How charities are tackling digital exclusion

Digital exclusion is a widespread form of inequality in the UK, with around one in seven people deprived across two or more dimensions of digital, according to Deloitte and the Digital Poverty Alliance. It is no surprise, then, that a vast 82% of charities are concerned about this issue, according to Charity Digital’s report.

 

With the digitisation of society, familiar socio-economic inequalities have taken shape through digital equipment, services, and behaviours. In 2024, Charity Digital has shared learnings from the many charities working tirelessly to end these inequalities.

 

But what does the future look like for digital inclusion in the charity sector? This article explores key approaches for charities in 2025 to help end digital exclusion.

 

 

Local support and advocacy

 

The combination of local support and advocacy has proved effective for addressing digital exclusion. Charities can help individuals overcome digital barriers and simultaneously bring their experiences to the attention of key decision-makers, leading to large-scale change. Charities’ strategic plans reveal that they will continue with these two key activities.

 

In 2025, charities are advocating for, among other things:

• Continued offline public services and banking
• Media literacy education in schools
• The creation of a new national Digital Inclusion Strategy
• Adoption of the minimum digital living standard
• Making internet access affordable for everyone
• Delaying internet-only services
• Investment in digital skills programmes
• Improving the accessibility of websites

 

 

Inclusive digital transformation

 

Every organisation that uses digital technology has an opportunity to make their operations more inclusive in the coming months.  The Charity Digital Skills Report 2024 found that around a quarter (24%) of all charities will prioritise improving the diversity and inclusion of their digital work in the coming year. Charities can do so in a number of ways, such as co-designing services with people with lived experience and developing and designing services with diverse teams.

 

There is an opportunity for charities to improve the digital accessibility of their websites and other digital products and services. We hope to see greater awareness of digital accessibility over the coming year, with charities and other organisations enacting the small changes that can make a huge difference to users. Changes might include upskilling on accessibility, inclusive user research, and tweaks like adding alt text and captions to multimedia content.

 

Charities are likely to invest in the digital skills of their teams, with the Charity Digital Skills Report 2024 finding that growing staff and volunteer digital skills was a priority for 46% of charities. While digital skills create myriad benefits on an organisational level, the digitally inclusive approach will support employees and volunteers individually, building confidence, empowerment, and wellbeing.

 

The coming months may also mark a shift in charities’ approach to artificial intelligence (AI). In 2024, organisations of various kinds have been eager to make use of the innovative new technology, but the Charity Digital Skills Report found that 58% of charities report want to gain practical knowledge of how to use AI tools responsibly, with concerns around factual accuracy, potential bias, discrimination, human rights, and the environment. Charities can use our Artificial Intelligence Hub to find out more about these topics in depth. 

 

 

Collaboration

 

Collaboration within and across sectors is integral to much of the digital inclusion work already taking place, and we think this trend will grow in the coming year.

 

Digital Poverty Alliance’s Charter for Digital Inclusion, launched in 2024, calls for organisations of all kinds to embed digital inclusivity into their operations, with ‘Partnership for impact’ making up one of the pledges. The charity identified an opportunity for organisations with different expertise and resources to work together to tackle the complex, multidimensional problem of digital exclusion.

 

Charity Digital has found that 56% of charities find it difficult to reach service users due to problems with digital technology. Charities working in health, family and children, local community, and disability face the most difficulties. As the year progresses, we may see these charity types collaborating more with other organisations to improve digital inclusion among service users.

 

The government’s bold new Digital Inclusion Action Plan, launched in February 2025, highlights the vital role of civil society and builds on the cross-sector collaboration already taking place, indicating that collaboration for digital inclusion will continue to strengthen in the coming months and years.