We have committed to develop guidance or requirements for digital EHCP systems to:
- improve experiences for parents, carers and professionals
- reduce bureaucracy
- improve our ability to monitor the health of the SEND system
We are exploring how we can develop this with local authorities and the form it could take.
Choosing a format for the guidance
We have selected a GOV.UK manual template for the first prototype to share during one-to-one research sessions. Manuals are a browsable format that are generally created for people in specialist roles and professionals who are familiar with a topic.
We are using section headings to assess people’s responses to potential options for future development.
The headings cover:
- a data standard
- minimum digital system requirements
- guidance on digital system use
- a mechanism through which to gain expert advice or peer support
We are testing whether these are the types of things people expect and would welcome from DfE to support the digitisation of EHCPs.
Subheadings
Our technical architect has identified the typical components that make up a data standard and we have listed these for the data standard’s section’s subheadings.
We have used the headings from desktop research on typical topics included within requirements for digital systems for subsections’ headings and done the same for the guidance on the use of digital systems.
We want to test the reactions of users to these options and gather feedback on what they would expect from them.
The ‘Get help’ section is to help us identify what else people would expect from DfE to support digitising EHCPs.
Adjusting the format for testing
We have made changes to the standard manual template to further identify that the content is for user research testing purposes only. These changes include:
- altering the phase banner component within this prototype to read: TEST: This prototype is for user research with local authorities to test ideas and prompt discussions
- increasing the size of the phase banner
- removing ‘Published’ and ‘Updated’ content
The password for the prototype is being changed at the end of each day. We’ve chosen to do this so that the prototype link cannot be shared too widely and is only used for UR (user researchers) purposes.
Next steps
We are iterating based on testing in one-to-one user research sessions and will look to develop further to test in beta. This further testing will include things like an initial draft data standard and digital system requirements.