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NSW Government
Digital NSW

Your responsibilities

NSW Government employees need to consider the accessibility requirements of individuals in their everyday work.

Accessibility is a legislative requirement in the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) and a policy requirement in the all-of-Government Disability Inclusion Plan. Many agencies also have a Disability Inclusion Action Plan with accessibility requirements.

It is your obligation to ensure that your work is accessible to everyone. This includes digital products and services, emails, documents, meetings and more.

The Australian Human Rights Commission advises that the Disability Discrimination Act and its requirements apply 'to online services as it does in the physical world.'

Obligations

Meeting your accessibility obligations will help make sure you include all users. The risks of ignoring your accessibility obligations include legal repercussions, limited reach, reputational damage, delayed delivery, resource and budget issues, and excluding whole groups from engaging with your work.

NSW Government digital products and services need to meet accessibility standards. These include:

  • the Australian standard AS EN 301 549 Accessibility requirements for ICT products and services.
  • the current version of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to level AA for Government websites, web content and apps.

To start meeting your responsibilities, you can:

  1. Educate yourself: Do the research and learn about accessibility challenges and issues faced by individuals with disabilities in different settings. This will help you design and develop with accessibility in mind.
  2. Respect others: Treat everyone with dignity and respect, regardless of their abilities or disabilities. Avoid making assumptions about their limitations or capabilities.
  3. Advocate: Be a supporter of accessible design and accommodations in your community. Speak out when you notice or experience accessibility barriers.
  4. Make adjustments: Be open to making small changes to your work to make sure everyone can access it. Learn from feedback to ensure accessibility and avoid making assumptions.
  5. Implement accessible design: If you are involved in designing products, incorporate accessible design principles from the beginning. This can improve inclusivity and make things easier for everyone.
  6. Talk to people: Get feedback from an inclusive cohort and listen to their experience and suggestions. Use their feedback to make meaningful changes and make your product accessible.

Remember, creating a more inclusive society and increasing accessibility is a collaborative effort, and everyone has a part to play.

Risks

Inaccessible digital products raise NSW Government’s risk profile. Risk is created when NSW Government employees fail to provide and maintain accessible digital products and services.

Risk accountability

Product and service owners have a crucial role in making their products and services accessible, including by adhering to accessibility standards such as Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and incorporating accessible design principles from the beginning.

By proactively addressing accessibility in their building or buying processes, products owners will comply with legal and ethical obligations and contribute to a more inclusive digital environment for everyone.

Addressing inaccessible products or services

If you come across an inaccessible product or service, you may consider notifying the product or content owner.

By notifying product or content owners of accessibility issues and risks, you can raise accessibility awareness, advocate for accessibility, and create documentation for future accountability.

 

Sample email to owner 

Subject: Accessibility requirements failed

Hi ______,

Your product/service doesn’t meet the required accessibility standards. 

[Give an example of where the requirements are not being met]

The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 requires agencies to ensure people with disabilities have the equal access to information and services. All NSW Government digital products and services must meet the current version of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to level AA. This includes websites, web content, documents and apps. This standard applies to both internal and external products and services.

Please update your content to meet these requirements.

[Suggest options]

If you are unable to make your content accessible and would still like to proceed with publishing, you are accepting the risks and responsibility for any action that may be initiated by failing to comply with accessibility requirements.

The risks include: 

  • legal risk
  • reputational risk
  • quality of service risk
  • economic risk
  • workplace risk. 

We recommend providing contact details for anybody seeking an accessible version of your content as a temporary solution.

Visit your responsibilities for more information. 

[Sign off]

Legal risk

Failing to adhere to accessibility standards may create legal risk. Laws such as the Disability Discrimination Act and the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), require government to provide equal access to programs, services, and information. Non-compliance with accessibility standards can be unlawful indirect discrimination leading to costly conciliation, lawsuits, and settlements, draining public funds and damaging reputation and public confidence in government.

This isn't just for public facing digital products and services. When internal digital platforms are inaccessible, employees with disabilities may not be able to complete their work or access valuable learning opportunities. This can hinder career advancement, work-life balance and skill development. These barriers increase the risk of disability discrimination claims and claims under the Fair Work Act.

Reputational risk

Non-compliance with accessibility standards can reflect poorly on government agencies. Accessibility failures can signal a disregard for inclusivity, diversity, and adherence to technical and ethical standards. This can create negative public sentiment and can damage reputation and credibility.

Quality of service risk

Accessibility issues in digital services undermine delivery quality.

Failure to address accessibility issues can diminish Government's ability to deliver services and block engagement with its diverse population. Digital product and service barriers create an inefficient service and increased manual interventions.

By overlooking accessibility requirements, Government employees lose the opportunity to build innovative solutions that benefit a broader group of diverse users.  

Economic risk

Inaccessible digital products and services can have a negative economic impact for both users and Government.

Users who can’t access government products and services online may incur added costs when seeking alternative solutions, such as in-person assistance or third-party tools.

From a Government service perspective, the two main risk outcomes are lost market opportunity and increased costs.

  1. Lost market opportunities: Government may miss out on the economic contributions of individuals with disabilities who are blocked from fully participating in the workforce or economic activities due to accessibility barriers.
  2. Increased costs: Additional costs can arise when accessibility requirements are not considered from the beginning of the building or buying process. This increases retrofitting costs and time costs associated with reactive remediation processes. This can lead to budget overspend and timeframe blowouts for deliverables. 
Workplace risk

Inaccessible digital products and services can block employees' ability to do their job. Accessibility issues can include difficulties in accessing important documents, collaborating with colleagues, or using software. This results in productivity decline, missed deadlines and decreased overall efficiency.

Employees who encounter accessibility barriers experience frustration and disengagement with their work. Constant struggles to access information or use digital products and services can demotivate and demoralise staff, which in turn can create work related stress and psychosocial harm.  Visit SafeWork NSW’s Code of Practice: Managing psychosocial hazards at work for more information about obligations to manage psychosocial hazards in the workplace.

You can find examples of accessibility risks and how to mitigate them in the accessibility risk register.

Accessibility works

In this video, people with diverse abilities and needs were asked about the benefits of digital accessibility and how it positively impacts their lives.

 Explore the Toolkit to find out accessibility basics, as well as specific guidance on accessible design, accessibility testing, and accessible writing.

Support

If you need any assistance or have questions about the information on this page, please email us at digital.accessibility@customerservice.nsw.gov.au. To report an accessibility barrier with NSW Government’s online content, use our web accessibility report form.