Overview
Your digital services are excluding 1 in 5 Australians. This course helps you fix that.
When digital services are difficult to access, people can miss out on the information, support, and opportunities they need. This course helps public sector teams apply accessibility in real situations, not just understand it in theory.
The numbers don’t lie. And neither do the barriers people face every day.
In Australia, 1 in 5 people — 21.4%, or approximately 5.5 million Australians — live with disability (ABS Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers 2022, released 2024). In New Zealand, the figure is 1 in 6 people — 17%, or around 851,000 people living in New Zealand households (Stats NZ Household Disability Survey 2023, released 2025). Many more experience barriers due to ageing, neurodivergence, temporary impairment, low literacy, language differences, or poor digital design. When public sector websites, e-learning modules, online meetings, forms, and digital services are not accessible, people are excluded from essential civic, social, and economic participation.
Accessibility now extends across every digital touchpoint.
This course goes beyond a typical WCAG compliance course by showing how Human-Centred Design methods help public sector teams uncover accessibility barriers earlier, involve diverse users throughout delivery, and build more inclusive services iteratively. Rather than treating accessibility as a one-off compliance exercise, participants learn how to embed inclusive practices into everyday government delivery so accessibility improves over time.
WCAG 2.2 is here. WCAG 3.0 is taking shape.
Grounded in WCAG 2.2 as the current standard, with practical awareness of where WCAG 3.0 is heading, you will move from compliance theory to confident application across platforms, user needs, and organisational contexts.
Expect to practise, not just listen.
Apply WCAG to realistic government scenarios, audit digital content, map stakeholders, practise persona role play, observe assistive technology demonstrations and leave with practical actions for your own organisation.
Who Should Attend?
This course is designed for public sector professionals at APS 5–EL 2, or equivalent Advisor to Manager levels in the New Zealand Public Service, who contribute to designing, writing, maintaining, or overseeing digital content, online services, e-learning, or user experiences and who need to apply WCAG 2.2 and accessibility principles with confidence. This course is ideal for participants who: - Produce or review digital content, forms, documents, e-learning modules, or online services - Need a current, practical understanding of WCAG 2.2 and where WCAG 3.0 is heading - Work with diverse user groups, including people with disability, neurodivergence, or cognitive access needs - Contribute to human-centred design, user research, or service design projects - Need to educate or influence stakeholders across digital delivery
Content Designers / Content Editors
UX, UI or Service Designers
Digital Officers / Web Administrators
Online Communications or Engagement Officers
E-Learning Developers and Instructional Designers
Policy Officers working on digital, inclusion, service delivery or regulatory content
Program or Project Officers supporting digital transformation
Information Management Officers
Business Analysts or Service Improvement Officers
Inclusion, Diversity or Accessibility Officers
ICT Support Officers involved in testing or publishing digital content
EL 1–2 leaders responsible for digital quality, user experience, or compliance
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
Apply WCAG 2.2 principles confidently across web content, documents, e-learning, and digital communications
Understand the direction of WCAG 3.0 and prepare your organisation for future requirements
Design inclusively for a broad range of users, including people with neurodivergence, cognitive disabilities, temporary impairments, and non-physical access needs
Make online meetings and virtual events accessible using current platform features
Evaluate and improve PDFs, documents, and e-learning content for accessibility compliance
Use AI tools appropriately to support accessibility auditing and WCAG interpretation, with human verification
Champion inclusive practices across your team and work respectfully alongside people with a disability
Engage and educate stakeholders, including non-digital colleagues and SMEs, to build a culture of accessibility
Online Training
Beyond Compliance: Practical Digital Accessibility for the Public Sector
Session details
- Get current with WCAG 2.2 and understand where WCAG 3.0 is heading, so your accessibility practice stays relevant and ready for what’s next
- Go beyond checklist thinking by applying user-centred research to uncover barriers earlier, test assumptions and improve public services iteratively
- Understand diverse users more deeply and design with greater care for neurodivergent, cognitively diverse, ageing, and situationally impaired users
- Champion equitable access by building the skills to create digital services that help everyone in our communities participate fully in civic, social, and economic life
- Use AI with confidence by learning where it can support accessibility work, such as interpreting WCAG and auditing content, while knowing where human judgement remains essential
- Practise, not just listen, through realistic scenarios, content audits, stakeholder mapping, persona role
play, assistive technology demonstrations and action planning, including discussion of legacy content and
limited-resource environments - Drive change in your organisation by strengthening your ability to educate colleagues, influence stakeholders, and embed accessibility into everyday workflows
- Learn in an accessible environment that reflects best practice, with captions, accessible materials, and flexible ways to participate from day one
No previous experience necessary
Key Sessions
Welcome and Introductions
Accessible session orientation: captions, engagement norms, and session structure
Disability and Digital Accessibility in Government
- Why digital accessibility matters in public sector service delivery
- 1 in 5 Australians live with disability (ABS SDAC 2022, released 2024): updated context and implications
- Legal, regulatory and policy drivers for accessibility in government
- Common barriers across public sector digital touchpoints: websites, documents, online meetings and e-learning
- The role of WCAG in reducing exclusion and improving access to essential services
Understanding WCAG 2.2 and the Road to WCAG 3.0
- WCAG principles: POUR and conformance levels
- What changed in WCAG 2.2 AA and why it matters
- WCAG 3.0: what is proposed, what is still draft, and how to prepare without overclaiming
- Practical: mapping your role to WCAG 2.2 criteria
The Full Spectrum of Disability and Access Needs
- Visual, auditory, physical, speech and neurological access needs
- Deep dive: neurodivergence, including ADHD, autism, dyslexia and dyscalculia
- Deep dive: cognitive accessibility, including dementia, acquired brain injury and learning differences
- Situational and temporary disabilities
- How WCAG 2.2 helps you better serve diverse users
Knowing Your Users and Influencing Stakeholders
- User research methods and analytics for accessibility insights
- Identifying and understanding your different user groups
- RASCI Radar: stakeholder mapping
- Strategies for educating SMEs and non-digital business units
- Building a culture of accessibility beyond the digital team
Human-Centred Design for Practical Accessibility
- Why accessibility is not only a compliance exercise
- How HCD helps teams identify barriers earlier and include diverse users
throughout delivery - Embedding inclusive practice iteratively across government services
Personas and Problems
- Questions to ask about your users
- Persona creation updated to reflect neurodivergent and cognitively diverse users
- Persona role play
- How Human-Centred Design can help
Structure, Tone, and Inclusive Content
- How people read and process information online
- Plain language and cognitive load management
- Designing for neurodivergent users: structure, predictability, and clarity
- Testing and feedback
- Choosing the right format: HTML, PDF, Word, video
Applying WCAG Through Human-Centred Design
- Move from checklist compliance to practical decision-making
- Translate WCAG 2.2 principles into realistic public sector scenarios
- Identify barriers earlier through user journeys, content patterns and service
touchpoints - Practical: assess a government scenario and identify the highest-impact
accessibility improvements
Hands-On Accessibility Audit and Prioritisation
- Audit sample digital content for common accessibility barriers
- Use plain language, structure, interaction and error-prevention checks
- Prioritise improvements when time, resources and legacy systems are limited
- Practical: create an evidence-based accessibility improvement shortlist
Assistive Technology and Automated Evaluation Tools
- Updated landscape: screen readers, magnification, voice control, AAC and
cognitive support tools - Live demonstration: testing with current assistive technologies
- Short demonstration: automated evaluation tools, including AI-supported
checks, as prompts for human verification - How to combine tools, user evidence and professional judgement
Action Planning and Stakeholder Commitment
- Brief look ahead: WCAG 3.0 and emerging accessibility practice
- Personal accessibility action plan
- Stakeholder mapping and next steps for embedding inclusive practice
Meet Your Facilitator
Mauricio Perez
HCD Strategist and Accessibility Specialist | Good HCD
Mauricio is a Human-Centred Design (HCD) strategist based in Sydney, Australia, specialising in Service Design, User Experience (UX), and Customer Experience (CX).
Mauricio is dedicated to improving products and services by putting the needs of users, customers, citizens, and even staff at the core of the design process. His approach focuses on identifying the right problems through thorough research, analysis, and synthesis and delivering effective solutions through design, testing, and iteration.
With experience spanning the government, financial, health, and communications sectors, Mauricio brings a versatile and thoughtful perspective to every project. He is deeply passionate about accessibility, inclusivity, environmental sustainability, and ethical design practices, ensuring that his work creates meaningful and lasting impact.
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Regular
Ends 9 Sep
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