Building accessibility into DWP’s Find a job service

Adzuna is one of the UK's largest job search engines and a leading recruitment technology platform. Its technology and industry expertise saw it win the contract to replace the UK government's Universal Jobmatch platform.

Developed in partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Find a job became one of the largest digital services in the public sector, connecting 1.2 million jobseekers with thousands of employers online and through job centres across the country.

Building accessibility in before launch

User needs were central to the development of Find a job. Extensive research had been carried out with jobseekers, employers and members of the DWP service management team to understand what people needed from the new service.

For Adzuna, accessibility needed to be considered throughout development. The service had to meet WCAG AA and Government Digital Service standards, alongside its responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 and the relevant Statutory Code of Practice.

Before launch, Find a job also needed to pass DWP assurance and demonstrate that accessibility had been properly considered across the service.

Adzuna brought us in during development, giving its team and developers access to accessibility expertise while there was still time to act on what we found.

Finding and fixing barriers during development

We started with an on-site accessibility strategy session to identify the key areas of focus and provide early feedback on the developing service.

This meant Adzuna could begin resolving accessibility issues before formal testing started. We also recommended existing technologies that could reduce potential barriers before they became harder to address later in the project.

Our accessibility audit then assessed around 20 templates against WCAG AA, focusing on key journeys through the service and testing with commonly used assistive technologies.

But identifying issues was only part of the work. We stayed closely connected with Adzuna and its off-site developers throughout development, providing additional feedback, demonstrating accessibility barriers and reviewing potential fixes before they were implemented.

Where assistive technology issues needed more explanation, we worked directly with developers over video calls to demonstrate what users would experience and give the team a clearer understanding of the problem.

Ready for assurance and real-world use

Find a job launched successfully after passing DWP assurance reviews and user testing. Accessibility improvements made during development made it easier for people using assistive technologies to access the service, while our findings also informed further development after launch.

We continued providing feedback beyond the launch date as the service evolved.

Find a job went on to win Best Public Sector Project at the National Technology Awards and was shortlisted for several other digital and public sector awards.