Content design Guides, templates and articles
Guides, templates and articles about content design, government communications, digital experience with a few case studies thrown in for fun.
Turn your house style into rules a machine can check
Your house style only works if people apply it. How to turn your mechanical style decisions into rules a browser tool checks on every page before it goes live.
How to run a 10-minute readability check before you publish
A practical pre-publish routine: check reading grade, passive voice and Style Manual basics in about 10 minutes, using one free checker built into your browser.
Retrofitting existing services to the Digital Inclusion Standard
Digital Inclusion Standard existing services: how to retrofit a live estate you cannot take down, triage the gaps by harm, and know when to apply for exemption.
AI procurement for government content
DTA AI procurement guidance covers risk, not content. Here are the accessibility, plain language, and accountability requirements to put in the contract itself.
You cannot outsource accountability for accessible content
When a vendor builds your government website, the agency still owns accessibility. Put accessibility requirements in the brief and contract before you sign off.
Using AI in government content: what to try, and what to leave alone
A model shows you what your content does. It cannot decide what it should say. What to try, what to leave alone, and what decides whether it works.
Plain language does not fail at the draft. It fails after launch.
Government writers are not the problem. Readability fails after launch, because no role owns the whole site. Here are the four roles that fix it.
Your website content is a Commonwealth record. What that means before you delete a page.
Deleting a page on an Australian government website is a disposal decision. Here is what records management really asks of your content team, and in what order.
How to do a content audit without tools: a spreadsheet, 50 pages, and one question
You can do a content audit without tools. A spreadsheet, your top 50 pages by traffic, and one sharp question lands most of the decisions any audit has to make.
Working with policy subject matter experts: a content design guide for Australian government
Most Australian government content design fails at the SME relationship, not the writing. A practical guide for working with policy experts across APS contexts.
Content management vs content governance: what the difference means for Australian government teams
A CMS publishes content. Content governance decides who is accountable for it. Why Australian government teams keep confusing the two, and how to close the gap.
Keeping government website content up to date: build a currency system, not another audit
Keeping government website content up to date takes a system, not another audit. Set review dates, name one owner per page, and retire stale content by default.
Content design scope of work template: what to include so procurement can actually buy it
A content design scope of work template for Australian practitioners. Named deliverables, exclusions, sign-off points, and wording a procurement team signs off.
Content design vs UX writing vs content strategy: the disciplines, the overlaps, the differences
Content design vs UX writing vs content strategy: what each discipline actually does, where they overlap, and why naming them right saves teams time and budget.
A government chatbot is only as good as the content behind it
A government chatbot just repeats the content behind it. Why government chatbot content design in Australia, not the platform, decides if the answers are right.
How to brief AI for content: the three layers of context it needs
Generic AI content is a briefing failure, not a model failure. How to brief AI for content using the three layers of context it genuinely needs to get it right.
Web content governance for Australian government websites
The minimum viable governance model for an Australian government website: three roles, six decisions, a review cadence, and an escalation path. Free download.