“Together” at the “Erfahrungsfeld” – a journey of sensory discovery

A very special event took place in Nuremberg in mid-May: Irmgard Pirkl, PR Manager at “Schwer-beschäftigt”, and Claus Haupt, Head of the Experience Centre, took the participants on a journey into a completely different world. Particularly fascinating: how many people you can reach by thinking just a little outside the box. How important the topics of “plain and simple language” are becoming in our digital media worlds. And what role explanatory videos and pictograms will play in the future.

After all: more and more people are getting older, often accompanied by some degree of sensory decline. And more and more people require tailored and varied approaches. Yes, our world is becoming increasingly diverse – we communicators should adapt to this.

From the perspective of inclusion and demographic change, the topic of “accessible communication” is therefore coming increasingly into focus, Irmgard Pirkl explained to us. Customers and citizens want to be taken seriously – whether they are people with disabilities, sensory impairments, a migrant background, children or older people. Each target group places specific demands on communication, its presentation and the communication media themselves. It is therefore no longer acceptable for modern websites to fail to take these target groups into account. An appeal – not only, but above all to us communicators – which has immediately set us some homework. And the participants in the afternoon session took away another important lesson: less is more – arguably more so in accessible communication than anywhere else. For it is precisely here that the simplicity of language plays the greatest role. And that means: no foreign words, no Anglicisms, but all the more repetition. It is precisely the latter that PR professionals try to avoid in their texts. 

After this lesson, we headed out with Claus Haupt to the experiential field to sharpen our senses and immerse ourselves in the experience. This year’s motto fits the event’s theme perfectly: “Together”. And together, we Northern Bavarian communicators were able to “smell” scents, “feel” giant water beds, “sense” the unfamiliar, or let “sound stones” resonate. Our dexterity was put to the test, as was our sense of balance, in the 90-degree living room. Simply an unforgettable, cheerful and communicative afternoon, which drew to a close in the neighbouring beer garden.

Thank you once again for these very special experiences, dear Irmgard Pirkl from the bfz and dear Claus Haupt, Head of the Nuremberg Field of Sensory Experience and Head of the Department of Political and Cultural Education at the KUF, Office for Culture and Leisure of the City of Nuremberg

Your team at DPRG Northern Bavaria, your colleagues from Kaltwasser Kommunikation:
Sarah Schöffler, Valentina Paolino and Brigitte Kaltwasser

Addendum: For anyone looking for benchmarks for good accessible websites, we recommend a digital visit to the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the BAMS. “Exemplary implementation,” says Irmgard Pirkl.