5. Make sure everyone can use the service

This guidance will help you apply standard point 5 (opens in new tab).

Everyone is responsible for meeting the Service Standard. This standard point is most relevant to:

Content Designers Interaction Designers Service Designers User Researchers

Summary

Make sure your service can be used by people with different physical, mental, social, cultural or learning needs, whether it’s for the public, for staff working in DfE or across the education sector.

Champion the needs of all users and include them as part of the design and iterative process. Consider where these users are on the digital inclusion scale (opens in new tab).

Why it’s important

Everyone who works on DfE digital services has a role to play in making them accessible and inclusive.

WarningIf your service isn’t accessible to everyone who needs it, you may be breaking the 2010 Equality Act (opens in new tab)

Accessibility regulations say that public sector websites must meet accessibility standards and publish an accessibility statement. You can find out more about the regulations on GOV.UK (opens in new tab)

How to meet this standard in every phase

You’ll be assessed on what you’ve done to meet this standard at service assessments. However, even if the service you are working on is not being assessed, it’s good practice to consider how you’ll meet this standard point.

In discovery

Things to consider:

time and money allocated for accessibility testing and audits at future phases
what your approach to recruiting users with access needs will be
evidence of talking to people who use assistive technology
user research with people with access needs
the context of your users environment
non-digital parts of the service, for example letters and phone calls
a content strategy based on user needs and policy intent
a plan for things you might test at alpha (opens in new tab)

Things to avoid at discovery

overlooking a potentially key user group
research findings about user preference not user behaviour
no user research or limited research has taken place
no hypotheses for alpha
user needs that describe solutions or business requirements

In alpha

Things to consider:

testing the user journey with users
what your approach to recruiting users with access needs will be
exploring the support model, for example, what is the offline user journey? Is there a telephne number or email address for service support?
starting accessibility testing
inclusive design (opens in new tab) considering how age, gender and culture might impact the service
a plan for accessibility testing at beta
designing and testing content with users of the service
the context of your users environment when they might be using the service, for example, a noisy classroom, slow internet connection, and what devices they are using
how the service fits into wider DfE services
testing how assistive digital support will work
research with users across the digital inclusion scale
content written in plain English

Things to avoid at alpha

not enough testing of hypotheses about how people will use the service
not testing different ways of delivering content

In beta and live

Things to consider:

continual testing with users with access needs
what your approach to recruiting users with access needs will be
the context of your users environment when they might be using the service, for example, a noisy classroom, slow internet connection, and what devices they are using
how you’ve tested - and continue to test - with users who need assistive digital support (opens in new tab)
an accessibility audit and any issues fixed, this is a mandatory requirement
how the service meets the latest accessibility standards
an accessibility statement that explains how accessible the service is. This needs to be published when the service moves into public beta
the service continues to be iterated based on insights from user research
any changes are tested to make sure they meet accessibility requirements
non-digital or off-line processes and their impact or relationship to the service

Things to avoid at beta and live

not enough people with access needs invited to use the private beta
not having or testing an assisted digital route
not enough research to understand how users with access needs might interact with the service
accessibility testing being an afterthought

Profession specific guidance

Each DDaT profession in DfE has their own community and guidance.

DfE User Research

DfE Design

DfE Architecture

DfE Technical Guidance

This page was last reviewed on 8 September 2022.