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Re: UK.gov snubs blind, disabled and pensioners

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From: Steve Green
Date: May 1, 2013 1:23PM

The problem with the Government Gateway is that such prioritisation is challenging. Even a relatively lightly-used application might have tens or hundreds of thousands of users. The project has been going more than a decade with hundreds of developers, and some technologies (such as XHTML) have come and gone during the life of the project. There are also different product owners for different parts of the website, so it's not as easy as one person taking a look at the whole thing and deciding what to do about it.


-----Original Message-----
From: <EMAIL REMOVED> [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Heidi Jungel
Sent: 01 May 2013 20:00
To: WebAIM Discussion List; <EMAIL REMOVED>
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] UK.gov snubs blind, disabled and pensioners

I am sure it is a colossal project and I think that steers departments away for updates. I know I ran into this with a large project a while back ago.
My advice is always, start with the most exposed or used pages/applications. Then, plan the rest out piece by piece (for those familiar with Agile, put these in backlog so that it can be addressed for each iteration/sprint). The challenge is always working on the latest updates and ensuring that there is regression testing for QA.

I agree that having a government site (UK or otherwise) neglect such a task is ridiculous, but I have to wonder why they are "snubbing" it. Are their plans for updates (especially for something since 2005)- or as this page suggested, there is a separate website used that is more up to date.
They should at least link to the updated site or get rid of the old.



On 5/1/13 11:16 AM, "Steve Green" < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

>We have been providing accessibility testing and consultancy for the
>Government Gateway project on and off for several years and are in the
>middle of a 3-month engagement right now. The Government are taking it
>seriously but it is a colossal project and it is difficult enough to
>get the new stuff up to a high standard let alone deal with the legacy
>content and applications.
>
>I should say that the offending application is nothing to do with us!
>
>Steve Green
>Managing Director
>Test Partners Ltd
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: <EMAIL REMOVED>
>[mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Léonie
>Watson
>Sent: 01 May 2013 18:56
>To: 'WebAIM Discussion List'
>Subject: Re: [WebAIM] UK.gov snubs blind, disabled and pensioners
>
>Sarah Bourne wrote:
>"While I agree wholeheartedly that it's a travesty that applications
>like this ever saw the light of day, I think we need to be fair to UK.gov.
>They did not build this app - that was done long, long before the
>UK.gov project was started - they just have not fixed it yet. In this
>case, the "fix"
>would have to be a total replacement. I'm sure they have a long list of
>old applications that need attention."
>
>Since Gov.UK went live six months ago, 24 central government
>departments, the PM's office and the Deputy PM's office, and all UK
>embassies around the world have become part of the new platform. In the
>process we've published
>50,000 pages of content (much of it rewritten for better readability),
>discarded 116,000 pages of content and files, redirected 275,000 URLs
>to the new site, and closed 222 sub-domains [1].
>
>With a handful of exceptions [2], the remaining 300 agencies and public
>bodies will be moved to the new platform over the next 12 months or so.
>
>The aim is for government services to meet the new Digital By Default
>Service Standard by April 2014 [3]. The Gov.UK design principles make
>inclusive design a core expectation [4], and the service design manual
>has information on accessibility, assisted digital, alternative
>formats, testing with disabled people and more [5].
>
>Which is a roundabout way of agreeing with you Sarah. It was a travesty
>that websites like this ever appeared, but we're working on making it
>better. In public sector terms Gov.UK has moved at warp speed, with the
>alpha, beta and live stages completing on time and on budget. Even so,
>it's going to take a little while yet for the transformation to
>complete, and even then there'll be plenty more to do :)
>
>
>Léonie.
>
>[1]
>http://digital.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/2013/04/30/24-departments-later/
>[2] http://digital.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/2012/12/11/exemptions/
>[3] https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/digital-by-default
>[4] http://www.gov.uk/designprinciples
>[5] https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/browse
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: <EMAIL REMOVED>
>[mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Bourne,
>Sarah
>(ITD)
>Sent: 01 May 2013 14:55
>To: WebAIM Discussion List
>Subject: Re: [WebAIM] UK.gov snubs blind, disabled and pensioners
>
>While I agree wholeheartedly that it's a travesty that applications
>like this ever saw the light of day, I think we need to be fair to UK.gov.
>They did not build this app - that was done long, long before the
>UK.gov project was started - they just have not fixed it yet. In this
>case, the "fix"
>would have to be a total replacement. I'm sure they have a long list of
>old applications that need attention.
>
>sb
>Sarah E. Bourne
>Director of Assistive Technology &
>Mass.Gov Chief Technology Strategist
>Information Technology Division
>Commonwealth of Massachusetts
>1 Ashburton Pl. rm 1601 Boston MA 02108
>617-626-4502
> <EMAIL REMOVED>
>http://www.mass.gov/itd
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: <EMAIL REMOVED>
>[mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Kevin White
>Sent: Tuesday, April 30, 2013 12:04 PM
>To: WebAIM Discussion List
>Subject: Re: [WebAIM] UK.gov snubs blind, disabled and pensioners
>
>Yup, and the UK government aims for a high level of inclusivity. I fail
>to see how this nonsense isn't subjected to a serious level of wrist
>slapping.
>
>Kevin
>
>On 30 Apr 2013, at 16:43, Angela French < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>
>> You all may find this of interest:
>> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/04/30/universal_credit_dwp_browser_
>> c
>> ompatibility_snafu/
>>
>> I thought the UK had strict accessibility laws?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Angela French
>> Internet Specialist
>> State Board for Community and Technical Colleges
>> 360-704-4316
>> <EMAIL REMOVED>
>> http://www.checkoutacollege.com/
>>
>> >> >> list messages to <EMAIL REMOVED>
>
>>>messages to <EMAIL REMOVED>
>>>messages to <EMAIL REMOVED>
>
>
>>>messages to <EMAIL REMOVED>
>


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