Eligibility is where policy meets people. A family qualifies for help on paper, but whether they actually receive it often comes down to a web form — its length, its language, and whether it works on the phone they're filling it out on at a bus stop.
Administrative burden is a design choice
Every redundant question, every document upload, every confusing denial notice is friction. That friction falls hardest on the people with the least time and the most need. Reducing it isn't a nicety — it's the difference between a program that reaches its population and one that doesn't.
- Ask only what policy actually requires — and pre-fill the rest.
- Write at a sixth-grade reading level, in plain language, in every language your community speaks.
- Design mobile-first; for many applicants, the phone is the only device.
- Make denial and renewal notices explain the 'why' and the 'what now'.
Research with the people who use it
You cannot design your way to usability from a conference room. We test prototypes with actual applicants and the caseworkers on the other side of the screen. The findings are humbling and specific — and they're the fastest path to a system that works.
Accessibility and plain language aren't compliance checkboxes. They're the mechanism by which a benefit becomes real for the person who needs it.
Accessibility is the floor, not the ceiling
Section 508 and WCAG 2.1 AA are where we start, not where we stop. A system that a screen-reader user can technically navigate but that takes forty minutes to complete still fails its purpose. We measure success by completion, not compliance.
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