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.
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.
The eight decisions a content governance model has to make
Content governance for Australian government is eight decisions, not a document. Who owns, who approves, what standard, what triggers retirement, and who answers.
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.
Agentic AI does not read your content. It acts on it.
The DTA has named website information as an input to AI systems that take actions. Four things to check in your content before an agent points at your site.
What to measure instead of a readability score
A readability score measures sentence length, not whether readers can act. Plain language vs a readability score, why they differ, and what to test instead now.
What the Digital Access Standard means for content teams
The Digital Access Standard makes one architecture decision documented and reported: does this service need its own front door? Content teams hold the evidence.
Content design training in Australia: the five things UK-built courses leave out
Content design training in Australia largely descends from UK GDS courses. Five things Australian government content work needs that imported courses leave out.
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.
How to write evaluation recommendations that get actioned
Writing evaluation recommendations that get actioned means naming the owner, the action, and the date. Without those three, it is only an observation.
WCAG 2.2 content requirements for government: the criteria your content team owns, not developers
WCAG 2.2 content requirements for government: the new success criteria your content team owns, not developers, and the content fix for help, forms, and sign-in.
Information architecture vs sitemap: what the difference means for government websites
Information architecture vs sitemap: a sitemap lists the pages you publish; IA is how people find and understand them. Confusing the two breaks your navigation.
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.
Government letters and notices: a content design guide for Australian agencies
Government letters decide whether people pay, appeal or miss deadlines. A practical content design guide to writing letters and notices for Australian agencies.
AI content review checklist for Australian government content teams
AI content review checklist for government teams: check AI-assisted content for accuracy, plain language, accessibility, tone, and governance before publishing.
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.
Accessibility overlays will not make your government website compliant
Accessibility overlays will not make a government website WCAG 2.2 or DDA compliant. The AHRC now says so. The real fix is content design, not a bolt-on widget.
Writing microcopy for Australian government forms: labels, help text, errors
Most Australian government forms fail at the microcopy layer. A practical content design guide for writing useful labels, help text, and clearer error messages.
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.
How to measure content design impact when there's no baseline
Measuring content design impact without a baseline: pick one defensible measure, record the diagnostic state precisely now, and your first number is the before.