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Office of Digital Services

Department

Accessibility and Inclusion

Audits public services against the Commonwealth accessibility requirements and runs the assisted digital route for people who cannot use a service online.

Led by Tomas Okonjo-Reid, Director of Accessibility and Inclusion

What this directorate does

Accessibility and Inclusion holds the rest of the Commonwealth to the accessibility requirements, and holds the Office to them too. The directorate runs an audit programme covering every service on Office platforms, with testing by people who use assistive technology daily rather than by automated tools alone.

It also operates the assisted digital service. Around one in eleven people who need a public service cannot complete it online, for reasons that have nothing to do with the quality of the interface. The directorate makes sure there is always another way through.

Responsibilities

  • Auditing services against the Commonwealth accessibility requirements
  • Operating the assisted digital telephone and appointment service
  • Publishing accessibility statements and outstanding issues
  • Maintaining the accessibility sections of the Service Standard
  • Running the Commonwealth accessibility user research panel

Services run by this directorate

  • Request an accessibility audit

    Have your service tested against the Commonwealth accessibility requirements by people who use assistive technology every day.

Guidance maintained by this directorate

  • Meeting accessibility requirements

    What a Commonwealth public service must do to be usable by disabled people, how it is tested, and what to publish when something is not yet fixed.

  • Writing for public services

    How to write service content people understand first time, including the Commonwealth's rules on terminology, tone, and reading level.