Create and manage content

What is content creation and management?

The process of creating different types of content, including text, images, videos and audio to convey information about a service and / or to encourage interaction with it.

Knowledge

• Understanding of accessibility standards (e.g. WCAG, Government Digital Service (GDS) Accessibility Guidance)
• Understanding of the law as it relates to accessible design, including the Equality Act 2010 and Public Sector Bodies (websites and mobile applications) Accessibility Regulations.
• Knowledge of best practice user experience design practices.
• Knowledge of content strategy including planning, creating, and managing content throughout its lifecycle.
• Information architecture design.
• Search engine optimisation (SEO) where digital content is being created. Knowledge of web analytics where digital content is being created.
• Knowledge of assistive technologies. Understanding of inclusive usability testing.
• Understanding of content platform tools including content management systems.

Skills

Able to:

• Understand user needs: Through user research, understand the needs of a diverse range of users to enable content to be created that is relevant, accessible and meets their needs.
• Plan content: Including defining content strategy, creating content standards and for digital content, defining the information architecture.
• Define governance: Defining how content will be created, reviewed, updated, maintained, archived, and deleted and related access and decision making.
• Create content: In various formats and for use across multiple channels, ensuring content is adapted according to user need and channel type.
• Apply accessibility standards: Ensuring designs are inclusive, considering channels, interface design, content, contrast, alternative text, keyboard accessibility, responsive design, technical accessibility, and continual feedback mechanisms.
• Edit and quality assure content: Ensuring relevance, clarity, accessibility, and overall usability.
• Optimise content: Adapting it to meet the needs of each channel and ensuring Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) where digital content is being created.
• Use web analytics: To gain insights into how users are interacting with the content and to enable evidence led decisions about adaptations and updates.
• Plan and conduct usability testing: Using accessibility testing tools to identify accessibility issues and testing with real users to ensure services and solutions meet their needs.
• Consider assistive technologies: Determining how assistive technologies such as screen readers and voice recognition software might be used and how they will need to interact with services to deliver an inclusive user experience.
• Make decisions: Using analytical data and user feedback to ensure evidence led decision making in relation to content design.
• Collaborate and communicate: Working as part of cross functional teams to ensure content aligns to the end-to-end design of services, and that feedback is shared.
• Manage time: Able to work within timescales and to project milestones.
• Manage risk: Identity, assess and manage the risks associated with content creation and accessible design, including legal, regulatory, financial, and reputational risk.

Behaviours

Behaviours associated with creating and managing content require team members to be:

• Inclusive
• Customer / user focused.
• Empathetic
• Collaborative
• Analytical
• Solution focused.
• Decisive
• Resilient
• Adaptable and pragmatic
• Committed to continual learning

Service design – maturity index