. 

Charlotte Whincup is the newest addition to the easyread.tech team, and brings a wealth of valuable knowledge, experience, and more importantly, passion, to our group. Let’s hear from Charlotte and all that she has to share! 

So, Charlotte, please introduce yourself, and let us know a bit about who you are and what you do.

Hi, I’m Charlotte! I’m the Marketing Coordinator for easyread.tech and I’m also a certified Easy Read translator. My role is to write content for the easyread.tech blog and manage the social media channels, as well as provide support to organisations looking to enhance the accessibility and inclusivity of their communications. 

I have a strong interest and expertise in disability affairs, particularly regarding neurodivergence e.g. autism, ADHD, dyslexia. Outside of work, I’m a Media and Arts student at the University of Adelaide with concentrations in Journalism and English Literature. 

How did your interest in content writing start? 

I’ve always loved writing and knew I wanted to make a career out of it, but the exact ‘what’ and ‘where’ eluded me. It wasn’t until I undertook an internship at The Advertiser and volunteered as a sub-editor for On Dit, the University of Adelaide’s student magazine, that I realised content writing is where my passions truly lie. 

It was through my role for the latter that I developed my niche in disability content. What was meant to be a ‘one-off’ disability-themed article, about a hypocritical TikTok dance trend praising the autism-related traits of Netflix’s Wednesday Addams, became a series of opinion pieces calling out the inaccessibility of uni life. 

Once I started writing, the opinions kept coming!

What fuels your passion for accessibility and inclusivity? 

I'm a firm believer in the Golden Rule that you should treat everyone the way you’d like to be treated. It’s been a guiding principle throughout my life ever since it was touted to me in primary school. 

Seeing injustice everywhere with so little being done by people in positions of privilege and power, who choose not to leverage their ability to make others’ lives easier, is boggling to me. Especially when minority communities make it clear what they need to participate on an equal basis in society. 

If someone tells you they need the text on a screen to be larger because they’re having trouble reading it, why wouldn’t you just make it larger? The problem is obviously with the text, not the person who can’t read it. 

On a more personal note, my passion is also partly fuelled by my own journey as a late diagnosed neurodivergent woman. If I’d  known earlier that I was different, I would’ve been able to access much needed support when I was a child struggling with my mental health for reasons I couldn’t pinpoint. 

I want to ensure future generations of neurodivergent kids and adults don’t go through what I did and this starts with creating a culture of accessibility and inclusivity. One where these are regarded as essential and not something that is just ‘nice to have’.

What are some of the principles to keep in mind when writing for an audience with disabilities or who is neurodivergent?

Although, as a person’s relationship with their disability is often complex and deeply personal, you should always check with the individual what language they prefer. 

Generally, in the case of physical and acquired disabilities you should use person-first language (e.g. person who is blind, person who uses a wheelchair, person with anxiety) to place emphasis on the individual and not their disability.

Too often, a person’s condition overshadows their identity to the point that non-disabled people can’t look past it when interacting with them. By using person-first language, you acknowledge that their disability is simply one aspect of their life and that this has no bearing on who they are as an individual. 

However, when addressing a neurodivergent audience, you should default to identity-first language (e.g. autistic person, dyslexic person, ADHDer) unless an individual indicates otherwise. 

As these are invisible conditions that a person is born with, it’s crucial to acknowledge that there’s nothing inherently wrong with a neurodivergent brain and that it influences so much of who they are that they can’t be separated from it. 

Many neurodivergent people feel that person-first language makes their condition sound like a disease and encourages efforts to ‘cure’ them rather than make society accommodate them. 

Here, I find news writing principles to be relevant as this style is all about getting to the point. You don’t have to follow these strictly, but these are helpful to take cues from. 

• Use clear and concise language. Don’t think of it as ‘dumbing down’ your content, but rather not making assumptions that the reader will understand your meaning or will have prior knowledge of your subject.

• Identify the essential facts of ‘who’, ‘what’, ‘when’, ‘where’, ‘why’ and ‘how’ in your first two sentences/paragraphs. 

• Follow an inverted pyramid structure, that is, prioritise the most important and/or interesting information at the beginning of your article and the least significant at the end. ABC News are excellent at providing dot-point summaries at the beginning of all their stories. 

• Subheadings.
• Relevant images with captions.
• Dot points.
• Step-by-step instructions.
• Single-sentence paragraphs, usually three to four lines of text on a website.
• Highlighting/bolding keywords.
• Hyperlinks are one or two clicks away. 

Where do you see yourself five years from now?

Five years from now, I hope to be working as a journalist or as a marketing/PR officer, where I can use my writing skills to make a difference in the world and champion the voiceless. 

Why should people care about inclusive information?

People should care about inclusive information because anyone can acquire a disability at any time. 

It could be a chronic illness like diabetes or cancer, or a mental health condition as a result of trauma, or you could be seriously injured in a car crash or workplace accident, or you may develop dementia or a vision or hearing impairment as you age. Or there may be no discernible reason at all. 

As the one minority group that anyone can become a part of, it’s baffling why you wouldn’t care about inclusive information when the supports people with disabilities need in place will be essential for you and your loved ones in future. Caring now means that you also care about your future rights regarding your mind and body. 

What change would you like to see easyread.tech make in the wider accessible communications landscape?

I’d like to see easyread.tech change the way that neurotypical people and people without disabilities view disability rights. We need them to understand that accessible communications benefits everyone, either in the likely case of acquiring a disability at some point in your life, or that it simply makes your own life easier. 

Easy Read resources are amazing if you’re someone who is busy and likes to get to the point to maximise your time. Just because it was designed for people with intellectual and learning disabilities, it doesn’t mean that you’re ‘childish’ or ‘unintelligent’ if you use them; it’s an alternative communication style. 

One we’d all be better off using.