Accessibility on nsw.gov.au
The nsw.gov.au website is inclusive by design and aims to meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 at an AA level.
On this page
What we do
The nsw.gov.au team is committed to providing a website that is accessible to everyone, regardless of technology or ability.
Information on the website should be accessible to users, including:
- people with a disability
- people with English as a second language or who have low literacy
- people who have limited access to the internet, such as slow connections.
The website aims to meet level AA of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1.
How we do it
To make nsw.gov.au accessible to everyone, all content editors should:
- design content with accessibility and WCAG 2.1 criteria in mind
- check the reading age of their content is below Grade 9, using online tools such as the Hemingway app
- makes use of plain English for improved readability
- publish content as text on a webpage, where possible
- use alternative text for images
- ensure information is still available to users who can’t access non-text content (alternative text for images, tagged documents, video captions and audio-described versions)
- avoid building new functionality that makes the website more difficult to use
- check for accessibility and make revisions prior to publishing.
nsw.gov.au ensures:
- our website design is responsive and adjusts to fit the most popular devices' screen display sizes
- we test our content on assistive devices and software such as screen readers and magnifiers
- search and navigation options are keyboard accessible and available on every page
- online forms aim to be keyboard accessible
- the text size is adjustable via a browser or keyboard (Ctrl and + or – keys or ⌘ and + or – keys)
- the limited use of colour to reduce colour contrast issues.
We further support agency content editors by:
- monitoring content and alerting content owners if content does not conform to minimum standards
- sharing feedback from regular sitewide accessibility reviews
- integrating text-to-voice functionality on webpages for people with low literacy
- training on accessibility through our Digital Community of Practice and OneCX Learning Management System.