Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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244. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will confirm the timeline for making Government Departments and other public sector body websites digitally accessible to users with disabilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [58785/22]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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My department is not responsible for the accessibility of other departments’ and public sector bodies’ websites so I cannot give a specific timeline. However we are working to promote and emphasise the importance of accessibility across government.

My department continues to work on improving accessibility and we have a number of on-going initiatives in this regard.

As the deputy will know, gov.ie, which is hosted by my department, is a website that holds the content of many public service bodies. Accessibility for gov.ie is a shared responsibility between my department and other public service bodies that are hosted within it.

We are working closely with the National Disability Authority (NDA) on an ongoing basis, to maintain a high standard of accessibility for gov.ie. We also have external accessibility auditors examining the gov.ie website. We are amending the website based on their feedback. The last NDA audit showed that gov.ie has an exceptionally high level of accessibility.

The Office of the Government Chief Information Officer in my department is going to deploy a digital user experience checklist. This checklist will support departments and public sector bodies. It will encourage them to take considered steps that focus on the user, as well as accessibility, and therefore support accessibility in the broadest sense.

Our commitment to accessibility is reflected in the Civil Service Renewal 2030 Strategy under the theme “Digital first and innovation”. It states that “by placing the public at the heart of digital services, we will create more accessible and valued digital solutions. Adopting a customer-driven service design approach will help to ensure digital solutions are shaped by the needs and wants of the public”.