Universal Design of Public Services: A Case Study of the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration.

Abstract

This paper presents how employees in a governmental organization strive towards incorporating universal design into their work practices when developing digital solutions - and what workplace aspects helps and hinders them in their efforts to ensure the digital services they build are accessible for all users. A case study of the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV) indicate that ensuring universal design in organizations entails activities far beyond WCAG testing. For NAV, cross-disciplinary stream-aligned teams appears a driving factor for universal design, as is widespread collegial support and easy-to-use resources. We further hypothesize that SWOT analyses could help identify threats and opportunities for promoting universal design in organizations.