Government websites are failing those with disabilities
By Gary MacFarlane, Accessibility Specialist
Accessibility
Websites offer people with disabilities freedoms and opportunities that would have been impossible only a few years ago. But only if they’re designed as accessible-first, says Gary McFarlane.
Life in the last few years has become more digital than we ever thought possible. Within this great technological revolution we can see the benefits to most people. Technology offers people with disabilities freedoms and opportunities that would have been impossible only a few years ago. Especially the ability to be able to access and use their services online.
This includes public services provided by the Government: a suite of websites and portals used by every single person during their lives for making applications, registrations, payment and much more. Yet more needs to be done to make these fully accessible.
The problem with Government websites
One major gripe, as someone with a disability, is the lack of consistency, intelligence and empathy that the public services demonstrate. There’s a lack of a joined-up user experience that acknowledges my disability.
The Gov.uk website homepage is accessible (Scoring 100% in Google’s Lighthouse, though many issues are still being picked on on Wave ) and usable in a very functional way. My problem comes from the fact everything looks the same but then spins off to different sections, departments and services. You would think everything on the government websites are interconnected and easy to use in an accessible, consistent and simple process. Unfortunately, that’s not the case.
An accessible website must be more than just the front page being accessible. It must be consistent through the entire site, including forms and downloads.
Forms – all we want is some consistency!
It’s very difficult to navigate different forms and this is made more confusing by forms taking different formats. Handwritten forms are impossible for me and some formats will let you complete a form but still requires a form to be printed and signed. I don’t have a printer and scanning or taking photos of documents is difficult for me too. Other problems include:
Lack of a designated number or email offering support
Confused and inconsistent help guidance
Poor customer experience and barriers that limit people with disabilities getting things done and using public services themselves.
My experience setting up a company with Companies House
One example is Companies House, where you go to set up companies or Community Interest Companies (CIC). I waited several years for them to inform me finally in 2020 that it’s now fully accessible.
Prior to this, it was only possible to set up a CIC with paper forms using pen. I find this very hard, so it’s not a practical option for me - so I waited for the online service. After finally completing the form, one last item remained: the signature on the form. The document hadn’t been designed for this to be easily pasted in.
After days of trying to find a way to solve this and many unsuccessful attempts to contact Companies House, I proceeded to upload the unsigned PDF and with supporting documents.
After four days not hearing anything I received a rejection to my application. They also charged me £27, returning the fee seven days later. The reason given was failure to supply a signature on the form.
I emailed and asked someone to call me. Two days later someone finally did. I was told rules are rules - they need a signed signature regardless of disability.
This was all completely unnecessary. If only accessibility had been embedded from day one, the signature issue could easily have been resolved. This would make a huge difference to so many people.
Design as accessible first
Technology offers people with disabilities better equality of opportunity in life – but only if it’s designed as accessible-first.
Many organizations say they respect disability equality - but they fail to check the end-to-end service with disabled people.
People with disabilities are protected by disability equality duties for service providers. The Equality Act 2010 provides a legal framework to protect the rights of individuals and advance equality of opportunity for all. It provides Britain with a discrimination law, which protects individuals from unfair treatment and promotes a fair and more equal society. Within the Equality Act 2010 there are more stringent equality of opportunity required of public bodies.
People with disabilities have a protection known as the ‘reasonable adjustments duty’. This was first introduced under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, but after all these years it is still unknown by people with disabilities who are unaware they can request a 'reasonable adjustment' (change) to remove or reduce the effect of an obstacle in order to access and use a service such as a Government public service on .Gov.uk.
The Government mustn’t ignore the needs of disabled people and must, where necessary, make reasonable adjustments to the way they operate. This is a method that could offer people with disabilities better access to online Government service but, unfortunately, users are unaware of it. This was also echoed by a House of Lords report, ‘The Equality Act 2010: the impact on disabled people’. This specifically mentions ‘reasonable adjustments’, outlining five key areas for improvement and also reminding us that it is reasonable for the Government to discharge its duties for the benefit of people with disabilities.
We understand the Government can’t do this in isolation. It must reach out in a cross-departmental, joined up way to find solutions. An access-first approach would ensure disabled peoples’ needs for reasonable adjustment are being met, and that online services are inclusive public services.
Get people with disabilities involved from start to finish
Correctly anticipating disabled users’ needs and providing different options can make a huge difference in user experience. Such as having a feature to upload a digital signature separately when signing.
I would recommend disabled people be involved from day one of any online service, so it’s accessible in true sense of the word and creates a seamless end-to-end service for everybody.
Co-produced services, where accessibility and usability are identified at planning stage, is a MUST. Digitalization and accessibility can sit hand in hand and transform the lives of people with disabilities if services are designed and made accessible.
Things are much better now than when I was a child - but equality of opportunity is still to be achieved. If we’re not careful, technology could leave disabled people behind.
Gary MacFarlane - Accessibility Specialist