At the end of July, the Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) released a Digital Experience Policy (DX Policy). It requires Federal Government agencies to make their digital offerings more inclusive. Collectively, the DX Policy and associated standards are designed to improve the experience for people and business interacting digitally with government information and services.
The DX Policy comes into effect from January 2025 and applies to both Corporate and Non-Corporate Commonwealth Entities. This means it applies to government business like Australia Post and CSIRO as well as all departments and agencies – a welcome change.
The DX Policy applies to both informational and transactional services. It requires agencies to:
- Design and deliver services that are user-friendly, inclusive, adaptable, and measurable.
- Consider existing digital access points when developing a new digital service in consultation with the DTA.
- Design and build new digital services to be able to integrate with primary digital access points such as myGov (where appropriate).
These requirements should make it easier to navigate the labyrinth of government information and services. This includes websites, web apps, online portals, and mobile apps. The DX Policy also applies to staff facing services.
I wrote in February about the Digital Service Standard (DSS) upgrade. The DSS, which now falls under the DX Policy, has 3 new sibling standards:
- Digital Inclusion Standard – aims to ensure services are designed to be inclusive, leaving no one behind
- Digital Access Standard – aims to improve service discoverability and ease of access points for all users
- Digital Performance Standard – sets criteria for monitoring and reporting on the performance of digital services
There is also a Compliance and Reporting Framework that establishes the reporting thresholds and compliance requirements. It’s good to see some reporting being introduced, although it’s not clear how agencies will be held accountable.
The most important criterion for accessibility and inclusion in the DSS is #3, ‘leave no one behind’. This is picked up further in the Digital Inclusion Standard with 5 criteria:
- Embrace diversity
- Motivate digital use
- Protect users
- Make it accessible
- Provide flexibility and choice
Criterion 1 suggests conducting usability testing with diverse user groups and involving them throughout the design and delivery process.
Criterion 2 suggests addressing barriers and concerns, especially for financial of health-related issues, along with only asking for information once.
Criterion 3 suggests mitigating risk and building trust in design.
Criterion 4 suggests making content accessible (with a nod to WCAG) and talks about technology compatibility with assistive technologies users might be relying on. It also talks about accessibility in procurement to ensure the proposed solution can be used by everybody.
Criterion 5 suggests designing for different devices and preferred settings along with being considerate of the time required to complete a task. It also suggests ensuring a consistent look and feel across all channels, including websites, mobile apps, and in-person interactions.
The Digital Access Standard requires agencies to consider how people already access services and to maximise discoverability of a service, and the context in which they might access it. Existing services should be built on in preference to building something new.
The Digital Performance Standard requires agencies to establish key performance indicators and to implement a performance monitoring approach that focuses on the end-user experience. Agencies also need to assess the user’s journey across different channels, aiming to make the whole service smoother.
The accompanying Digital Experience Toolkit has lots of good advice across aspects of service design and delivery, and user research, including understanding the user experience from start to finish. This includes understanding that different users go through similar user journeys but may have completely different experiences and to concentrate on user needs not government needs. It also requires agencies to iterate and improve a service until its retirement.
Overall, this new DX Policy, and the new standards that complement the existing Digital Service Standard, should lead to considerable improvements over time to how we all interact with the Federal Government. While we will all benefit, people with disability, along with people from non-English speaking backgrounds or from other cultures, should see many improvements as adoption progresses.
If you’re seeking assistance to address the ‘embrace diversity’ and ‘make it accessible’ criteria from the DX Policy, Intopia is here to help. We can assist with usability testing, training, and digital accessibility. Get in touch with our friendly and experienced team. We’ll help you address inclusion and accessibility with confidence.
