Accessibility is a fundamental requirement for local authorities since changes in legislation in 2018. According to the government, around a third of disabled people in the UK experience difficulties in accessing public, commercial and leisure goods and services.
DEF has been committed to supporting our customers with accessibility legislations change from the outset, working closely with local authorities to develop their websites in line with the new requirements. We've always been passionate about doing everything right first time and with the best possible outcome for our customers.
The legislation was created to help make sure online public services are accessible to all users, including people with disabilities. The compliance date for mobile applications has been set for the 23rd June this year, so there has been a call to arms for local authorities to adhere to these new changes in legislation.
However, it's been a steep learning curve for us and there have been a few unexpected challenges along the way. Quite early on, we found a few areas where the tools we were using to test our software's accessibility weren't quite giving us all the information we needed. Some of the legislation guidelines we needed to follow weren't aspects that a computer can tell you if it works, a human has to.
For example, if you're using a form and it takes you to a cookie page, asking you to say 'yes' or 'no' before you can continue using the site, a computer can't tell you why this is an issue for someone who may take longer to navigate through a website. It is however clear for anyone else to see that this would become very frustrating if you're filling out a form. We needed that 'human' feedback as well to ensure we were hitting the mark.
Interestingly, the process of re-designing our software to become more accessible has thrown up other ideas of how we can deliver specific processes better for our customers too. For example, it has improved our ability and speed to manage our online registers. It has also helped our focus on streamlining website accessibility - so rather than taking six clicks to action something, it now only takes one click for all members of the public.
Until now, we've been focusing more on improving citizens accessibility using DEF's MasterGov tools on a council's website. However, we will also be adapting our software for council employees to support the accessibility needs of employees as well; another really important requirement of the legislation for local authorities.
Our ultimate goal is for any DEF product to be accessible for anyone, at any time. This could even mean supporting roles that previously weren't an option for people with accessibility needs in local government IT. With MasterGov, we want to help to open up pathways in the software to improve the experience for council employees whatever their requirements. Even if we can make some small difference in a few people's lives, we've done the job.
If you'd like to find out more about how DEF can help you with accessibility, please email us on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..