Alternative contact formats

[michaelcattell]

What

Original community proposal

Some people need DWP to contact them in other ways than a standard letter or phone call. This can include large print, audio, Braille, and more. This pattern will be a consistent way for people to tell us that they need us to contact them in a different format.

(Note: this was previously named "Contact preferences")

Why

• High effort and impact
• High community priority

Assumptions

Services might not be able to provide all options
Different services will have different options available

Done when

Research

• [x] #490
  • [x] Collect examples from other services and design systems
  • [x] Write up background research and define the problem

Design

• [x] #491
  • [x] Decide on preferred approach
  • [x] Draft content and sketches
  • [x] Create GitHub discussion
  • [x] Make preview branch

Review

• [x] #492
  • [x] Accessibility review
  • [x] Working group: request for comments
  • [x] Working group: workshop
  • [ ] Community: consultation period
  • [ ] Community: IxD show and tell
  • [ ] Community: content design show and tell
  • [ ] Community: user research show and tell
  • [ ] Finalise content

Build

• [x] #493
  • [ ] Code example
  • [ ] Website page and navigation updates

Test

• [x] #495
  • [ ] Write unit tests
  • [ ] Basic accessibility checks
  • [ ] Browser compatibility checks
  • [ ] Screenshot evidence for browser design review (Confluence)
  • [ ] Automated testing
  • [ ] Manual testing
  • [ ] Assistive technology testing
  • [ ] Complete applicable tests on DAC forms (Confluence)
  • [ ] Send to evidence to a11y team

Publish

• [x] #494
  • [ ] Publish to site
  • [ ] Show and tells
  • [ ] Update any community tickets
  • [ ] Write announcement
  • [ ] Set review date

Outcomes

• Service teams have clear guidance on how to use this pattern
• Users have a consistent experience across services, even when a journey consists of multiple smaller services

Who needs to know about this

UCD community ARA service teams Design System team Accessibility team

Related stories

Community backlog issue: https://github.com/dwp/design-system/issues/426 Discussion: GDS Pattern: https://design-system.service.gov.uk/patterns/contact-a-department-or-service-team/ GDS backlog: https://github.com/alphagov/govuk-design-system-backlog/issues/11 Video Relay Service link: https://github.com/dwp/design-system/issues/335

Anything else

Need to be mindful that services have to work with their own offline support teams to confirm what alternative formats are available.

[martinwake]

NSJSA and ESA teams working on this: next step is to follow up with them to get findings and then draft high-level guidance on the options. It may be appropriate to have several different options depending on the help available and the needs of the service.