In this article, Piya discusses the importance of creating government services that are accessible to everyone. Government accessibility standards exist to ensure that a wide range of people can use government services on both web and mobile applications. Importantly, accessibility is a shared responsibility, and Piya lists resources that offer guidance on integrating accessibility into the development of services.
Overview:
GOV.UK requirements
Meeting WCAG 2.2
Testing with assistive technology
User research with disabled people
Accessibility statements
GOV.UK design system
DWP resource
GOV.UK requirements
The government accessibility requirements state that all services must meet the following criteria to ensure that all legal requirements regarding public sector websites and mobile applications are met:
Meet level AA of the WCAG 2.2 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) at a minimum
Work on the most commonly used assistive technologies - including screen magnifiers, screen readers and speech recognition tools
Include disabled people in user research (including cognitive, motor, situational, visual and auditory impairments)
Have an accessibility statement that explains how accessible the service is (published when the service moves to public beta)
Reaching these requirements ensures that services meet the legal requirements as stated by Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018. In addition, we can ensure that we are creating more inclusive digital services for users with diverse needs.
Meeting WCAG 2.2
WCAG 2.2 is based on 4 principles, that emphasise the need to think about the different ways that people interact with digital content:
perceivable: recognising and using the service with senses that are available to the user.
operable: finding and using content, regardless of how a user chooses to access it.
understandable: understanding content and how the service works.
robust: content that can be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of user agents.
For example, users might use a keyboard instead of a mouse or rely on a screen reader to have content spoken aloud.
The WCAG 2.2 principles apply to all aspects of your service (including code, content and interactions), which means all members of your team need to understand and consider them. It is important to conduct regular accessibility testing using a range of automated and manual tools as early as possible to ensure your design, code, and content meet WCAG 2.2 AA requirements (all A and AA criteria).
Testing with assistive technology
To meet the government service standard, testing should be done across the following assistive technologies and browsers throughout development, ensuring that the most commonly used assistive technologies are tested and work on the service before moving to public beta:
JAWS (screen reader) on Chrome or Edge
NVDA (screen reader) on Chrome, Firefox or Edge
VoiceOver (screen reader) on Safari
TalkBack (mobile screen reader) on Chrome
Windows magnifier or Apple Zoom (screen magnifiers)
Dragon (speech recognition tool) on Chrome
Source: Digital Accessibility Centre (DAC) https://digitalaccessibilitycentre.org/usertesting.html
It is a shared responsibility to make sure services are compatible with commonly used assistive technologies as testing across these combinations should be done throughout all stages of development; when planning new features, when designing and building new features, and testing. For more information on how to test with assistive technology, see testing with assistive technologies.
User research with disabled people
Inclusive user research is essential for creating user-centred services that meet the needs of all users, including those with disabilities and diverse backgrounds. By involving a varied group of participants early on, teams can identify and address usability and accessibility barriers, enhancing the design, functionality, and content to benefit everyone.
This approach encourages continuous improvement, ensuring government services evolve with users' needs. Ultimately, inclusive user research builds trust by showing a commitment to accessibility, making services more usable and welcoming for a broader audience.
Accessibility statements
Accessibility statements are required to communicate how accessible a service is. This includes stating the WCAG compliance level, explaining where the service has failed to meet guidelines (and a roadmap of when this will be fixed), contact information and how to report accessibility issues. Government services should follow a standard accessibility statement format to maintain consistency.
GOV.UK Design System (GDS)
The GOV.UK design system (GDS) has many reusable components that are utilised across government services. Each component shows an example, an option to view the details on how to implement the component, as well as research regarding the component's usability and what kind of issues users have faced.
Any known accessibility issues are also highlighted and based on this research, some components are labelled ‘experimental’ as some users may still experience issues navigating them. Services must proceed with caution when adopting these components, and carry out rigorous manual, assistive technology and user testing to ensure that the implementation is accessible and WCAG guidelines are met.
Source: Government Design System (GDS) details component - https://design-system.service.gov.uk/components/details/
Summary
Overall, government services must ensure they are creating services that are regularly tested and work with users who have a range of access needs or assistive technology requirements including:
Reviewing, understanding, and meeting GOV.UK and WCAG 2.2 standards
Implementing accessible components that can be accessed by assistive technology
Ensuring accessibility is the whole team’s responsibility when developing a service
Regularly testing with users with disabilities
Providing an accessibility statement to inform users where the service does and does not meet accessibility guidelines
Accessibility should be considered from the start as retrofitting costs more time and resources, and results in your users not being able to use your service.
DWP resource:
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) accessibility manual is a great resource for guidance on testing, accessibility best practices throughout service development and details on how each member of the team can integrate accessibility.
Source: GOV.UK - Accessibility in Government - https://accessibility.blog.gov.uk/2021/05/27/why-weve-created-an-accessibility-manual-and-how-you-can-help-shape-it/
Contact information
If you have any questions about our accessibility services or you want to find out more about other services we provide at Solirius, please get in touch.
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