With decades of experience as a senior HR executive, Donnelly will bolster Texthelp’s employee experience.

Texthelp Names Cathy Donnelly as Chief People Officer

Don Johnston Incorporated Joins Texthelp Group; Edtech Giants Join Forces to Help Students Across North America and the Globe.

The addition of Don Johnston Inc.’s leading product suite, expertise, and skill set will expand Texthelp’s leadership in helping individuals better understand and be understood.

With decades of experience in the technology sector, Mullin will bolster Texthelp's leadership and growth in assistive technology for the education and workplace markets.

Texthelp Names Christine Mullin as Chief Operating Officer

Texthelp CEO, Martin McKay, and accessibility expert Debra Ruh, release a new report on Digital Accessibility in Financial Services. Read more.

Texthelp addresses need for Digital Accessibility in Financial Services with release of new industry report

The report, Accessibility in Financial Services: The key to serving everyone, is a call to action for financial services companies to improve digital accessibility. Texthelp CEO, Martin McKay, along with accessibility expert Debra Ruh, CEO and Founder of Ruh Global IMPACT, authored the paper.

Research conducted by Texthelp - the global leader in literacy, numeracy and accessibility technology - in collaboration with YouGov  - revealed that one in four (27%) adults aged over 50 encountered issues when accessing websites during the Covid-19 pandemic. With the over 50s accounting for over 25 million people in the UK (source: ONS), this data suggests older people are struggling to navigate vital services online.

The report, Improving online accessibility for the 'silver surfer’, found that of those that experienced accessibility issues, almost a third (31%) of UK respondents had trouble knowing what to do or what to click on. Nearly half of all users also found that the links in the sites were not working (46%) and 63% of users who experienced issues found the visual layout and design of sites overly complicated. Reading text on websites was also a challenge, with 20% of respondents indicating they would prefer larger text. 22% wanted the content on websites, such as words and instructions, to be easier to understand. 

Healthcare: During the first national lockdown, over three quarters (76%) of respondents used online websites and platforms to access healthcare. Over a third (36 %) relied upon websites to order prescriptions, while 13% went online to book appointments. After lockdown ends, 30% still plan to use healthcare services online.

Financial services: 85% of respondents used online services for managing their personal finances during the first national lockdown. 41% of those surveyed used online banking services to view statements and a third (30%) of users used online banking for money transfers. 64% of users plan to use online banking even after lockdown, the biggest response from all the sectors profiled.

Public services: 67% of respondents went online to access public services. During lockdown, checking on bin collection dates was the most common reason (44%) for older people visiting local authority websites. This dwarfed the second and third most used services of checking COVID restrictions (18%) and reviewing council tax (10%). After lockdown ends, 40% of users still plan to use local authority sites to stay informed about government services. 

Retail: 95% of over 50s and over 65s surveyed used online retail sites during lockdown. Amongst this group, 34% regularly shopped for groceries online while only 14% shopped for clothes online. The popularity of shopping online amongst the over 50s is set to continue post-lockdown, with 31% of users planning on doing grocery shopping online and 44% buying other products such as clothing and homeware online. 

With an ageing population and a growing number of ‘silver surfers’ online, accessibility issues like these will continue to grow unless addressed by organisations. With over half of respondents (56%) planning to continue using online services as frequently as when they did during lockdown, websites need to make sure that different accessibility requirements are met. 

Martin McKay, CEO & Founder at Texthelp says: “The pandemic has fast-tracked the transition to digital. Many products and services previously available on the high-street, at a GP surgery or in a shop are now only available online. 

Older generations have been forced to migrate online, where they might have been resistant before. However, our research shows that many private and public organisations are failing to accommodate the needs of older generations. Many websites are built without accessibility in mind and this means certain groups are being locked out of vital services. A quarter of over 50s experienced issues when accessing services or products online – this isn’t a number that we can just ignore. This data should serve as a wake-up call to both public and private sector organisations alike.”

Research from Texthelp finds over half (56%) of over 50s plan to continue using online services after the pandemic. Discover more.

Over one in four over 50s faced issues accessing services online during lockdown

Research from Texthelp finds over half (56%) of over 50s plan to continue using online services after the pandemic.

Wizkids is an edtech company, specialising in accessibility tools and data synchronisation. 

Together, Texthelp and Wizkids will offer a wider and improved range of assistive technology and edtech management tools to their customers in the UK and Europe. 

Martin McKay, Founder & CEO, Texthelp said: “It is fantastic to be able to welcome WizKids into the Texthelp family. Jonas and Uffe have built a great business that is helping struggling students and busy administrators across Northern Europe. We share a belief that everyone has the right to understand and to be understood.  Wizkids are the market leader in Denmark and Sweden, and can help us achieve our goal to be the number one provider of assistive technology globally.  By bringing together our technologies, we believe we can bring stronger Math products across the Nordics, and bring the WizKids Edulife product to our large and growing education customer base around the world. We want to continue to provide our shared customers with the wide choice of tools currently available to them and improve their user experience. In the future, our combined expertise and reach will drive more rapid product improvements for many more people around the world.”

Jonas Lund, CEO at Wizkids said: “Wizkids becoming part of the Texthelp group is really something special and the climax in our journey so far. Joining the Texthelp group will allow us to reach many more students and make a greater impact with our products across multiple geographies. I am looking forward to working with Martin and the wider combined team in the Texthelp Group as we work towards our shared goal of an even playing field for all". 

Uffe Gorm Hansen, CTO at Wizkids, also commented: "By being part of the Texthelp group it will be possible for us to take our products to a new level. We will continuously strive to deliver the world's best products by using the latest technology and combining our sector expertise. "

Texthelp Ltd, the global leader in literacy and accessibility technology, has completed the acquisition of Wizkids. This deal will enable the best assistive technologies to be brought to many more students around the world.

Texthelp Ltd acquires Wizkids

Belfast, 8th July 2021: Texthelp Ltd, the global leader in literacy and accessibility technology, has completed the acquisition of Wizkids. This deal will enable the best assistive technologies to be brought to many more students around the world, and follows Texthelp’s recent acquisition of the Lingit Group in March.

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