Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps their Department is taking to improve its digital services to provide better (a) accessibility and (b) user experience for the public.

The FCDO's Consular Crisis Strategy [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/consular-and-crisis-strategy-2022/consular-and-crisis-strategy-2022] emphasises our commitment to 24/7 accessibility and increasing the number and quality of digital services available for the public.

We build and run our digital services in line with cross government standards covering accessibility and user experience, including the GOV.UK Service Manual [https://www.gov.uk/service-manual] and the Technology Code of Practice [https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-technology-code-of-practice]. Our content published on the gov.uk domain is covered by the GOV.UK Accesibility Statement [https://www.gov.uk/help/accessibility-statement].

We have an ongoing programme to improve our digital services, which includes accessibility testing and user research. Recent examples include improvements to our Travel Advice service and Emergency Travel Documents service.