Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Policy

Organisation: Care Learning (carelearning.org.uk)
Version: 1.0

1. Purpose

Care Learning is committed to providing an inclusive, respectful and accessible online learning environment for all users. We aim to remove barriers to participation, treat everyone with dignity and respect, and ensure our content, services and communications are fair and inclusive.

2. Scope

This policy applies to:

  • All Care Learning activities and services delivered via carelearning.org.uk (including course content, assessments, support and communications);
  • All staff, contractors, freelancers, and volunteers working with Care Learning;
  • All learners, customers, and site visitors engaging with our website, content and support channels.

3. Our Commitments

We will:

  • Comply with UK law, including the Equality Act 2010 and the UK GDPR/Data Protection Act 2018.
  • Promote equality of opportunity and foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.
  • Prohibit unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation in all interactions related to our services.
  • Design for accessibility and continually improve usability, aiming to meet WCAG 2.2 AA (or successor standard) across core user journeys.
  • Use inclusive language and imagery in our learning materials and marketing.
  • Respond promptly to concerns and complaints, and take proportionate action where issues are identified.
  • Engage with users to learn about barriers and improve our services—without collecting equalities data (see Section 7).

4. Protected Characteristics

We protect people from discrimination, harassment and victimisation because of: age; disability; gender reassignment; marriage and civil partnership; pregnancy and maternity; race (including colour, nationality and ethnic or national origin); religion or belief; sex; and sexual orientation.

5. Roles and Responsibilities

  • Directors/Leadership: Set the tone, allocate resources, approve this policy, ensure compliance.
  • Managers/Leads (including content, product and support): Implement this policy in day-to-day operations, including content standards, user support processes, supplier oversight and training.
  • All Staff/Contractors: Complete EDI and accessibility awareness training as required; follow this policy; raise issues or improvement ideas.
  • Suppliers/Partners: Are expected to uphold equivalent EDI and accessibility standards in any work delivered to Care Learning.

6. Inclusive Service Delivery

6.1 Accessible Design and Content

  • Build and maintain core pages and learning experiences to WCAG 2.2 AA where feasible.
  • Provide clear navigation, keyboard operability and meaningful link text.
  • Offer captions or transcripts for video/audio and avoid essential information being presented by colour alone.
  • Use plain English and consistent layouts; avoid jargon where possible.
  • Provide alternative formats or reasonable adjustments on request (see 6.3).

6.2 Inclusive Learning and Assessment

  • Write content that reflects diverse examples and avoids stereotypes.
  • Ensure assessments test learning outcomes rather than relying on unnecessary time limits or formats that disadvantage disabled users.
  • Avoid imagery or wording that could reasonably be considered discriminatory, harassing or demeaning.

6.3 Reasonable Adjustments

We will consider and implement reasonable adjustments for learners who request them (e.g., extended time windows for assessments, alternative file formats, compatibility with assistive technologies). Contact info@carelearning.org.uk to discuss needs.

7. Data and Privacy (No Equalities Data Collected)

  • Care Learning does not collect equalities (special category) data (e.g., race, health, religion, sexual orientation) for our routine operations or analytics.
  • We will not require users to disclose protected characteristics to access our services.
  • If, in future, we consider optional and anonymised surveys to improve inclusion, we will complete a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA), state the lawful basis, make participation voluntary, and ensure data cannot be linked back to individuals.
  • We follow UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. See our Privacy Policy for details of any personal data we do process.

8. Speaking Up: Concerns, Complaints and Reporting

We encourage users and workers to raise concerns about discrimination, harassment, accessibility barriers or any aspect of inclusion.

  • How to report: Email info@carelearning.org.uk with the subject “EDI Concern” and provide details (page/course, date/time, nature of issue).
  • Our response: We will acknowledge within 2 working days, investigate, and provide an outcome or next steps within 10 working days where possible.
  • We may suspend or remove access for users who breach this policy or our Terms (e.g., abusive or harassing behaviour).

9. Recruitment and People (if applicable)

Where Care Learning recruits staff or engages contractors, we will:

  • Advertise roles fairly and focus on essential skills and competencies.
  • Provide reasonable adjustments during recruitment and work.
  • Base decisions on merit; avoid discriminatory criteria.
  • Offer EDI and accessibility awareness training appropriate to roles.

10. Suppliers and Content Partners

  • Contracts and briefs will reference our EDI expectations (including accessibility).
  • We may decline or request changes to deliverables that do not meet our EDI standards.
  • We will prefer suppliers who demonstrate accessible and inclusive practices.

11. Marketing, Communications and Community Interaction

  • Marketing and public information will avoid stereotypes and exclusionary language.
  • Social media and community interactions (where enabled) must remain respectful. We may moderate, remove, or report content that breaches this policy.

12. Monitoring and Continuous Improvement (without equalities data)

Given we don’t collect equalities data, we will improve inclusion by:

  • Reviewing accessibility and usability through periodic content and UX audits.
  • Monitoring support tickets/feedback for patterns of barriers or exclusion (qualitative analysis only).
  • Tracking accessibility defects and remediation times in our internal issue log.
  • Consulting external guidance (e.g., GOV.UK Design System accessibility guidance and W3C WAI resources) to inform improvements.
  • Publishing a short Annual EDI and Accessibility Update summarising actions taken (with no personal or equalities data).

13. Training and Awareness

  • Provide onboarding guidance on EDI principles, respectful communication, and accessibility basics to all who create or manage content.
  • Offer refresher updates when standards or internal processes change.

14. Breaches of this Policy

  • For staff/contractors: handled under our disciplinary or contract management processes.
  • For users: we may issue warnings, limit features, or suspend access per our Terms of Service.

15. Related Policies and Documents

  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy (UK GDPR/Data Protection Act 2018)
  • Accessibility Statement (including WCAG target and contact route)
  • Content Standards/Style Guide
  • Complaints Procedure
  • Security/Acceptable Use (as applicable)

16. Review

This policy will be reviewed annually or sooner if there are significant legal, regulatory, or organisational changes, or material feedback indicating a gap.

Appendix A: Definitions (Plain English)

  • Equality: Ensuring people are not treated less favourably because of protected characteristics.
  • Diversity: Recognising and valuing the differences people bring.
  • Inclusion: Designing environments and processes so everyone can participate fully.
  • Reasonable adjustments: Practical changes to remove barriers for disabled users where reasonable (e.g., alternative formats, different time windows).
  • Harassment: Unwanted conduct related to a protected characteristic that violates dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment.

Appendix B: Quick Contact