2 Accessibility of information for
a diverse range of customers
11. For leaflets to be of value, it is essential
that the information they contain can be understood by customers
with a wide range of levels of education. However, in the absence
of simple design measures such as contents pages and clear layouts,
information in the Department's leaflets is often difficult for
readers to use. In addition, all 13 of the commonly available
leaflets tested by the National Audit Office required a reading
age higher than the national average and eight required a reading
age equivalent to, or higher than, a 16 year old partly because
the Department needs to use words such as 'disability' or 'incapacity'.[27]
The Department accepted that explaining difficult information
in easy terms was a considerable challenge. To improve readability,
it is now seeking 'Crystal Mark' status from the Plain
English Campaign for
all its leaflets. At present, 81 out of the current 178 leaflets
(46%) have a Crystal Mark.[28]
12. The Department has issued design standards for
external communications, but in the past did not monitor whether
they had been adhered to consistently. As a result, the National
Audit Office found cases of leaflets which, for example, lacked
contents pages and with misleading titles. Nor were leaflets routinely
tested with customers before launch.
13. Instead, the Department relied on feedback forms,
but these might not capture the views of customers with low literacy
levels or who had had problems obtaining the leaflets in the first
place.[29] In future
it will test all leaflets on a sample of customers before they
are issued. More of the Department's recent leaflets contain elements
of best practice in design and all leaflets of 12 or more pages
must now have a contents page. The new Head of Customer Information
Products is responsible for ensuring that these standards are
adhered to across the Department.[30]
14. Making information accessible is not helped by
the way in which services and initiatives are named. The customers
who tested leaflets for the National Audit Office were sometimes
misled by their names. There are 14 ways of describing a payment,
and individual products can be confusing. For example, many pensioners
were confused by the term 'Minimum Income Guarantee' whilst its
replacement, the 'Pension Credit' is not a credit in the way that
is commonly understood by the word.[31]
15. The Department intends to change its approach
to leaflets, moving from product-based material (for example,
about specific benefits such as Jobseeker's Allowance) to producing
information focusing on 'life events' (such as bereavement or
looking for work).[32]
This new approach should mean fewer leaflets, and will be accompanied
by better signposting to other sources of information, including
the internet and personal advisors. It is not yet clear whether
the Department will extend this approach to all customers, but
the new Jobcentre Plus leaflets are structured in this way for
customers of working age. The Department is also trying to move
from a position where every new initiative requires a leaflet
to one where decisions about leaflets are part of a wider assessment
of what information the Department needs to communicate to citizens
and how best to do it. [33]
16. People with certain disabilities have particular
problems accessing information. For example, at 22% of the 100
sites visited by the National Audit Office it would have been
difficult for customers in a wheelchair to access leaflets easily.
Customers can order Braille, large print and audio versions of
leaflets, but the Department recognises that it will often need
to provide other forms of help and support.[34]
17. Information in languages other than English is
also not always available in Departmental offices. Only 30% of
offices visited had leaflets on display in languages other than
English. Leaflets are routinely translated into 11 different languages,
with three in audio versions only which are considered most helpful
to the relevant communities.[35]
The Department assesses the need for translations on the basis
of the numbers requested and does not provide routine translations
for immigrants from the European Union accession countries, most
of whom are assumed to have a good command of English. The Department
is able to translate leaflets on demand, and local offices have
access to translator services, but customers need to know this
service exists in order to use it. In addition, translated versions
will reproduce the weaknesses of English-language leaflets.[36]
Given that the Department is unable to determine how many of its
customers are immigrants, there is a risk that the needs of these
groups are not being adequately met.
27 C&AG's Report, paras 2.23 to 2.30 Back
28
Q 6-7 Back
29
C&AG's Report, paras 2.26, 2.34-35; Q13 Back
30
Qq 8-9, 13, 103 Back
31
C&AG's Report, para 2.24; Report by the Comptroller and Auditor
General, Dealing with the complexity of the benefits system,
HC (2005-06) 592; Committee of Public Accounts, Twelfth Report
of Session 2002-03, Tackling pensioner poverty: Encouraging
take-up of entitlements, HC 565. Back
32
Qq 64, 65 Back
33
C&AG's Report, Box 8 Back
34
Qq 57-58 Back
35
C&AG's Report, para 2.31; Qq 16-23, 97. The languages are
Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, French, Gujarati, Polish, Punjabi, Somali,
Sylheti, Tamil and Urdu. Back
36
Qq 16-22, 94-96 Back
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