Digital accessibility in the Public Sector: statistics, trends and tips!

Accessibility is and has always been important, but 2020 has been a year that has really brought home to the Public Sector how vitally important accessibility really is. The ‘Channel Shift’ of council services, in particular, has soared, shifting from telephone and council drop-in centres to online council services. Digital is no longer the channel of choice - but in some cases, the only channel available. Most councils have conformed to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 as part of the legislation that came into play on the 23rd September, but is that enough and are councils in it for the long run?

Jadu and Silktide have joined forces to run a 1-hour webinar with Anne Jones, Web Officer at Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council to have an open discussion on Silktide’s latest index and to deep-dive into why councils need to keep accessibility up (especially right now) to ensure online services can be accessed by all, with tips on how.

You will take away from this 1-hour webinar:

- The latest results from the Silktide Accessibility Index including statistics and trends following the legislation being in play
- The most common accessibility issues that councils are facing right now and tips on how to solve them
- The best and most efficient ways to monitor and keep your website accessible especially when crisis hits to ensure those most vulnerable can access your website
- The importance of thinking of the end-user
- Some other generic tips on tools including PDFs and Accessibility Statements

We will spend the last 15-minutes answering any questions you might have or discuss any issues you may be facing.

Kathryn Halton of Pendle Borough Council, speaking on why accessibility cannot drop as a priority in July, said: “...service requests for March, April and May were up 137% compared to the same period last year, and the council had received 100 per cent more feedback from customers about what works and what doesn’t work on the website because they have been forced to go online.”