The Government Digital Service (GDS) has released a comprehensive deep dive into the role of information architecture (IA) in fostering digital inclusivity as part of its ongoing "Unlocking Accessibility" series. By interviewing senior practitioners within the department, the report illuminates how the structural organization of information—the "skeleton" of digital services—directly impacts the ability of citizens with disabilities to navigate essential public resources. Information architects at GDS, including Becky Ashley, Sally Creasey, and Rik Williams, have outlined a framework that moves beyond mere compliance, advocating for a methodology where accessibility is baked into the foundational logic of digital environments.
The Strategic Importance of Information Architecture in Public Services
Information architecture is traditionally defined as the practice of deciding how to arrange the parts of something to be understandable. Within the context of the UK government’s digital transformation, this involves planning, designing, and researching how users interact with vast quantities of data and services. As the UK continues its "Digital by Default" strategy, the clarity of this architecture becomes a matter of civic equity.
According to data from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), there are approximately 16 million people reported as having a disability in the UK, representing 24% of the population. For these millions of users, the way information is categorized, labeled, and sequenced determines whether a service is usable. The GDS experts argue that accessibility is not a "layer" added at the end of a project but a core requirement of the information system itself.
Foundational Advice for Organizations Prioritizing Accessibility
When an organization begins to prioritize accessibility within its information architecture, the transition requires a cultural shift as much as a technical one. Becky Ashley, Lead Information Architect at GDS, emphasizes the necessity of embedding accessibility at every level of the organizational hierarchy. This involves a dual approach: broad awareness and education across all skill sets, paired with structured integration into internal workflows. The goal is to create a collective mindset where inclusive design is viewed as the standard rather than an exception.
Sally Creasey, Senior Information Architect, highlights the role of advocacy. She notes that information architects must involve stakeholders, colleagues, and end-users from the earliest stages of a project. By sharing sitemaps, ontologies, and knowledge organization systems early, teams can ensure that the "mental models" they are building align with the actual needs of the public. Without this collaborative transparency, organizations risk creating systems that meet technical specifications but fail to serve human needs.
The Three Pillars: Ontology, Taxonomy, and Choreography
A central theme in the GDS approach is the breakdown of information architecture into three distinct but interconnected pillars: ontology, taxonomy, and choreography. Senior Information Architect Rik Williams explains that focusing on these areas individually and cohesively is the key to creating "deeply usable" systems.
- Ontology (The Meaning): This focuses on what the information is and the concepts it represents. Accessible ontologies use clear and consistent connections, which are vital for users with cognitive disabilities, learning differences, or those who lack specific domain knowledge.
- Taxonomy (The Organization): This refers to the classification and naming of information. Inclusive taxonomies utilize predictable, logical structures. These are essential for screen reader users and those with mobility impairments who rely on structured navigation to find what they need without unnecessary effort.
- Choreography (The Interaction): This involves how users move through information across different channels and time. Good choreography ensures a logical tabbing order for keyboard users, clear focus indicators, and consistent navigation patterns. It transforms a static structure into a functional, accessible flow.
Cross-Disciplinary Education and the POUR Principles
One of the significant challenges in digital design is the "silo effect," where designers, developers, and content creators work in isolation. To combat this, Becky Ashley suggests using a shared language centered on the POUR principles, which form the basis of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
- Perceivable: Information and user interface components must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive.
- Operable: User interface components and navigation must be operable.
- Understandable: Information and the operation of the user interface must be understandable.
- Robust: Content must be robust enough that it can be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies.
By applying these principles to the information architecture workstream, teams can maintain accountability. Sally Creasey adds that information architects must "be the change they want to see," championing intuitive labeling and contextually meaningful metadata. She notes that accessibility must also extend to the "backend" of systems; if a Content Management System (CMS) is not accessible, staff members with disabilities cannot effectively publish or manage government content.
Addressing Cognitive Accessibility and Common Pitfalls
Information architecture has a profound impact on cognitive accessibility—the ease with which people can focus, maintain attention, and process information. This is particularly relevant for users with dyslexia, dementia, or those experiencing "situational" cognitive load, such as stress or a distracting environment.
Rik Williams points out that IA helps manage these limits through "progressive disclosure"—revealing information only as it is needed—and providing multiple ways to complete a task. A common pitfall identified by the team is the "paradox of choice," where users are overwhelmed by too many sections with similar purposes or jargon-heavy labels.
Sally Creasey warns against organizing information structures around the internal needs of an organization rather than the needs of the user. When delivery pressures squeeze out user research time, the resulting architecture often lacks a "controlled vocabulary," leading to inconsistency where different names are used for the same thing. This increases the mental load on all users, but is particularly detrimental to those with additional needs.
Tools, Processes, and the Role of Object-Oriented Design
To ensure accessibility, GDS architects employ a variety of research-heavy tools and methodologies. These include:
- Card Sorting and Tree Testing: These techniques help reveal how users naturally categorize information and what terminology they use.
- Noun and Verb Foraging: A method to identify the core "objects" and "actions" within a service to ensure the language matches the user’s mental model.
- Object-Oriented Design (OOD): Rik Williams advocates for OOD to create information environments built around tangible things. This creates consistency and ensures a robust text structure that can be personalized or adapted for different technologies.
Becky Ashley also references the principle of "universality" championed by Sir Tim Berners-Lee. She suggests that looking at industry benchmarks, such as the Tech4Good awards, provides inspiration for how emerging technologies can be harnessed to meet accessibility needs.
Timeline and Regulatory Context
The focus on digital accessibility in the UK has intensified following the "Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018." These regulations require all public sector websites and apps to meet the WCAG 2.1 AA standard. Since then, GDS has been at the forefront of enforcing and guiding these standards.
The "Unlocking Accessibility" series represents the latest phase in this timeline, moving the conversation from basic compliance (e.g., "does this image have alt-text?") to structural inclusivity (e.g., "is the very logic of this service understandable?"). As the web moves toward WCAG 2.2 and beyond, the role of the information architect is becoming increasingly central to the legal and ethical delivery of government services.
Broader Implications for the Digital Economy
The insights shared by GDS architects have implications far beyond the public sector. As the digital economy grows, the "accessibility gap" risks leaving millions of people behind. By sharing their approach to ontology and taxonomy, GDS provides a blueprint for private sector organizations to improve their own digital offerings.
Analysis of the GDS approach suggests that "accessible IA" is synonymous with "good IA." When a system is designed to be usable by someone with a cognitive impairment or a screen reader, it becomes more efficient for every user. The reduction of "mental load" and the elimination of "the paradox of choice" are universal benefits.
Furthermore, as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning become more integrated into digital services, the role of metadata and structured information (the domain of the IA) will be critical. If the underlying information architecture is biased or inaccessible, the AI layers built on top of it will amplify those failures. The GDS emphasis on "meaningful metadata" ensures that as services become more automated, they remain anchored in human-centric, accessible design.
In conclusion, the GDS "Unlocking Accessibility" series reaffirms that digital inclusion is a structural challenge, not just a visual one. Through the deliberate application of user-centered design in ontology, taxonomy, and choreography, information architects are essential in building a digital world that is perceivable, operable, and understandable for all citizens, regardless of their physical or cognitive abilities.
