Find out if a blog will meet a user need

Create a blog if it will help people find and use government services and products.

Before starting a blog, do user research. Find out if people will use the blog and why.

Blogs can support user needs by:

Use social media to listen and engage

Social media allows government to increase understanding of users and keep them informed.

Use a social media monitoring tool to track conversations online. Find out what people are saying about your topic. Understand their problems and concerns.

You can use social media to:

Use video or audio when users find it easy to understand and access

Ask whether time-based media (video or audio) is the best way to deliver a message or tell a story.

Check you:

• understand who will use it, how they will access it and why
• have (or can you get) the resources and expertise to do it.

Use video or audio if it:

Make sure everyone can access audio and video

Audio-visual content must have:

• a transcript for people who don’t want to watch the video or listen to the audio – and for search engine indexing
• closed captions for people who can’t hear the dialogue and other sounds (symbol [CC])
• an audio description for people who can’t see the video.

Audio description is narration. It gives important details that are only visual, usually during gaps in the dialogue.

Choose an accessible media player that:

Adapt writing style with tone and voice

Writing style describes the way you express ideas in content. The tone and voice you use influence the writing style for any type of content.

Tone is the way you express ideas. It includes the words you use, the way you put them together and their level of formality.

Choose one dictionary for consistency

Government organisations should choose one dictionary of Australian English.

This manual recommends either: