10838 (2024). Hon Dr Ayesha Verrall to the Minister of Health

10838 (2024). Hon Dr Ayesha Verrall to the Minister of Health: What progress, if any, has been made in the quarter October – December 2023 to ‘Establish baseline accessibility and usability requirements for the production and publication of all public facing health information, including accessible language, accessible channels to find and use information, and alternative formats for health information’ under section 4.3 ‘Health of Tāngata whaikaha | Disabled people’ within Te Whatu Ora’s Te Pae Tata: Interim New Zealand Health Plan 2022?

Hon Dr Shane Reti: I am advised that during the October - December 2023 quarter, Health New Zealand launched the Health Information and Services website. External access advisors were used to ensure it met Government accessibility standards, including testing pages with assistive technologies. I am further advised that full page language translations have recently been made available in te reo Māori, Hindi, simplified Chinese and traditional Chinese, with further translations being progressed. In addition, I am advised that when commissioning new websites, Health NZ places high importance on content accessibility in terms of structure, language and format, and content is structured to meet the needs of users, whether they are on a mobile device or a desktop.