Bnode. Digital done right.

Yes, absolutely – if you are based in Huddersfield or Kirklees, or even further afield in Calderdale or the wider West Yorkshire area.

Chris will be only too happy to deliver in-person Training or Workshops at your own site or a venue of your choice in the local area.

Contact us to find out the cost for training or workshop delivery to a local business or organisation in Huddersfield, Kirklees, Calderdale or West Yorkshire, as it depends on your exact requirements.

Chris and Bnode have worked with diverse businesses, organisations and initiatives to deliver mentoring, training and workshops.

Chris worked with the Neurodiversity and Entrepreneurship Association (NEA) in West Yorkshire as part of a programme funded by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, delivering mentoring and workshop presentations.

Chris and Bnode worked with TSL Kirklees, in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, to deliver workshops.

Chris is also a Volunteer lecturer at Kirklees college on D&I and sustainability, a Member of Kirklees Council D&I Steering Group, and is Business Advisor for Calderdale’s Climate Action Partnership.

Bnode is a Good Business Charter (GBC) Accredited small business, and believes in raising awareness of and encouraging ethical business practices within other businesses and organisations too.

Chris Naylor, the MD of Bnode, has been a vocal champion of Accessibility, Diversity and Inclusivity for many years.

Gaining an ethical business accreditation is an excellent way of demonstrating your good business credentials to your suppliers, customers, clients and stakeholders within the West Yorkshire region.

Chris will help you to communicate those credentials effectively, too.

Approximately a million people are classed as having a disability in the Yorkshire and Humber region.

414k people in West Yorkshire are disabled under the Equality Act 2010 (17.6% of the population).

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), in 2021, 18.9% of the population in the Yorkshire and The Humber region, which includes West Yorkshire, identified as disabled.

This figure is based on the 2021 Census, and it translates to roughly 1 million people.

Also according to the 2021 Census figures, other than Leeds, all districts in West Yorkshire have a higher proportion of the population (age standardised) who are disabled under the equality act than in England as a whole.

And 321k households (33%) in West Yorkshire included at least one disabled person (up from 310k (33.6%) in 2011). Locally, this figure is higher in Wakefield.

Sources: ONS – Census 2021: How Disability varied across England and Wales and West Yorkshire Combined Authority – EDI Plan 2025 PDF.

The cost of accessibility for Yorkshire businesses and organisations can be understood in two ways:

1. The costs of actually implementing accessibility features,
2. The costs of not being accessible.

While there are upfront costs associated with making products, services, and digital spaces accessible, these are often outweighed by the long-term benefits, including increased revenue, improved brand reputation, and reduced risk of legal issues.

Inaccessible websites and services can lead to significant lost sales, as customers with disabilities may be unable to complete transactions or access information. For example, a report by UpsideLab found that £17.1 billion in revenue was lost in the UK in 2019 due to inaccessible e-commerce sites.

That directly affects your bottom line, whereas other costs are harder to quantify for Yorkshire businesses.

Hidden costs also include the damage done to a company’s reputation and brand image by inaccessible products and services, potentially leading to decreased customer loyalty and difficulty attracting new customers.

The answer is pretty simple – essentially, so that anyone and everyone can read them.

Accessible solutions work better for everyone.

Besides that, the harsh reality is that, in most cases, if you aren’t accessible your customers will go elsewhere rather than complain or bring it to your attention.

Microsoft’s Chief Accessibility Officer, Jenny Lay-Flurrie says, “If you don’t know it’s accessible, it’s probably not.”

In other words, don’t leave it to chance.

Adobe says that:

“An accessible PDF is a document that is universally easy to use and meets established accessibility standards. It enables most people to view, read, or interact with your document. Since your audience may include people whose vision, hearing, mobility, or cognition is impaired, your document must support assistive technology like:

– Screen readers
– Text-to-speech programs
– Braille displays

And more…

The more accessible your PDF is, for example, the easier it is to hear on a mobile device. Or view it with a screen magnifier. Or fill it out without a keyboard. Actually, this increased ease of use benefits everyone in your audience, regardless of their various abilities.

Compared to regular PDFs, Accessible PDFs prioritise inclusivity and provide an overall improved user experience for individuals with disabilities like visual impairment or reduced motor skills.

Source: Adobe – What is an accessible PDF?

Add accessibility tags to PDF files to make sure that people who use screen readers and other assistive technologies can read and navigate a document with Tables of Contents, hyperlinks, bookmarks, alt text, and so on.

Accessibility tags also make it possible to read the information on different devices, such as large type displays, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and mobile phones.

(Source: Microsoft – Create accessible PDFs)

Bnode will check and review your PDFs against accessibility standards.

We run each PDF document through Adobe Acrobat’s accessibility checker and the PAC3 PDF checker, as well as doing manual checks using JAWS.

Where necessary, we run Optical Character Recognition (OCR) on an individual PDF.

All appropriate Structures and best practices are also applied throughout the PDF document to ensure that standards are met, including manual checks and verification.

The PDFs are then returned to you, by uploading them to our central document repository for you to download and use, along with a compliance report for the document if one is needed.

Making your website accessible is crucial for inclusivity and compliance, and also making sure that everyone can access your information, products and services online, including people with disabilities. And not just those in Yorkshire either.

An inaccessible website costs you money and loses business.

In 2016, a survey found that more than 4 million people abandoned a retail website in the UK because of the barriers they found, taking with them an estimated spend of £11.75 billion. In 2019, that lost business, known as the ‘Click-Away Pound’, had grown to £17.1 billion.

69% of participants in the survey who had access needs said they will simply leave a problematic inaccessible website straight away.

Did you know that the online spending power of people with access needs in the UK is now £24.8 billion? Those figures underline the fact that the commercial incentive for making the online shopping experience as easy and accessible as possible is greater than ever.

Source: The Click-Away Pound – The Click-Away Pound Survey

It also offers business benefits like a wider audience reach, improved user experience, and better search engine optimisation. Additionally, some jurisdictions have legal requirements for website accessibility.

We’ll work with you to audit and assess your existing website and make recommendations for improvements that you or your web developer can implement.

If a completely new and fully accessible website is required, Bnode is your ideal partner for accessible website design and development in West Yorkshire.

After the audit, Chris can also train you and your employees, members of staff, stakeholders or volunteers on the principles and best practices of accessible and low carbon websites.

West Yorkshire is a highly diverse region, with a significant ethnic minority population and a large student presence too.

In 2021, according to the Census, 23% of the population identified as belonging to an ethnic minority. That’s an increase of 5% – up from 18% in 2011, according to the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

Within West Yorkshire, Bradford has the highest concentration of ethnic minority residents, at 39%.

According to the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Business in the Community, the most common ethnic minority groups are Pakistani, Indian, and Black (Source: Business in the Community – BITC Factsheet Regional Insights on Race Yorkshire and the Humber PDF).

There is a growing trend of ethnic diversity in West Yorkshire, with a notable increase in the proportion of people from non-white backgrounds in Leeds, for example.

In 2021, the Yorkshire and the Humber local authorities with the highest proportions of ethnically diverse people were Sheffield in South Yorkshire, and Bradford, Kirklees, and Leeds in West Yorkshire – with each local authority having more than one fifth of the population being ethnically diverse.

As the BITC Factsheet says:

“Employers [must] ensure that UK workplaces are equal for everyone, regardless of background. Employers can then sense check the efforts that they have in place to ensure our workplaces are reflective of the communities in which we operate. Most importantly, in the midst of a world shortage of workers and the skills that are required for the future, it becomes crucial that our workplaces have curated an inclusive environment where people from all backgrounds can work and progress. We know that tackling race disparities in the UK across the labour market, through improved participation and progression, has the potential to add £24 billion a year to the UK economy.”

An understanding of Diversity and Inclusion allows employers to further understand and relate to their communities, as well as “the how and where to source and retain talent”, and “put in place structures and procedures” like those outlined in the Business in the Community’s (BITC’s) Race at Work Charter “to create the right environment to best attract talent and become inclusive employers”.

Source: Business in the Community – BITC Factsheet Regional Insights on Race Yorkshire and the Humber PDF.

According to Acas, “Diversity is the range of people in your workforce. For example, this might mean people with different ages, religions, ethnicities, people with disabilities, and both men and women. It also means valuing those differences.”

Don’t forget that diversity also encompasses neurodiversity too.

A diverse workplace brings a wider range of perspectives and ideas into your business or organisation, leading to increased innovation and creativity.

When employees feel seen, heard, valued and included, they are more likely to be engaged and voice their opinions and ideas, be highly motivated, and more productive.

They stay longer with the business or organisation, too, as when employees have a sense of belonging and a great employee experience they don’t want / need to leave because they have true job satisfaction.

For employers, monitoring and recording ethnicity data within the workplace is important, as it establishes a baseline and measures the progress you’re making. It’s also a crucial step towards a business or organisation being able to report on ethnicity pay gaps and closing them, like the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) are doing.

Do you want to be more inclusive – both online and in your business, towards current team members and potential new employees? Bnode can help, through training and workshop delivery.

Ideally suited to support your business or organisation with Inclusivity Training that enhances your reputation and demonstrates that you’re an inclusive business or organisation that’s great to work for or be associated with, Chris delivers training and workshops in-person and remotely.

Provide diversity and inclusion training for all employees or volunteers.

Then, after you’ve put the training into practice, focus on three key things – your policies, communication, and culture – to create a more inclusive workplace.

Address and remove any barriers that might disadvantage certain individuals or groups.

Inclusivity Training brings many benefits.

Training is a valuable tool for creating a more equal, respectful, and inclusive workplace or culture within your business, organisation or initiative.

By enhancing awareness and understanding of inclusivity, as well as practical skills, Inclusivity Training helps businesses, organisations and individuals foster a culture where everyone feels valued and included – whether they’re employees, volunteers or other stakeholders. This leads to a more productive, innovative, and positive working environment.

Ultimately, the main benefit of Inclusivity Training is that businesses and organisations with inclusive cultures are more likely to do better – meeting financial and performance targets, and have better overall business outcomes.

The West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) is certainly leading the way as far as inclusivity in West Yorkshire and the wider Yorkshire region is concerned.

In 2023, Fatima Khan-Shah became West Yorkshire’s first ever Inclusivity Champion, as part of the Mayor of West Yorkshire’s pledge to achieve greater equality across the region.

By 2024, 100% of strategies, policies and plans have embedded equity, diversity, and inclusion.

By 2025, at least 75% of the entire workforce to have completed equality impact assessment training.

And by 2028, the mean gender pay gap and the mean ethnicity pay gap is zero.

By 2030, the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) aims to have:

– At least 20% of colleagues will be people with disabilities (in line with working age population).
– At least 23% of colleagues will be people belonging to minority ethnic communities (in line with whole population).
– At least 23% of senior colleagues (grades M to CX) will be people belonging to minority ethnic communities (in line with whole population).
– At least 2% of colleagues will be people of minority gender identity/expression and sex characteristics.
– At least 5% of colleagues will be people of minority sexual orientation.

The Combined Authority aims to be recognised for communicating equity, diversity, and inclusion progress, including what they have achieved, and have still to progress. As well as celebrating their people, and demonstrating how equity, diversity, and inclusion has been practically embedded across the Combined Authority. They have also committed to ensuring that all employees, the people across West Yorkshire that they serve through the services provided, and their partners and stakeholders can access and equitably participate with the material created and shared by the Authority.

Source: West Yorkshire Combined Authority – EDI Plan 2025 PDF

West Yorkshire Police are also taking big steps to be more inclusive and diverse.

The West Yorkshire Police strategy for attracting a diverse workforce is called ‘Positive Action’.

Positive Action is how West Yorkshire Police attract, retain, and develop talent from under-represented groups in society.

West Yorkshire Police has taken steps to improve diversity, equality and inclusivity (DEI) in the workplace:

“The Disability Working Group … [created and supported] the delivery of an action plan to increase awareness, improve understanding and provide information on updated policies, processes and provisions to support employees in the workplace with respect to disability and neurodiversity.”

The plan underpinned the force’s submission to become a Disability Confident Leader by December 2023.

The force is also working to ensure that DEI data and information is shared with stakeholders in an accessible format. And working on the use of “accessibility tools to ensure equality of access for users internally and externally (including checking for inclusive language)”.

This also extends to their “published communications and engagement tools” so that they “provide equality of access using appropriate technology” as well as taking “a sustainable approach to delivering information and resources across the workforce and community, reducing environmental impact”.

Internally, West Yorkshire Police are working to “increase employee’s awareness and understanding of DEI topics” and “provide guidance to ensure all departments with West Yorkshire Police are creating accessible collateral and materials”, “content”, and “training resources”.

Source: West Yorkshire Police – Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion Strategy 2024 – 2026 – accessible version

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service also have an initiative to promote diversity and inclusion, called ‘OneTeam’ – Our Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and Framework 2023 – 2028.

They’ve taken a “values-based approach to progressing, embedding and measuring Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) at West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service (WYFRS) using the behaviour led model of the organisational values.”

With regards to Training, their objective is to “develop a ‘OneTeam’ approach that encourages allyship and accountability. To improve learning, awareness and celebration of Diversity and Inclusion through providing a training programme, events and campaigns that educate staff, provide tools and dispel misconceptions”. With the aim of helping “our people learn and understand more about the diversity within and beyond our organisation”, increasing “the knowledge and understanding of D&I within the workforce”, helping “everyone to understand the diverse communities within [West Yorkshire] and act to fulfil our duties”, and “provide tools to help our people learn more, understand more and do more to promote D&I”.

Source: West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service -Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and Framework

Additionally, Kirklees Council has a strategy to move from equality to inclusion, with a focus on a positive and inclusive approach:

“We will give equality, diversity and inclusion a higher priority by having a positive approach, going beyond minimum legal requirements and ensuring diversity and inclusion is in everything we do in Kirklees and improves performance and service delivery.”

And:

“A more strategic approach to equality, diversity and inclusion means viewing diversity as a business strategy, not simply a management issue. This recognises compelling evidence that managing equality and diversity well and developing a culture of inclusion leads to improved business outcomes – both internally (increased diversity improves problem solving, innovation, productivity and other outcomes) and externally (we will deliver better services and outcomes for residents if we better understand and are more representative and inclusive of the communities we serve).”

Source: Kirklees Council – Inclusion and Diversity Policy Statement PDF

Plus, West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership (WYHCP) have their equity, diversity and inclusion initiative ‘Power of one power of many, working together for equity and fairness’. Within the WYHCP, “lots of work has taken place to embrace equality, value diversity and promote inclusion”.

As well as their place-based initiatives, which includes the Kirklees Inclusive Communities Framework.

West Yorkshire’s Integrated Care Strategy identifies ’10 Big Ambitions’. Many of them have equality, diversity and inclusion at the heart of what they are seeking to achieve.