Around 20% of people in the UK cannot use digital government services without assistance, according to research.
The study from the Digital Poverty Alliance and Cognizant found that digital services are, in many cases, being build for users with the perfect conditions for accessibility, perpetuating the digital divide.
Elizabeth Anderson, CEO of Digital Poverty Alliance, commented: “As more government services move online, it is vital that digital transformation does not come at the expense of inclusion. For the 19 million people in the UK currently experiencing digital exclusion, this creates a real risk of new barriers to accessing essential services.
“The shift toward digital-only systems risks leaving vulnerable groups behind particularly those without reliable internet access, suitable devices or the confidence to navigate complex online platforms.
“Services must be designed to meet people where they are – with fewer bugs, more intuitive design and greater support funded as a part of the service. At the same time, if government is relying on informal networks of local community groups to provide support, this must be sustainably funded and supported with proper training for support workers.”
The world is increasingly moving towards digital, utilising technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), but there are still a large number of people in the UK who are unable to use digital, including those with disabilities or those from lower-income backgrounds, who in many cases will need to access certain services the UK government is increasingly digitising.
The Digital Poverty Alliance and Cognizant focused on digital services such as organising Universal Credit and Pension Credit, managing identity documents and driving licences, and applying for visas or schools. When trying to use these systems, 60% of adults found it difficult to log in, and a quarter found it difficult to use and navigate these systems.
The digital divide plays a role in these challenges, with 10% of adults not having reliable internet access to use digital government systems, while 10% also can only access the internet through a phone, which are not the ideal devices for accessing these services.
Many claimed they must use limited mobile data or have poor signal in their homes, and do not want to use services involving their personal data in public, while others say a large screen and keyboard are frequently required for tasks such as filling in forms, which are technologies they do not have access to.
When looking at younger adults, difficulty accessing and navigating digital government services increased to 40%, likely due to their default format for accessing and using the internet being mobile phones.
More than half of those struggling opted to phone a government helpline, 60% of which found it helpful – but others said there were long waiting times and were often then redirected back to digital channels. Almost a quarter claimed they wouldn’t have been able to use online government services without the help of friends, families or charities.
Yatin Mahandru, UK&I head of public sector and health at Cognizant, urged the government and other organisations not to default to “digital only” when developing online services.
He said: “The answer isn’t to slow transformation down, it’s to design it around how citizens actually live, on the devices they really use, with assisted and human support built in from the start across citizen journeys, rather than bolted on at the end.
“Done well, modern service design and AI can make government services dramatically simpler, more accessible and more impactful for everyone. The leaders who get this right will measure success not by how many services they move online, but by how many people they reach.”
