We want to reach out to children and provide opportunities to participate and share knowledge and experiences. So our digital communications need to work for children.
It is so important that we have put the co-creation of our website with children into our 2023-2024 Work Plan.
Who did we work with?
97 children aged 11-17
- 15 participants at our General Assembly meeting
- 8 members of our Advisory Board
- 6 members of our Website Co-creation Team
- 7 members of our Children's Panel
- 41 students of the Brussels Montgomery International School (EIM)
- 20 members of the Strasbourg 'Conseil des Jeunes'
- + children’s input from General Assembly workshops
Website Co-creation Team
We are thrilled to have six teens from the Bulgarian State Agency for Child Protection, and the Italian Independent Authority for Children and Adolescents as members of the Website Co-creation Team.
Their input is vital to help us better understand children's online needs and expectations.
We meet monthly to review different parts of the website. We've already covered criteria for a successful child-focused website, menu labels, icons and the visual identity.
What did we learn?
- Teens did not use main site menus, filters or on-site search very much
- They scrolled and scanned through pages much faster than adults
- They looked for interesting interactions (videos and surveys got their attention)
- When there was a lot of choice, it was harder for them to choose something
- Avoid lots of different neon colours or overuse of images which is confusing
- Make clickable items, important words and action buttons very visible
- Movement or sounds on important actions and clickable items are good
- If content is for different ages, these groupings should be visible
- Things to do should be visible, with less written content to begin with
- Interactive content is very important, such as videos, quizzes, surveys, voting etc.
- Wording should be simple, modern and interesting, but not childish
- Children should be involved in the creation of content and digital activities
What's happens next?
Consultation, testing, improving
Consultation and testing will continue with children, both online and in-person. This will include:
- Ongoing Website Co-Creation team meetings
- Workshop during the April Advisory Board meeting
- Task testing to make sure children can find content
- Usability testing and workshops during the June in-person meeting
- Share the learnings with adults!
More to see and do
Online democracy survey (in all EU languages)