CDPS launches guide to accessible digital services

The Centre for Digital Public Services (CDPS) has released a new guide, Access for All, aimed at helping public bodies in Wales design digital services that work for everyone. The book focuses on practical ways to make online services inclusive, drawing on lived experiences, research, and global best practice.

Written by Joanna Goodwin, Head of User Centred Design at CDPS, and Dr Fernando Loizides, Director of the Data Science Academy at Cardiff University, Access for All sets out a clear vision for digital public services that are usable by everyone, regardless of ability, language, or circumstance.

The guide responds to findings from recent CDPS research into digital accessibility in Wales. While examples of good practice exist, the research uncovered persistent challenges, including unclear enforcement of accessibility standards, limited in-house expertise, and accessibility barriers in third-party supplier products.

Derek Walker, Future Generations Commissioner for Wales, writes in the foreword: “Public services that are neither accessible nor inclusive cannot be called ‘public’. Public services need to be available to all of us.”

Through case studies and personal testimonies, the book highlights the human impact of inaccessible services. One contributor, who lost his sight in 2009, describes the barriers he faced trying to use a council app promoted as “accessible”: “With impairments, you’re investing double, sometimes triple, the time to do the same task as someone else – if you can complete it at all.”

Another contributor, a neurodivergent user, emphasises that accessibility extends beyond physical impairments: “Cognitive accessibility is just as critical… For me, a truly inclusive digital world would be one where I don’t have to struggle to find clarity, where accessibility isn’t an afterthought and where digital tools empower rather than exhaust.”

Goodwin explains: “Behind every product, every service, and every policy, there are real people affected by the decisions we make. The stories in our book challenge us to think differently, to listen more closely, and to design with empathy. When we do that, something remarkable happens.”

The guide offers step-by-step advice, drawing on international best practice and the principles of the Well-being of Future Generations Act. It aims to equip public service teams with the knowledge and tools to embed inclusivity from the very start of service design.

Access for All was formally launched at the National Eisteddfod in Wrexham, in partnership with Cardiff University, with contributions from senior public service leaders, accessibility advocates, and people with lived experience.

The book is available to purchase, with a free e-book version to be released shortly.

(Photo credits: Aled Llywelyn)