A four day week means less time to write the weeknotes - but not that we have less to say! Everyone has been busier than the Easter bunny lately, so we’re all looking forward to the long break this weekend.

Services Week (part 2!)

You’ll have seen in last week’s weeknotes that we were dipping into the various webinars taking place as part of Services Week, but a couple of these fell after the notes were drafted and we felt they deserve a mention too.

‘Offline and overlooked’ was a really thought-provoking session about remembering to include those who either can’t or won’t use digital versions of services. There is often an assumption that “it’s only the elderly who don’t go online”, when in fact this is far from the truth. There are many other reasons, and it’s important to bear these in mind when designing a service. ‘Improving complex taxonomies in local government settings’ was an interesting dive into how Westminster council completely overhauled their website to better reflect the ways people were trying to use it. The session really highlighted the importance of understanding and using the language people actually use themselves, rather than forcing them to decipher the organisation’s terminology in order to complete their task. Something we’re very passionate about here in the Digital team.

Neurodiversity Celebration Week (NCW)

As well as Services Week, last week was also Neurodiversity Celebration Week (what a ‘week’-filled sentence!). This is an annual collection of webinars focusing on celebrating and discussing neurodiversity in relation to a whole variety of subjects - from creativity, to education, to workplace issues, to menopause, and much much more.

Approximately 15-20% of the population has a neurological difference, such as Dyslexia, DCD (Dyspraxia), Dyscalculia, Autism and ADHD. With many of the speakers being part of that community themselves, being able to hear their experiences first hand was really revelatory. We already strive to make the work we do inclusive, but some of the insights in the sessions made us ponder how we might be even better at extending this beyond the usual WCAG considerations.

You can watch recordings of the sessions on the NCW website - and we’d highly recommend taking some time to do so.

Thanks for your patience!

Another busy week on inbox, with our team all pitching in to help clear our backlog and pick up the various time-sensitive requests that have been sent in to us. We’ve been inundated with new page requests, updates to existing content and many an accessibility check to publish ahead of the Easter bank holiday weekend. We’d like to thank all the colleagues who’ve been so patient during this busy time, your understanding goes a long way!

Marine licencing discovery concludes

The seven week discovery project which James, Sam, Toyah, Paul and Heledd have been involved in with the team from Deloitte finally drew to a close this week, with the Show & Tell on Wednesday.

We’ve lots to think about, read and reflect on and we’re really excited about working more closely with the marine licensing team to meet users’ needs.

Other stuff the team has done

• Updated fees content for the financial year
• Phil and Sam joined the CDPS Communities of Practice webinar

Fun fact

March has been pretty blustery in many areas of the country, making it tempting to stay indoors in the cosy warmth. But did you know that going for a walk on a windy day is good for you?

‘Uitwaaien’ is a Dutch concept that translates as ‘out blowing’, describing the feeling of being refreshed and invigorated by a windy walk. If you’ve ever gone out for a stroll to ‘blow away the cobwebs’, you might recognise this feeling!

The reasons behind its benefits are varied, ranging from air quality often being better on windy days, to lower temperatures benefitting mental health, to increased sensory stimulation helping create moments of awe. All the more so if your walk takes you out and about in nature.

There’s far more to this fascinating area of study than we can cover here, but you can read more about uitwaaien in this article.