Leading Accessibility Adoption for Germany's First BITV-Certified Government App
Accessibility adoption, facilitation, and inclusive design at national scale
Germany's digital identity system needed to work for everyone — from tech professionals to 85-year-old first-time smartphone users. Following Microsoft's philosophy that designing for people with disabilities improves experiences for everyone, this project achieved 98/98 BITV audit criteria. This is not just compliance — it is dignity, independence, and trust embedded in every interaction.
Inclusive design was essential because this product operates at the intersection of identity, authority, and vulnerability. In government and digital identity systems, exclusion does not merely inconvenience users — it can remove access to rights, services, and autonomy.
The Challenge
Germany's digital identity system needed to work for everyone — including older adults, people with disabilities, and citizens encountering digital identity verification for the first time — while operating under strict legal, security, and delivery constraints.
The core challenge was not a lack of accessibility standards, but how those standards were adopted in everyday product decisions.
Key challenges included:
- •Accessibility risked being treated as front-end or compliance work rather than shared responsibility
- •Teams faced high delivery pressure with varying levels of accessibility maturity
- •The deeper challenge was embedding inclusive design values into team behaviour and decision-making
- •Accessibility needed to be introduced and defended from early concept stage
- •The client needed support to see accessibility as a driver of adoption, trust, and service quality
- •The role involved continuous advocacy and facilitation, not just delivery
Failure carried real consequences: exclusion from essential public services, loss of trust in government systems, and audit risk in a nationally critical product.
How do we enable teams to embed accessibility early, consistently, and confidently — without slowing delivery or compromising security?
Approach
The approach focused on accessibility adoption and facilitation, not enforcement.
Accessibility was positioned as a strategic factor from the outset and embedded directly into design and development workflows. A shared framework based on Microsoft Inclusive Design principles aligned teams around inclusive design, real-world context, accessible content, assistive technology support, and dignity-driven security.
Key principles:
- •Accessibility was positioned early as a strategic design and delivery factor
- •Inclusive design influenced interactions, language, flows, and error handling, not only code
- •Adoption was enabled through facilitation, shared frameworks, and hands-on collaboration
- •The approach aligned teams and stakeholders around accessibility as shared responsibility
- •Accessibility functioned as an enabler of adoption and delivery confidence, not a constraint
Workshops with technology innovation teams, domain experts, and advisors from social organizations supported the design of accessible end-to-end user journeys. Continuous manual and automated testing created fast feedback loops, reducing rework and increasing delivery confidence.
Core Principles
Inclusive Design
Universal patterns designed to work across abilities, devices, and contexts
Real-World Context
Field research with police officers to understand roadside verification scenarios and high-pressure verification modes
Accessible Content
Easy Language transformation reducing comprehension errors by 73%
Assistive Technology Support
Full compatibility with screen readers, voice control, switch access, and eye tracking
Dignity-Driven Security
Secure authentication designed to preserve independence, privacy, and dignity
Key Methods
Solution
- Accessibility positioned as strategic factor: Embedded early in design and development workflows as part of overall product quality, service reliability, and public value — not as post-hoc compliance.
- Microsoft Accessibility Principles as adoption framework: Five principles (Inclusive Design, Field Research, Accessible Content, Assistive Technology Compatibility, Trust/Safety/Dignity) used to align designers, developers, stakeholders, and advisors.
- Process Design & Innovation: Development of accessibility guidelines, checklists, and QA processes establishing sustainable accessibility standards. Continuous evolution of inclusive design systems.
- Adoption Strategy & Facilitation: Consulting and advisory to government stakeholders and internal teams on WCAG 2.2, EN 301 549, BITV 2.0. Workshop facilitation with cross-disciplinary teams. Champion network enablement across UX, UI, and front-end development.
- Testing integrated as feedback loops: Manual and automated accessibility testing (NVDA, VoiceOver, JAWS, Stark, Axe) with feedback integrated into design and development, treating testing as adoption enabler rather than gate.
- Cross-functional collaboration embedded in agile delivery: Close collaboration with UX, UI, and front-end development in international teams. Accessibility embedded into sprint rituals, reviews, and daily practice.
Gallery
Accessibility embedded from research to certification
Research
User interviews
Accessibility audit
Inclusive UX
Universal patterns
Easy Language
Testing
Screen readers
Voice control
BITV Audit
98/98 criteria
Independent review
Certified
Public launch
1M+ users
98 of 98 audit criteria met
Perceivable
Content is available to all senses
Operable
UI works with all input methods
Understandable
Clear language and predictable behavior
Robust
Compatible with assistive technologies
Making technical vehicle documentation understandable for everyone
Complex Legal Text
"The vehicle registration certificate (registration certificate part I) must be carried on all journeys according to §11 FZV and handed over to authorized persons on request."
Issues:
- • Legal jargon (§11 FZV)
- • Compound words
- • Passive voice
- • No visual support
Easy Language
"You need your vehicle document when you drive."
"Show it to police if they ask."
Improvements:
- • Short sentences
- • Active voice
- • Visual icons
- • 73% fewer errors
Dynamic Content Architecture
The modular screen system enables content teams to collaborate on individual text elements with subject matter experts and legal reviewers independently, while maintaining a centralized view of the complete user journey for flow validation and accessibility testing.
Neurodiversity
The assistant breaks down complex interactions into small, manageable decisions, helping users find and understand the controls they need—even in high-stress situations like police encounters. Users can dismiss the assistant at any time to access the full, comprehensive interface directly if they prefer.
Accessibility Assistant Flow
User
AI Assistant
Voice • Visual • Haptic
14 languages
Navigation Help
Step-by-step guidance
Context-aware tips
Error Recovery
Clear explanations
Alternative paths
Alternative Input
Voice commands
Switch control
Security without exclusion
Accessible Login
Voice patterns
Biometric options
MFA Alternatives
Picture-based codes
Audio verification
Clear Consent
Plain language
Visual explanations
Error Recovery
Graceful failures
Alternative paths
"Accessibility is not compliance. It is independence, dignity, and trust."
Impact & Results
Reflection
This project demonstrated that accessibility standards alone do not create accessible products. Adoption requires people, processes, and sustained capability-building.
By positioning accessibility as a strategic factor rather than compliance requirement, and by using Microsoft Accessibility Principles as a shared adoption framework, we enabled teams to embed inclusive design into everyday decision-making.
The outcome was not just 98/98 BITV audit criteria — it was the scaling of accessibility capability from 6 to 64 trained professionals, 40% reduction in review cycles, and the establishment of accessibility as sustainable organizational practice.
Accessibility adoption is infrastructure. It can be designed, facilitated, and sustained through strategic positioning, process innovation, and cross-functional collaboration.
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