How to build diversity into your awards entry form

Your awards entry form is an excellent tool for fostering diversity in your awards program. Through your submission process, you can promote and attract diversity into your awards program, opening it up to a broader audience and amplifying various voices and perspectives. 

But how can you do this through an entry form? Read below for our tips and best practices!

1. Communicate your diversity statement 

To effectively build diversity into your awards entry form, consider highlighting your diversity statement on your entry form. Make it clear that your awards program values diversity and is open to individuals of all groups, communities and backgrounds. 

Such a bold statement will pass a strong positive message; it will also have a welcoming effect on potential participants with concerns.   

2. Ensure accessibility and inclusivity

It can be very beneficial to prioritise accessibility and inclusivity when designing your awards entry form. Awards can be given to anyone, so it’s important to ensure your awards software is accessible to everyone. (Learn about accessibility in Award Force.) 

A popular way to make your entry form user-friendly is to use inclusive language. Avoid terms that may sound exclusive or discriminatory and use gender-neutral terms.  

If your entrants speak multiple languages, offer the form in their language as an option. 

To make your entry form accessible to people with disabilities, consider the following accessibility best practices:

• Include alt text for all elements on the page so screen readers can read them
• Use labels and placeholders for the various form fields 
• Provide clear indicators of whether a field is required or optional
• Use the appropriate input types and attributes for form fields such as text, number, date, email or even a checkbox

Use the guidelines set by the Americans with Disabilities Act and test the accessibility of the form with WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tools.       

3. Accept submissions in different formats

Your entry form can be as diverse as your entrants! To do this, you can design your entry form to seek diverse formats and submissions. Create your awards entry form to accept submissions in different formats. For example, in Award Force, you can request video and image attachments—ideal for more visual entrants. 

By requesting and accepting submission materials in diverse formats, your awards entry form can attract more submissions and give all the participants a chance to showcase their work in the best light. 

4. Collect demographic data, securely 

Collecting demographic data from your entrants can help support your equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives. You can easily collect this in your entry form and explain how you will use it to your entrants. For example, is it for data and statistics? Or will the information be used in any way with the selection process? Be upfront with your entrants to build trust.

You can also hide any demographic or identifiable information from your judges to keep your entrants anonymous in the assessment. 

5. Create multiple entry categories

In Award Force, it’s easy to divide your entrants into different entry categories. These various categories will cater to different aspects of achievements and accomplishments. It allows a wider range of participants to join the competition. 

They can submit their accomplishments in areas that match their specific interests, expertise and experience and compete against people in the same fields.

6. Divide the program into chapters             

It’s also possible to divide your entrants into chapters, which could be based on geographical regions. This allows you to track and market your awards to various regions and track entrants accordingly. If one region is getting more applicants than another, for example, you could shift your marketing strategy to attract more entrants as needed. 

Building diversity into your awards entry form is an innovative way to foster diversity in your awards program. Learn more about Award Force’s entry form builder— it’s chock-full of features that guarantee diversity.