Guidance by role

Content designers

How content designers can create accessible and inclusive content at every stage of service delivery.

Content designers help ensure DfE services are accessible, inclusive and easy to understand through clear, user-centred content.

Clear, well-structured content helps everyone use DfE services. Our users include:

In discovery

You should:

start to plan a content strategy that focuses on user needs and policy intent
make accessibility an integral part of the strategy, for example, research user language, and how you will make content clear
review guidance for Service Standard 5: Make sure everyone can use the service

You should:

explore any offline user journeys and whether there is a phone number or email address for service support
try to understand how this may be part of a wider journey that may involve content from other organisations, or users may use other services and products, as part of the journey
design in an inclusive way, using the universal design principles
consider how disability, age, gender and culture might impact the service - you could use HMRC's accessibility personas
use the How many people tool and share data with stakeholders
share the Plain language standard with stakeholders, if necessary, to support your work
write content in plain English
use the language of your users
test different ways to deliver content, for example, use a screen reader to make sure people can perceive content in multiple ways
organise content crits to get feedback - the more content is reviewed, the more opportunities to identify accessibility issues
consider how the service fits with wider DfE services for a consistent user experiences across services
test the name of your service to ensure it reflects what the service does and uses user language

You should:

continue to test content to check it's accessible and inclusive
continue to test with users with access needs
ensure any non-digital documentation is accessible, for example, printed letters
make sure page titles and headings are unique and make sense
check URLs are clear and readable
write descriptive, unique text for links
ensure headings follow the correct structure
consider whether visuals, for example diagrams and images, need text or an alternative version on the same page
write descriptive and understandable error messages
review the accessibility audit with your team and action any content-related issues
help your team create an accessibility statement, using the relevant statements template

You should:

continue to iterate your service based on research and data insights
test content changes to make sure they meet accessibility requirements
monitor and consider offline processes and their impact or relationship to the journey
when content-related issues are fixed, ensure the accessibility statement is updated

This content was pair written with the DfE content design community.