224: Designing for All: Simple Steps to Make Your Brand More Inclusive with Erin Perkins

Branding + Design, Business, Marketing

July 29, 2025

Are you accidentally excluding incredible humans from your business?

When Erin Perkins, a deafblind accessibility educator and CEO of Mabely Q, joined me for this chat, I didn’t just learn new tips.

I learned new perspectives.

If you’ve ever felt like accessibility in business was this giant, expensive thing you “should probably think about one day”… this episode is a breath of fresh, empowering air.

Here’s what we unpacked and how you can start making your biz more inclusive TODAY (without an extra degree or $20k website rebuild).

Why Accessibility Isn’t Just a Checkbox

Accessibility isn’t just about ramps or websites.

As Erin shares, accessibility is about crafting a beautiful, seamless experience for everyone, especially in digital spaces.

Think:

Your Instagram posts
Your online courses
Your email newsletters
Your Zoom events
Even your brand visuals

It’s about making sure your content, communication, and brand can be accessed and enjoyed by all…including those with hearing, vision, or cognitive differences.

What We Often Miss

Most of us equate accessibility with just two things:

A wheelchair icon on a website
Captioned videos (if we remember)

But Erin explains it’s so much more.

“Disability doesn’t discriminate. It can happen to anyone at any time.”

From colour contrast issues in graphics to unreadable caption styles on Reels…we’re often missing the mark without realising it.

Your Brand Colours Might Be Leaving People Out

If you’ve ever chosen colours because they’re “on trend” or “feel like you”… you’re not alone.

But Erin mentions a common mistake:

Colour contrast is one of the biggest accessibility fails online, and one of the easiest things to fix.

You don’t need to rebrand.

Just test your combinations (there are free tools!) and add 1–2 colours to make things more readable.

High contrast = higher reach.

Simple, Non-Overwhelming Ways to Start

Feel like it’s too much? Erin says: start from where you are.

Here are 5 ways to make your business more accessible today:

Add captions to all your videos (and edit them for clarity)
Use clear, high-contrast colour pairings in your graphics
Include transcripts or summaries for podcasts, videos, and courses
Avoid overusing emojis, especially mid-sentence (screen readers can’t handle it well!)
If text is in your graphic, also include it in your caption (or add an image description)

It’s Good for People and Business

Sure, being inclusive is the right thing to do. But it’s also a SMART thing to do.

Erin reminds us that inclusive brands build deeper trust, greater retention, and wider reach. Plus, fixing it later? Way more expensive.

“Build with accessibility in mind from the start. It keeps more money in your pocket and more people in your world.”

Designing an Accessible Course or Program?

A few musts:

Caption your course videos
Offer a transcript + summary
Use multiple formats for learning: written, video, and visual
Keep colours readable and slides clear

And if you’re not sure where to start? Erin’s favourite motto: progress over perfection.

Social Media Accessibility 101

This one hit me: if you have text in your graphic, screen readers can’t read it.

So either repeat that text in your caption, or add it as an image description (use ID: at the bottom)

Also: don’t go wild with captions flying in one word at a time on your videos. It looks cool, but it’s unreadable for many.

The Takeaway

Accessibility isn’t about adding extra work. It’s about adjusting our lens.

Every change, no matter how small, brings another incredible human into your world.

So… start with that colour contrast. Add that caption. Check that emoji use.

Because the more inclusive your business becomes, the more impact (and connection) you’ll create.

ABOUT ERIN:
Erin Perkins is the CEO of Mabely Q and a deafblind accessibility educator. With limited vision and hearing (she uses a cochlear implant and hearing aid), Erin brings lived experience to her work. After years of collaborating with coaches and creative entrepreneurs, she realized how little most people understood about accessibility—especially digital accessibility. Today, she helps businesses make their content and platforms more inclusive to build trust, increase engagement, and drive retention. Erin believes accessibility isn’t a checkbox—it’s a business growth strategy.”

CONNECT WITH ERIN:
Website: www.mabelyq.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mabely_q
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erineperkins

Ask Erin Anything: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1253906150049?aff=oddtdtcreator

WORK WITH JACQUI:

// DIY Design My Biz: The best course for business owners DIYing their own brand and graphics in Canva. Learn more: https://whitedeer.com.au/diy-dmb

// The Co+Creation Design Club: Design WITH the help of a professional designer in this high-touch coaching space: https://whitedeer.com.au/designclub

// Design Studio: If you’re after fully done-for-you design services my studio team can help! https://whitedeer.com.au/designstudio

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