As expected, this week was a busy one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Wednesday, representatives from 4 different government units gathered at the GovTech Campus to possibly join up design pattern libraries and overall user-centred design work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The IT system house of the Federal Ministry for Work and Social Affairs invited to the gathering. This was already the second edition after the other participants met close to Nuremberg several weeks ago. At the time, I was unable to join them. This time, they met 15 minutes walk away from me. Also in the room were Dataport, the northern states’ IT and digital outcome provider, and the Federal IT Competence Centre, ITZBund.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After general introductions, I gave an overview of our Service Standard work. I emphasised how the standard should give them additional leverage for the design work they intend to do and to advance. This resonated with quite a few of the people present. One person in the room had contributed to the DIN specification, and another one had served as a peer in our standard peer reviews last autumn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We met for almost 6 hours, and had an open and collaborative conversation, but ultimately, I still struggled to see a common thread. I understood most of the people\u2019s high-level objectives and motivations, but only to a limited degree. It will take more work to figure out how we can effectively join forces and support each other. Some obvious strands for collaboration are unlocking specific tools like Figma, making the case for a robust user research set-up, or connecting overlapping work in particular service areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Tuesday afternoon, I was invited to speak at the Google Web AI Accessibility Day. It was an afternoon event bringing together some 70 accessibility-minded people from across Germany. They gathered in Google\u2019s Berlin office, a short walk from where I live. Most attendees work in private sector businesses, ranging from e-commerce to consultancies. Google folks presented an update to a study they have been running for 2 years, assessing the accessibility of Germany\u2018s biggest e-commerce platforms. The report only found a slight improvement \u2013 just 2 weeks until the EU accessibility act is fully enforced for private businesses, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Arrived for Google\u2019s AI #Accessibility Day 2025 \n\n\u2014 to talk about \u2018Practical accessibility with pizza \ud83c\udf55 and partnerships\u2019 together with colleagues from DeliveryHero, IKEA, and Zalando.\n\nLooking forward to some cross-sector exchange about our practice.
[image or embed]<\/a><\/p>— Martin Jordan (@martinjordan.com<\/a>) June 17, 2025 at 3:08 PM<\/a><\/blockquote>