Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre and Education Trust
The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre and Education Trust is a specialist open-access library and archive, focusing on the study of race, migration and thinking about race, anti-racist activism and the fight for social justice. They are recognised as a centre of excellence in oral history work, Global Majority community-led collecting and ethical community engagement.
My role
For this project, The AIU RACE Centre commissioned me to develop and execute the design of a 90-page research report on anti-racism and EDI in the heritage sector. The report was distributed to present findings and as a source of recommendations on the best practices around anti-racism and EDI for heritage institutions.
The challenge
The focus of the design was ease of use and accessibility. As a source of tips and recommendations, the report had to be easy to navigate to ensure readers were able to quickly find the information most relevant to them. The organisation also wanted to ensure digital accessibility to provide an inclusive experience for all readers.
The solution
I established a clear visual hierarchy with titles and decorative coloured lines to divide the sections and subsections, helping readers navigate the many pages with ease. I also designed a default visual cue with specific colours and lines for all tips and recommendation to make sure these were clearly highlighted as readers skimmed through the pages. Finally, I worked with accessibility tools do embed a clear structure within the report file to aid users with screen readers and also made conscious design choices for other types of accessible requirements.
The result
The report was widely distributed and received positive feedback around its ease of use. It also won the University of Manchester Library Awards (known as ‘The Rylands’), which recognised how the report ‘was actively embraced by the heritage sector and influential organisations’.
