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Forum Home  →  Discussion  →  Other benefit issues  →  Thread

Welfare Benefit Explainer Videos

scarboroughcab
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Welfare Benefits, Scarborough CAB

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For work I had to do a few videos on welfare benefits - I don’t think it’s anything groundbreaking and it had to be kept as simple as possible which has led to some pretty big generalisations, but would like to know what you guys think (especially if you spot any glaring errors!)

Also - the more people that watch them the better it is for my stats, and if you fill in the feedback form that’s even better (if you do it nicely, obviously)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tv6DCrvZRKg&list=PLpCnVrGtiA9Qq1hN3X-aZ2QQeTdiucZph&index=1

Mike Hughes
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Senior welfare rights officer - Salford City Council Welfare Rights Service

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Sent it to my home email as work is stopping it after a few seconds.

Personally think advice work in general seriously underestimates the value of video and social networking.

Happy to feedback once I’ve viewed.

scarboroughcab
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Welfare Benefits, Scarborough CAB

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Thanks, got some good feedback so far - the videos are aimed more at claimants and generalist advisers than welfare benefits specialists - so it’s likely far too basic to be of any use to anyone here, but nice to know what you think. Not looking forward to doing the Universal Credit explainer video!

Mike Hughes
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Senior welfare rights officer - Salford City Council Welfare Rights Service

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Found them basic so I wouldn’t want to judge from a claimants perspective but I would say that the use of capitals was very off putting. It’s an accessibility thing. People think capitals give emphasis but what they actually do is remove visual cues and make stuff harder to read. As some of that was moving past at a fair old clip you’re not really giving people a chance to digest and I’m not sure there was enough substance there to make people want to have a second look.

I also thnk your message was confused. Are you helping people to help themselves or directing them to an advice agency? Doing both detracts somewhat.

Rehousing Advice.
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Homeless Unit - Southampton City Council

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I took them to be self help. I reckon they are pretty damn good at giving folks the “confidence” and basic info, to crack on, whilst being realistic in terms of the service they can expect…..

I agree with Mike about capitals, but on the other hand I liked the pace.


scarboroughcab
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Welfare Benefits, Scarborough CAB

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Mike Hughes - 01 March 2015 11:52 AM

Found them basic so I wouldn’t want to judge from a claimants perspective but I would say that the use of capitals was very off putting. It’s an accessibility thing. People think capitals give emphasis but what they actually do is remove visual cues and make stuff harder to read. As some of that was moving past at a fair old clip you’re not really giving people a chance to digest and I’m not sure there was enough substance there to make people want to have a second look.

I also thnk your message was confused. Are you helping people to help themselves or directing them to an advice agency? Doing both detracts somewhat.

Thanks, all taken on board from both of you. Capitals were just the standard type on the programme I was using - I didn’t realise they’d cause a problem to be honest but next time I’ll use a different font.

As for the message - the aim was to help people help themselves (and also to improve the knowledge of non-advice staff in some organisations). However, I knew that the videos were going to be basic and didn’t want to leave people high and dry - so I added the ‘finding welfare benefits advice’ video for people who still wanted professional advice.