Read time: 5 minutes 30 seconds
Launched on 16 May 2019 (Global Accessibility Awareness Day), the South Australian Government’s Online Accessibility Toolkit (accessibility.sa.gov.au) is a free publicly available online resource.
The toolkit is managed by the Office for Digital Government (a team within the Department of the Premier and Cabinet).
Our approach to online accessibility
Read how we improved our approach to online accessibility by working with Vision Australia (and many other organisations):
Video introduction:
The journey so far
To start, we conducted extensive research to identify leading international resources.
Next, we ran a targeted 3-month survey.
Survey reach and consultation
The survey reached over 2,000 people and was open to:
- South Australian Government staff
- over 600 members from the South Australian disability sector
- over 450 members of the South Australian Disability Engagement Group. This included people with lived experience of disability, family
members and their support networks. - 50 members from the Local Government Access and Inclusion Network
- visitors to the Developmental Educators Australia Inc. website
- visitors to the Purple Orange website.
During discovery, we also:
- listened to people with disability describe how they accessed online information
- visited assistive technology users in their own home
- consulted with families and support networks in the disability sector
- worked closely with people in government
- consulted with members of the public, private sector and not-for-profits.
This gave a deeper understanding of the:
- the human need behind inclusive design
- isolation and barriers people with disability face when trying to access online information
- need for extra guidelines and support to sit with the policy.
Key partners
Key partners during discovery included representatives from:
- South Australian Government
- Vision Australia Digital Access
- 18F accessibility team (US Government)
- Australian Government Digital Transformation Agency
- University of Melbourne
- Adelaide City Council
- Royal Society for the Blind South Australia (SA)
- Blind Citizens Australia Adelaide Branch (SA)
- SA DeafBlind National Board
- Department for Human Services (SA)
- New South Wales Office for Digital Government.
In December 2018 we developed our wireframe to accessibility.sa.gov.au. We:
- designed it to meet user need identified through the survey and consultation
- followed this by developing our first prototype
- based our prototype on the US Government's excellent 18F Accessibility for Teams.
Our prototype then changed in response to:
- feedback received
- alignment with South Australia's Disability Inclusion Act 2018
- alignment with Australian Government standards and resources.
Co-design approach
In co-designing accessibility.sa.gov.au, we worked with many organisations and individuals. Including:
- Vision Australia's Digital Access team
- 18F accessibility team (US Government)
- GOV.UK accessibility team (UK Government)
- Australian Government Digital Transformation Agency
- Blind Citizens Australia Adelaide Branch (SA)
- Plain English Campaign
- Australian cross-government communities of practice community. Reaching nearly 900 members from local, state and federal government in Australia.
- intopia
- Royal Society for the Blind (SA)
- over 600 members from the South Australian disability sector
- over 450 members of the South Australian Disability Engagement Group. This included people with lived experience of disability, family
members and their support networks. - 50 members from the Local Government Access and Inclusion Network
- South Australian community, including:
- people with disability
- people living in regional and remote areas
- older South Australian's
- people who did not speak English as their first language
- usability testers.
- SA DeafBlind National Board
- Disability Access and Inclusion Plan Committee
- over 57,339 registered YourSAy subscribers through our 'Online Accessibility Policy' YourSAy engagement
- social media campaign reaching 11,756 Facebook users
- Edu Net Solutions
- Adelaide City Council
- City of Onkaparinga Council
- Government Digital Experience Division team, Government of British Columbia (Canada)
- Carers SA
- Purple Orange
- Adelaide Hills Therapy Hub
- University of Melbourne
- New South Wales Office for Digital Government
- Information Access Group
- Livestock SA
- staff from across South Australian Government, in particular representatives from:
- Department of the Premier and Cabinet
- Department for Human Services
- Office for Ageing Well, Department for Health and Wellbeing
- Department of Industry and Skills
- Department for Education
- Equal Opportunity Commission
- Department for Child Protection
- Department for Primary Industries and Regions SA
- TAFE SA
- Education Standards Board
- iWorkForSA
- Housing SA
- Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure
- Health SA
- the ICT and Digital Steering Committee
- the Department of the Premier and Cabinet Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Committee.
2019 co-design highlights:
- every item of feedback reviewed from the co-design consultation
- 150 unique items of feedback included in the final version of the South Australian Government Online Accessibility Policy
- development of a community driven supporting resource (accessibility.sa.gov.au).
Attribution
- 18F Accessibility (US Government) CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
- GOV.UK Open Government Licence v3.0
- Australian Government Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International.
This toolkit is now available in constant ‘beta’.
This means we're seeking feedback, undertaking usability testing and checking accessibility.
In beta we repeat the following steps:
- analyse
- restructure
- rewrite
- design and build
- release
- get feedback
- improve.
Following these steps helps deliver a toolkit that meets user need and is robust.
Meeting accessibility standards
- We are always reviewing this website.
- This review includes meeting the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
- This work started in August 2019.
- Read more about our accessibility commitment.
Remote usability testing
Remote usability testing is another example of how we work to meet user need.
- Testers include people living in South Australia, interstate and overseas.
- During testing, we receive feedback on our content, language, structure and design.
- We placed importance on the feedback from people who did not speak English as their first language.
We analyse feedback, make changes quickly, retest and repeat.
By doing this, we:
- gain valuable insight into what works well
- make significant changes to what doesn't.
This type of testing also helps us identify future opportunities for improvement.
The South Australian Government Online Accessibility Policy is now supported by an easy read guide.
Identifying a need for easy read
In December 2018 we placed a draft version of our Online Accessibility Policy out for public consultation.
We also surveyed more than:
- 1000 state and local government staff
- 900 members from the Australian Government communities of practice.
Through this feedback we identified:
- That our draft policy was complex, difficult to understand and therefore implement.
- A need for simple, step-by-step 'how to' plain English guides to support the policy.
- That the policy itself needed to be presented in a different way to increase the chance of adoption.
The first phase of this work resulted in the Online Accessibility Toolkit being launched with the policy on 16 May 2019.
You can read more about the launch: State Government strengthens its commitment to providing accessible digital services for all South Australians (Minister Lensink Media Release)
For phase 2, we researched various approaches designed to make the policy easier to understand.
This research led us to the broad benefits of easy read.
What is easy read?
Early on we identified that if the Online Accessibility Policy could be presented in easy read, it had the potential to benefit everyone.
This is because information is made easier to understand by:
- using plain-language
- using short sentences
- telling people exactly what they need to know.
Find out more about easy read in our introduction to easy read.
Consultation reach
A draft easy read guide to our Online Accessibility Policy was developed in partnership with Information Access Group.
We also sought feedback from:
- Vision Australia.
- Australian cross-government communities of practice community. Reaching nearly 900 members from local, state and federal government in Australia.
- UK Government accessibility group. Reaching all levels of government in the UK.
- Accessibility Design Team, Department for Work and Pensions (UK Government).
- Canadian Government.
- Over 450 members of the South Australian Disability Engagement Group. This includes people with lived experience of disability, family members and their support networks.
- Over 150 members of the South Australian 'digital inclusion and A11y accessibility' meetup group.
- Office for Ageing Well, Department for Health and Wellbeing.
- Government Digital Experience Division team, Government of British Columbia (Canada).
- Blind Citizens Australia (SA)
- Royal Society for the Blind (SA).
Every item of feedback reviewed from the consultation and improvements made.
Feedback
Feedback was overwhelmingly positive from all levels of government and the community.
Through our consultation we learnt people preferred easy read compared to our traditional policy format.
We also identified:
- broader benefits for the community
- how government policy design can be improved.
Compare our traditional policy to easy read
- Our traditional policy format - Hemingway Editor readability grade 13
- Easy read guide of our policy, using pictures to support meaning of words - Hemingway Editor readability grade 5
- Easy read plain text guide of our policy, with images removed - Hemingway Editor readability grade 5.
We also have a downloadable version: easy read guide using pictures to support words (PDF, 5.3 MB).
Reusable HTML/web page solution
The Office for Digital Government has developed an easy read HTML/web page template.
This was developed through working with:
- Information Access Group
- Accessibility Design Team, Department for Work and Pensions (UK Government)
- Vision Australia.
The solution can now be used by all South Australian Government agencies using Website Design System.
Tell us what you think, complete our feedback form:
- contribute by telling us what you'd like to see included in the toolkit
- tell us what training you need (and how you want it delivered)
- tell us if something is wrong or out of date.
You can also:
- email us: onlineaccessibility@sa.gov.au
- phone: +61 (8) 8226 3500.
- If you are deaf, or have a hearing or speech impairment, please contact us through:
- National Relay Service (Speak and Listen) call 1300 555 727
- National Relay Service (TTY users) call 133 677
- Internet Relay users can connect to the National Relay Service.
News, events and recognition
2020
- Digital Access marks a 20-year vision for accessibility (Vision Australia) - South Australian Government's 'world leading' approach referenced
- First anniversary of SA accessibility policy (Edu Net Solutions).
2019
- Awards recognise outstanding achievements in access and inclusion in 2019 (Australian Network on Disability)
- Announcing the winners of the first ever Australian Access Awards (Centre for Accessibility)
- More finalists announced for the 2019 Human Rights Awards (Australian Human Rights Commission)
- Free toolkit helps organisations improve online accessibility (Australian Network on Disability)
- SA begins shift to accessible websites (The Mandarin)
- Podcast overview of online accessibility in Australia and internationally: Neil King and Chris Edwards at Vision Australia discuss South Australia's approach (43-minute mark)
- Free toolkit helps improve online accessibility (Mirage news)
- On the radio: FIVEaa Adelaide (Royal Society for the Blind SA and South Australian Government interview)
- On the radio: Nova 919 Adelaide (accessibility.sa.gov.au promotion)
- Online toolkit and policy to boost digital accessibility (Disability Support Guide)
- Free digital accessibility toolkit for (not for profits) NFPs to increase social inclusion (Leep)
- South Australia ensures more accessible digital platforms for all (OpenGov Asia)
- SA Government launching state online accessibility policy (iTWire)
- State Government strengthens its commitment to providing accessible digital services for all South Australians (Minister Lensink).
The South Australian 'digital inclusion and A11y accessibility' meetups bring people together to:
- explore best practice through a range of expert speakers
- share ideas
- show their work
- solve problems
- build networks and get support.
Everyone is welcome.
You don't have to work for federal, state or local government, or work on government projects.
Request to join our 'digital inclusion and A11y accessibility' email distribution list. Email onlineaccessibility@sa.gov.au.
Past events
Not sure what to expect? Have a look at our past events:
- 2019: Adelaide A11y #3 - International Day of People with Disability with Microsoft and Vision Australia
- 2019: YourSAy digital inclusion workshops
- 2019: Adelaide A11y #2 - plain language and Easy Read
- 2019: Adelaide A11y #1 - introduction and embedding accessibility within your organisation
- 2018: Editors SA workshop (Edu Net Solutions).