On Tuesday, April 21, the joint meeting of the Communities of practice on Gender Equality and Communication of Torino Social Impact took place, focusing on accessible and intersectional communication.

The event, hosted at the premises of Fondazione Time2 and co-organised together with Fondazione Time2 and Forword, represented a moment of exchange and co-design among organizations within the ecosystem, with the aim of sharing approaches and tools for broader, more accessible and conscious communication, capable of valuing diversity.

Following the opening remarks by Lorena Di Maria on behalf of Torino Social Impact, Monica Cerutti opened the session with a reflection on accessibility and intersectionality—concepts often reduced to purely technical dimensions, yet central to building more equitable narratives. In this perspective, the need to move beyond “integration” as inclusion within a dominant group was highlighted, in favor of approaches that recognize and value the complexity of different identities.

Intersectionality was presented as a lens to capture the multiplicity of individual experiences. In this context, the importance of avoiding oversimplified narratives, such as those portraying people either as victims to be saved or as heroic figures—was emphasized, in favor of more realistic and nuanced representations.

The discussion highlighted communication as a lever for change, stressing the importance of actively involving the subjects represented and adopting a conscious language designed for diversity—an approach grounded in values such as equity, respect, responsibility, and listening.

Subsequently, Sara Meloni and Chiara Basile presented the experience of the OPEN space by Fondazione Time2, conceived as an accessible environment open to plurality. Among the practices shared was the introduction of presentation formats that include describing one’s physical presence in the space, with the aim of making interactions more accessible and fostering more conscious relationships.

The “privilege/power wheel” was also introduced as a reflective tool to interpret the complexity of identities and social positions, highlighting how these may be partly given and partly subject to change over time.

A further contribution was provided by Marta Bressello of Forword, who explored digital accessibility and the relevant regulatory framework, referring to the Legge Stanca as the main Italian reference for ICT accessibility.

Her intervention highlighted how making audiovisual content accessible effectively broadens audiences, through conscious design practices: from describing images for those who cannot see them, to properly structuring content semantically to ensure accessibility via screen readers. It was emphasized that these tools read content based on its internal structure rather than its visual layout, making a clear organization of titles, text, images, and captions essential.

Particular attention was also given to graphic and digital content elements: from using CamelCase in hashtags to improve readability, to adding subtitles to audiovisual content, and designing accessibility from the outset.

The final discussion highlighted the importance of the social report as a tool for dialogue between organizations and stakeholders. The need to select and make the most relevant information accessible according to different audiences was emphasized, moving beyond the idea of a single, undifferentiated document.

A key issue concerned the ethical dimension of reporting: the social report should not be treated as a mere formal requirement or reputational tool, but as a coherent expression of the organization’s mission, avoiding the risk of practices such as disability washing.

In conclusion, a shared vision emerged of accessibility as a dynamic and situated process, to be built through conscious choices, appropriate language, and active stakeholder engagement. As highlighted during the discussion, accessibility must be built, not treated as a given.