{"id":5377,"date":"2025-03-04T09:34:06","date_gmt":"2025-03-04T09:34:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/?p=5377"},"modified":"2025-04-03T13:08:47","modified_gmt":"2025-04-03T13:08:47","slug":"design-in-action-part-3-accessible-design","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/2025\/03\/04\/design-in-action-part-3-accessible-design\/","title":{"rendered":"ScotPayments Design in Action (Part 3: Accessible design)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Blog by Catriona Binnie, Senior User Researcher in the ScotPayments team, on the process the UCD team follow to ensure we\u2019re building an accessible payments service for all public sector staff.\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We want ScotPayments to be easy to use for all public sector staff. Accessibility for our user base is key. What are we doing to achieve this accessibility goal? In this blog post, I\u2019m going to explain the steps the User-Centred Design (UCD) team take to continue to ensure we\u2019re building an inclusive and accessible service. I\u2019ll also share why this approach is important, particularly as ScotPayments moves toward Public Beta.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This blog is the 3<\/span>rd<\/span> edition in our Design in Action series. We began by <\/span>introducing our team<\/span><\/a> and iterative design approach, then in part 2 we gave a detailed look at why <\/span>payment choice matters<\/span><\/a>. Let\u2019s find out more about our accessibility focus.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Our overall approach<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

From the <\/span>very beginning of the ScotPayments<\/span><\/a> project we\u2019ve placed a lot of significance in developing an accessible service with a user centred approach. From the Discovery and Alpha phase, through to where we are now in Private Beta, the service has been built with accessibility standards and principles in mind. It\u2019s a key criteria in the <\/span>Digital Scotland Service Standard <\/span><\/a>that we ensure that we build a service that everyone can use. This includes both considering what support public sector staff need in place to use our service, as well as the usability of the service itself.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019re thinking about accessibility across the whole end-to-end service journey, not just the payments platform itself. For example, this includes everything from how we format and deliver training to new users, to our campaign site which is many users first touchpoint with the service.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Therefore, we\u2019ve made sure taking an accessible approach is built into our process. It\u2019s a full UCD team effort, where service design, user research, interaction design and content design work together.<\/span>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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As an overview, our design process includes:<\/p>\n