Category: News

We’re stoked to announce that we’ve been awarded Best Creative, Digital & Innovation Business 2023 at the Kent Business Awards 2023.

We’re so proud to be recognised as a leader in our category, and an important part of the thriving Kent business community.

We celebrated (minus our lovely Luci) at the Kent Business Awards Last week, with a host of other fantastic Kent businesses. It was a brilliant celebration of the diversity and range of small businesses in Kent, and great to meet so many like-minded and ambitious people.

Congratulations to all the other nominated businesses in this category:

• The Rum Company
• Brilliant Businesses
• Chambers Design
• Foundations Child Therapy

Here’s a sneak peek into our award-winning submission, and what makes Eggu so special:

Demonstrating expertise in digital and creative technologies

Digital and creative is what we do. Eggu has demonstrated exceptional expertise in digital and creative technologies, which has been recognised with the awards we’ve won throughout 2023.

Our digital design and development team is continuously evolving our skills, enabling us to create engaging and effective digital learning courses. Two members of our team are even currently undertaking Diplomas in Digital Design to help take our skills to the next level.

Our ability to highly customise rapid development tools (such as Adapt) means that we can offer a high-quality, creative and bespoke digital learning courses, for organisations and charities with a more limited budget.

Technical excellence and commercial success

Our commitment to technical excellence and innovation has translated into commercial success. By consistently delivering high-quality digital learning solutions that cater to diverse client needs, we have achieved positive sales growth, improved our market share, and increased profits year over year.

We’ve been delivering digital learning solutions for more than 20 years, and built our business on referrals and repeat clients, which speaks for itself.

Impactful client projects with a wider reach

Whether it’s helping pivot on a knifepoint (like our Ambulance Service clients faced

during the Covid Pandemic), bringing about cultural change and ending sexism in schools, or educating entire generations about sexual health and consent; we never shy away from an important topic, no matter how taboo.

Our work is empowering, liberating and relevant.

Here are just two examples of our impact:

Brook

Our Brook Learn platform hosts a range of online training courses, resources, animations and videos for teachers to support the delivery of effective relationships and sex education (RSE) in schools.

Year on year, we have seen a consistent increase in engagement with Brook Learn. Today, we now have over 32,000 users registered, and the rate of growth continues to rise.

Now Brook can easily track user activity data, which demonstrates an increase in user knowledge and confidence after completing Brook digital learning, with the majority of users ranking the online training as easy to access, useful, relevant, engaging and well-structured.

Brook Learn has not only helped to build brand awareness but has introduced the charity to whole new markets, with users in almost all local authority areas in the UK.

Furthermore, it has unlocked the opportunity to develop paid for content and market new education products to a growing list of subscribers. The latest figures for 2021-22 show that 36% of income at in education Brook has come from digital products developed with Eggu.

• Brook: My Best Friend Fund
• Brook: Consent

UK Feminista

Our work with UK Feminista was to create a series of bite-sized modules around how to challenge sexism in schools. This is a real issue for every school in every community. Sexual harassment, sexist language and gender stereotyping are commonplace in school settings, yet teachers report feeling unsupported and ill-equipped to respond. To date, the resource has had over 12,000 registered users with overwhelmingly positive feedback.

• 92% Found the training useful
• 91% Feel more confident about how to tackle sexism in the classroom
• 89% Would recommend this training to others

Want to find out more about our ground-breaking work? Why not check out out our egg-cellent portfolio?

Eggu is ready to push the boundaries, and create change

Let’s get cracking.

Part 4: Top tips for writing alt text

Welcome to our four part guide on accessibility for digital learning. In this fourth and final blog we will explore five key points you need to consider when writing alt text to make your elearning accessible for everyone, including those with learning, visual, physical and auditory difficulties.

Alternative text, otherwise known as ‘alt text’, is used to describe the appearance of an image on a page. This is applied so that screen readers can read aloud to visually impaired users throughout a course to describe what images are showing.

Alt text enhances accessibility across a variety of platforms, including social media – it also helps to improve SEO.

1. Describing the image

When writing alt text, you should think about:

• What is the purpose of using the image?
• What information does the image convey?
• Is the image relevant to the content it is sat alongside?

Remember, when describing what the image is showing, it’s not necessary to mention colours or shapes unless they have meaning to the content.

2. Length

Excessive detail is not needed – keep it to the point!

Alt text shouldn’t be more than 150 characters and should only pick out the key features of the image that relates to the content it’s placed with.

3. Grammar

Always write alt text in sentence case and include punctuation marks to indicate to a screen reader when to take a pause before moving on to the next section.

4. Charts

There is no need to say ‘this is an image of’. A screen reader will always announce to the user when there is an image before reading out the description.

The exception to this rule is for the description of a chart. Unless you mention in the description that it is a bar or pie chart and what it is showing, the user will not know what is being described to them.

If there is a particular source you have taken the chart from, you can always link to the site where the information of the chart is explained.

5. Where alt text is not needed

All images require some form of alt text.

If an image is purely decorative and is not adding anything to the content, you do not need to add a description. Instead, input one of the following:

• “”
• alt=””

Using either of these options will indicate to a screen reader that this image can be skipped.

If no text is written in the alt text, a screen reader will read out the name of the image file which may confuse the user.

What’s next?

You have now reached the end of our guide on how to make your digital learning fully accessible.

Refer back to any of our previous blogs in the series to further support your learning.

Part 1: Top tips for writing content

Part 2: Top tips for writing link text

Part 3: Top tips for design

Part 4: Top tips for writing alt text

Part 2: Top tips for writing link text

Welcome to our four part guide on accessibility for digital learning. In this second blog we will explore six key points you need to consider when writing link text to make your elearning accessible for everyone, including those with learning, visual, physical and auditory difficulties.

1. Avoid using URLs

It’s always best not to use a URL as a title for a link, as screen readers will read out the full URL, making it unclear where the user is being sent.

Instead, the link should reference the page title of exactly where they are going and what information is being recommended.

By having a link title that references the page, it also allows screen readers to easily go back to the link at a later point. Otherwise it would need to filter through all content to locate that link again.

2. Never use links within sentences

To indicate a link within a course, screen readers announce ’Link’ before reading out the link title.

If a link is within a sentence, this can confuse and break up the content for the user. It will also make it harder for users to locate a link again.

Therefore, it is always best practice to present links at the end of their related sections.

3. Avoid using single words for links

As mentioned previously, the link needs to detail exactly what the user will be visiting when they select it.

For example, instead of saying:

Eggu

Why not try:

Visit the Eggu website

4. Always use sentence case

Just like when writing elearning copy, always write the link text using sentence case. The only exception is when using a proper noun (i.e. name for a particular person, place, or thing).

5. Things not to say

Using phrases such as, ‘more information’ or ‘click here’, should never be used on their own as link text.

Not only does this not provide any additional information on where the link is being directed, forcing the user to refer to surrounding copy for context, terms such as ‘click here’ also discriminatively assume that the reader is using a mouse.

Such phases also make the content inaccessible for screen readers if a user requests only the links on the page.

6. Duplicating link text

It is important to never use the same link text to link to different destinations as this can confuse learners using a screen reader.

This can also make it difficult when the users wants to search for only links throughout the elearning. Here, the screen reader will read out the link twice and it will therefore not be clear where the individual links will be directing them to.

What’s next?

In part three, we’ll look closer at the importance of accessibility within all design aspects of your digital learning.

Part 3: Top tips for design

We inspire and educate change. We’re here for the disruptors, boundary pushers and world changers. We’re here for the extraordinary.

Last week, Kat, our MD was in Parliament with long-standing client, Brook to lobby the Government to take an evidence-based approach to Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) Guidance for young people in schools during its review in 2023. Hosted by Maria Miller, DBE the event was set up in response to vocal opposition to inclusive Relationships and Sex Education. It is vital that any changes to the guidance continue to support – and not hamper – teachers’ provision of high-quality RSHE in our schools.

RSHE was made a mandatory topic in 2017 with mass cross-party support. In 2019, 538 MPs voted in favour of the statutory guidance: guidance that was informed by, and had widespread support from, organisations across health, education, safeguarding and faith groups.

The guidance is now being reviewed. 

Part of the video evidence submitted to support the RSHE Guidance review was co-created by Eggu:

Brook wants the Government to take an evidence-based approach and use this opportunity to build on the 2019 guidance so that it is a practical tool for teachers which enables them to provide the RSHE that children and young people want and need.

You can find out more, and pledge your support here: 

We’re also proudly sponsoring the Brook free Safeguarding Conference: ‘How RSHE safeguards our children’ on 14th September, 4:30 – 6pm. 

You can register for the Safeguarding session here

Why not take a look at our Award-winning Consent Course we created for Brook?

We’re exhibiting at the World of Learning on 10th & 11th October – we’d love to see you there.

We’ll be back at the World of Learning again this October, and this year we’ll be showcasing our brilliant new brand in person for the first time on Stand D60. Why not come and demo some of our latest award-winning developments in Elearning, video and animation?

Claim your free ticket, and come along to refresh your industry knowledge, meet new people in the industry and to pick up new digital learning hints, tips and skills. 

You can also book a free Digital Learning Review with our MD, Kat, where she’ll take a look at where you’re at now, and give personalised recommendations on how to get the best from your digital learning budget. Bring any challenges or questions with you, and benefit from Kat’s advice and experience.

About World of Learning

The World of Learning Exhibition and Conference is a one-stop-shop for L&D professionals looking for a complete blend of learning solutions and inspiration. 

The seminar programme is one of the most comprehensive and varied we’ve found, with free sessions covering everything from AI to learning culture. 

We’ve also found it to be the most welcoming and collaborative crowd too. It’s a great event! 

Last year, Kat our MD led a seminar with our client Brook, the sexual health and wellbeing charity. 

They discussed the free platform and suite of interactive elearning courses we created together, designed to support professionals teaching young people about sex and relationships. 

Brook’s investment in digital learning has not only successfully educated their users, but has equally had a positive impact in promoting the charity, building brand awareness and expanding their audience reach too. Helping drive change through elearning is the reason we get out of bed in the morning. 

Why not watch the seminar here!

Eggu – unveiling our new brand, built on creativity, collaboration, impact, and transformation

We proudly celebrated the birth of our new brand at the happiest of launch parties. Joined by our friends and colleagues, we raised a glass (or three) in celebration of our new identity at the fabulous Verdigris, nestled by the river in Tonbridge.

We were blown away by the amount of love in the room. We feel truly honoured to be surrounded by such a fantastic team, and to work with such amazing clients – we really do consider you to be our family.

Our new brand represents the values we live by; Creativity, Collaboration, Impact and Transformation.

We’re egg-stremely proud of our new name (yes, expect egg puns).

Huge thanks to Mooie Fee Photography for capturing some superb snaps and of course the fabulous 6rs for collaborating with us to design and develop this incredible new brand identity, that truly reflects the company we have become today.

Inspired by a sausage dog, and so much more…

Eggu began as an idea, sparked from our teeniest team member, Edgar (also goes by the names Eggs, Eggy). We were looking for something unique, recognisable and just a little bit quirky.

We literally went through hours, and hours of brainstorming and dead-ends, when Mark came up with the idea of Eggu (Edgar was sat on his lap at the time).

It ticked all the boxes, and puts out littlest family member front and centre of our brand, which is proudly a family company, run by husband and wife team Kat & Mark Baldwin.

With the hatching of Eggu, a new chapter has begun – one defined by creation, energy and motivation (forever egging on your learners!). We’re ready to shake up the world, are you with us?

Eggu is ready to push the boundaries, and create change

Let’s get cracking.