Looking up how to make user journey maps accessible and there’s a load of articles about how important accessibility is and how to capture those needs on your map, but nothing about making the *actual artefact* accessible. Sums up the industry imo, likes to talk about us and to us but not with us.

In today’s episode of #FixTheForms, @dracos.co.uk battles with a nest of confused sign-in screens Pro tip: no yes/no questions www.effortmark.co.uk/no-yes-no-qu...

Every three months I (and any parent wanting this) have to reconfirm that I am eligible for tax free childcare. It is dull, but at least I have a password manager and my details don’t change. This quarter the form is slightly different, one page longer, because it now begins with this:

What makes this campaign powerful is not what it explains, but what it reveals. 🎥 Credit: “The world is harder when it wasn’t designed for you” Created by the Vozes da Inclusão Institute, dedicated to accessibility and inclusion. Shared by @theadnetwork

I’m genuinely pleased for everyone who has had a great 2025 and feels like sharing that news. Also aware that the year has been at best mixed for many, so here is my annual reminder again.

We are getting to the season of end-of-year reflections, so it’s time to post my annual reminder. If you helped someone this year or let someone else help you, then you’ve had a good year. That’s enough.

So many of my favourite things all here at once. This is a new entry in my (short) list of “every time I spot this or it crosses my mind I must watch it” Thank you Joe Lycett and BBC Radio4. There are still a few corners of the BBC that justify the license fee for me.

I’m delighted that Holger won #GameOfWool because of his creativity and precision. (Plus I enjoyed the eye-rolls A Lot)

I’m watching #GameOfWool primarily for Holger’s eye-rolls and we’re getting plenty of them already

In today’s episode of #FixTheForms, an accurate and heartfelt plea from @tomski.com that will resonate with all of use who have had to care for someone who has lost capacity (often older relatives) or hasn’t yet got capacity (often babies and young children).

The Department for Elfish Affairs 😉(totally real has tasked you with completing your Elf-cessability induction at Santa HQ. To become a fully-fledged junior Elf-cessability (accessibility) Specialist, you’ll need to take on a set of short accessibility challenges. elfcessability.lorithomson.co.uk

I’ve got a #QuiltFinish to talk about today. Came together quickly in seaside fabrics and I’m extra pleased with it especially because a friend also loved it so that’s her birthday sorted #QuiltSky

We are getting to the season of end-of-year reflections, so it’s time to post my annual reminder. If you helped someone this year or let someone else help you, then you’ve had a good year. That’s enough.

A personal reflection on focus, autism, and accessibility, what focus has given me in clarity and self-acceptance, and why I’m choosing to keep building better systems, even when clarity is hard to hold, as we head into 2026. annaecook.com/writing/2025...

In honour of Rob Reiner, have David Moore's thread on the best sword fight in movie history and exactly how nerdy it is.

In today’s episode of #FixTheForms, this new page from GDS has a broken link as its only content and lacks the usual form for reporting the problem #Accessibility #GovDesign Please could someone on cross-gov report it for me? Thanks guidance.publishing.service.gov.uk/how-to-publi...

Really delighted to hear that Sara Wachter-Boettcher will be @uxscotland.bsky.social this year. If you haven’t already heard it, now is a good time to listen to her podcast with @amyhupe.bsky.social podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/s...

The online Rail Clock by @matteason.me has become the online Rail Cock. railcock.matteason.co.uk

How it started - How it's going... I've only got a handful of calendars left now. Thank you to everyone who has bought one, every sale really is much appreciated. Who would like to snap one these last few up? juliaallum.co.uk/product/2026...

Last chance to snap up a hefty discount on ALL @rosenfeldmedia.com books and e-books. If you’ve already got my book, thank you so much and have a look at the long list of other great options. Ends midnight EST / 5am GMT / 6am CET

Today’s episode of #FixTheForms is a very exciting one: an example of a definite documented improvement. In this case, the guidance notes for a complex form were missing their examples. @matteason.me reported the problem and has now discovered that the examples are fixed. Thanks Matt.

Contrast to experience in Skechers: Us: do you have wide fitting men’s shoes in size 9 and a half? Assistant: certainly 20mins later: husband has cheerfully forked out twice as much as he might have spent in Marks and Spencer (Sorry I didn’t think to ask about narrow fitting).

Infuriating experience in Marks and Spencer: Me: where are the other wide fitting men’s shoes? Assistant: I’m sorry, we only do wide fitting in formal shoes Me: so people with wide feet are only allowed to be formal? Assistant: <smiles weakly> It’s not the assistant’s fault, of course.

In today’s episode of #FixTheForms, @radiobeartime.com resorts to the Freedom of Information route to getting to grips with his pension

🚨 Our Black Friday sale is still happening! 🚨 Through Friday, you can get 30% off paperbacks and 50% off ebooks at Rosenfeld! New releases, bestsellers, and old favorites...they're all on sale! Shop the sale: rosenfeldmedia.com/books/

Absolutely delighted that Misha Glenny is the new host of In Our Time. We’ve really enjoyed his “how to invent a country” series. Question: will the new series be as reliably soporific? “Feathered dinosaurs” has sent us to sleep at least 5 times so far. www.bbc.com/mediacentre/...

There's still time to snag a hefty discount on all @rosenfeldmedia.com books and e-books - including mine Especially if you happen to need to run a survey anytime soon.

In today’s episode of #FixTheForms, @peterkwells.com accurately points out that errors happen in ALL systems, paper-based and digital Pro tip: Moving a badly-designed form or process from paper to digital does not magically improve its design. You just create a badly-designed digital one

Today’s episode of #FixTheForms is an especially brilliant one from @xkcd.com that applies to all registration forms and all websites xkcd.com/3175/

Delighted to feature in this month note

Sunday thoughts on small acts of maintenance. medium.com/@niacampbell...

In today’s episode of #FixTheForms, @helivans.bsky.social encounters a common problem with translation Pro tip: test everything especially in all the languages you offer

There’s a big sale on for a week @rosenfeldmedia.com, including on my book “Surveys That Work” If you’ve wondered about buying it, here you go rosenfeldmedia.com/books/survey...

👂 We want to hear from team in wider government about how they use the GOV•UK Design System and GOV•UK FrontEnd. Any feedback will help us support teams better in the future. 💬 Join the discussion here: github.com/alphagov/gov...

Reminded today of my post on playbook creation - markdalgarno.medium.com/the-playbook... - hoping an organisation I am working with will find it useful.

In today’s episode of #FixTheForms, a dilemma that’s familiar to many: read the instructions or rush it? Pro tip, and National Audit Office advice for many years: design the instructions so that people can start straight away, using instructions as they need them as they rush. #FixTheForms

Your app could have been a responsive website is the new this meeting could have been an email.

Thrilled that there’s a recipe in the Guardian today for a Kringle - much beloved pastry of Racine, Wisconsin where I lived for several months in 1983 and visited regularly for a couple of years after that www.theguardian.com/food/2025/no...

It's #CarersRightsDay - but over half a million of us unpaid carers have none. We're more likely to be poverty, and costing the economy over £10bn each year, because we also happen to be self-employed/freelance and so are missing in carer legislation and policy. www.libdemvoice.org/how-a-simple...

Absolutely brilliant thread on "two ton murderous ornery bulletproof amphibious assault cows"

Had a couple of conversations with folk recently about the joys of time sheets — and why tracking an individuals work is often / usually a terrible idea, as well being a PITA. But it reminded me of a practice I've found super useful in the past when I've been forced to do it myself. 1/5

In today’s episode of #FixTheForms, @peterkwells.com lists three different ways (so far) where poor understanding of the range of possible right answers leads to issues #WrongAnswersOnly

We have had some strange white settling rain in Leighton Buzzard. Context: we’ve lived here for 40 years and this is the earliest in November we’ve ever had snow so far as we can recall

Labour: YOU MUST INTEGRATE Also Labour: we might kick you out in a couple years so don't get to comfy yeah

In today's episode of #FixTheForms, I was happy that my minimal grasp of French was good enough to start the process of registering for the French ProConnect service. Sadly, stuck when I had to get a SIRET code - only available to French organisations. Ah well. www.proconnect.gouv.fr

"The question is whether spare time released really translates into frontline care. Or, does it actually provide capacity that’s consumed by more admin?"

Repost of my review of Shuman and Presser "Questions and answers in attitude surveys", lightly updated today tl;dr - read my review to avoid having to read the whole book tips on open questions, don't know options, and more www.effortmark.co.uk/review-quest...

Last week I shared my 3 laws of form design. Here’s a breakdown of the first law which is perfectly captured by a question one of my subscribers asked me: “How can we bring joy to people who use enterprise applications for 40 hours a week?”

Just scrap BBC News 24 or whatever they call it now, restore the World Service COMPLETELY - we have lost way too much soft power - and allow anyone anywhere in the world to buy a TV License which allows them complete access to iPlayer for a year. And that also solves the financial constraints.

I can heartily recommend working with @juliaallum.bsky.social There’s something available for everyone, starting from very reasonably priced cards through to her creating something that’s bespoke and precisely right, such as the “live and live differently” macaws juliaallum.co.uk/product/live...