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Australian Government & Accessibility
OZeWAI 1 December 2004
LaTrobe University, Melbourne
Jacqui Begbie, Strategic Directions & Analysis, Policy & Strategy Branch, Australian Government Information Management Office,
Department of Finance and Administration
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ICT in Australian Government
• Annual Australian Government expenditure in ICT approximately $4.3 billion
• ICT investment enables:– Better administration, better service
delivery – Better productivity, better public policy
• Over 900 .gov.au web domains
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AGIMO’s Role
…. to provide strategic advice to the federal government on the key factors driving the information economy and coordination of the application of new technologies to government administration, information and service provision.
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e-Government: Policy framework
• Investing for Growth statement, 1997 – All appropriate services online
• Government Online Strategy, 2000– Strategic priority 2 – Ensure the enablers are in place
included specific requirements for web resources to be accessible to the widest range of people, including those with disabilities, older Australians and users facing technical constraints.
• Better Services, Better Government Strategy, 2002– Ensure convenient access to government services
and information.
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Legislative Framework
• UN Convention on Rights of Disabled Persons (1981)
• Disability Discrimination Act 1992– Non discrimination in the administration of
Commonwealth Government laws and programs
• Various State & Territory acts – Anti discrimination, equal opportunity – Parallel power
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National Comparison
Government Policy Guidelines Compliance Level Monitor
Commonwealth Guide to Minimum Website Standards
WCAG – A Self monitored
New South Wales Providing Information services using the Internet
WCAG – AA Yes – annual quality audits
Victoria W-O-VG Website Guidelines
WCAG – A Self monitored
Queensland Information Standard 26 & Implementation Toolbox
WCAG – AA Yes – annual audits
South Australia Government Website Protocols
WCAG – A Self monitored
West Australia Guidelines for state Govt Websites & Guidelines for
Web Management
WCAG- A Unknown
ACT ACT Govt. Website Standards
WCAG – A Self monitored
NT NT Web Guide WCAG – A Unknown
Tasmania Tasmanian Govt. Web Publishing Standards
WCAG – A Self monitored
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AGIMO’s work ….
• Management of whole of government websites – www.australia.gov.au, www.fed.gov.au,
www.directory.gov.au, www.fedinfo.gov.au, www.gov.au, www.domainname.gov.au, www.publications.gov.au
• Development and publication of standards
• Education – Better Practice Checklists
• Australian Government Web Guide
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Australian Government Web Guide
• Australian Government Web Guide - gateway
• Clear precise information
• Discoverable resource
• Current, accurate
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Family & Community Services
• FaCS annual report is an example of best practice accessibility.
• NILS worked with FaCS and their developers to ensure that the report met the highest accessibility standard.
• First Australian Government annual report to meet WCAG V.1 AAA standard.
• Potential to use this as the template for all annual reports.
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Family & Community Services• Alternative text links for image
based links
• Summary attributes for layout tables
• Caption and header attributes for data tables
• Descriptive text equivalents for figures, charts and graphs
• Adjustable text sizes
• Consistent navigation themes
• Extensive style sheet presentation control
• Multiple browser testing.
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Australian Taxation Office
• ‘Listening to the Community’ initiative – Launched in March 2002 aimed to create an easier,
cheaper more personalised tax system.
• Simulation Centre - Brisbane– Opened in August 2003 – Explore opportunities in government for usability– Discuss strategies for designing & testing– Improve government service delivery through usability
– Established UCD network in government
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Observation room
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Australian Taxation Office
• “If you are vision impaired, e-tax 2004 includes software that will let you prepare your tax return and baby bonus claim electronically and lodge online”.
• ATO completed extensive work to ensure that e-tax is accessible for visually impaired people.
• System requirements include Internet Access, Windows 98, IE 5.5 or Netscape 4.75 and Jaws 4.0 or later or Window Eyes 4.5.
• Existing e-tax version was modified for use with Jaws and Window Eyes.
• As at 4th November - 940 people had lodged their tax using this system.
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Department of the Environment and Heritage
Website & Compliance Level A AA AAA HTML files
www.deh.gov.au
Environment & Heritage
100% 49% 29% 25,000
www.npi.gov.au
National Pollutant Inventory
100% 66% 42% 434
www.napswq.gov.au
Salinity & Water Quality
100% 74% 70% 243
www.nht.gov.au
National Heritage Trust
100% 73% 65% 1043
www.nrm.gov.au
National Resource Management
100% 80% 74% 343
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AusAid & Language translation
• Pilots of Vietnamese language
• Supporting the Australian Aid program in Vietnam
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Dept. Employment & Workplace Relations
• Useability test centre has identified innumerable benefits for the work of DEWR
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National Consultations• Discuss the role and responsibility of
government
• Collate information about state and territory policies, guidelines and intentions
• Consolidate a picture of complaints and key areas of complaint for government websites
• New technologies and assistive technologies
• Monitoring and management of website accessibility
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Common Themes
• Procurement – revision of procurement clauses to include the purchase of ‘certified’ accessible products and services
• Standardise – develop and implement new standards, including accessibility frameworks for mobile and emerging technologies, update guidelines and best practice examples
• Educate - share knowledge and raise awareness among key stakeholders about accessibility
• Universal Design – development of practices and tools that promote Universal Design principles
• Benchmark, Test, Monitor – setting targets, identifying opportunities and monitoring, testing and evaluation of accessibility progress
