About SWE

The Single Website Experience (SWE) helps designers, developers and publishers quickly and easily provide a consistent experience across the qld.gov.au website franchise model. It is made up of a set of website interface components and templates, with accompanying implementation guidance.

The SWE is first and foremost a standalone website framework. We also support its implementation and availability on Squiz Matrix, the content management system (CMS) for the qld.gov.au website.

Policy

The Digital services policy directs Queensland Government on the design, delivery, and management of public-facing digital services. The policy states that digital information, products, and services must meet all 13 criteria in the Queensland Government’s Digital service standard.

Meeting criteria 6 of the Digital service standard involves building with responsive design methods using the approved design standards. The approved design standards are the Consistent User Experience (CUE) standard and the Queensland Government Design System (beta).

The SWE is built upon the CUE standard and is the appropriate design pattern to apply across the qld.gov.au website franchise model and its information and services. It was released in conjunction with the franchise model in 2010. The requirements included in the SWE were developed in consultation with a wide range of stakeholders and tested by customer focus groups.

Accessibility

All Australian websites have a legal requirement to be usable and accessible to people with disabilities (see the Disability Discrimination Act 1992).

We aim to ensure the SWE is accessible and inclusive of all users regardless of their ability and environment. The SWE currently meets the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Level AA and we are working towards WCAG 2.1 compliance, in line with timeframes specified by the Digital services policy transition plan.