THE CREATION of user-friendly bilingual digital public services will be the talking point at a special event to be held at the Welsh Government’s stand at the Eisteddfod in Gwynedd this week.

As part of an initiative led by the Centre for Digital Public Services (CDPS), a brand-new book on ‘trio writing’ will be launched on the maes which aims to transform how bilingual digital public services are designed.

The book's innovative approach prioritises the needs of the people who use the services, ensuring they are more inclusive, and ultimately more effective.

The book includes contributions from service design specialists, content designers and translators as well as subject area experts.

Research carried out by CDPS at last year’s Eisteddfod showed that many Welsh-speakers opt to use English services online, for a host of reasons.

Top of the list of barriers was the style of Welsh used, often too formal or complicated.

This was closely followed by a lack of confidence in the accuracy of Welsh versions.

Trio-writing aims to tackle these issues by creating services in Welsh and English at the same time – ensuring content is easily understood and targeted at those who use them.

Jeremy Miles MS, Minister for Education and Welsh Language, will be speaking at the event.

He said: “From our work with CDPS at last year’s Eisteddfod, we learnt that we need to do more than just translate to ensure easy to understand content in Welsh, and easy to use Welsh language services.

“This new approach will make sure people are at the heart of Welsh language services in the future.”

Efa Gruffudd Jones, Welsh Language Commissioner is a contributor to the new book and welcomed the discussion on developing a new approach to bilingual service design.

She said: “The people of Wales should have confidence that the Welsh language services offered to them are easy to understand and the quality of user experience is equal in Welsh and English.

“Our research shows that there are more and more services being offered by public organisations in Welsh – so it’s important to ensure those services are used. We need to put our energy into planning new ways to provide simple and easy-to-understand Welsh language services that are user-centred – trio writing is a positive step in this direction.”

As part of the session Eisteddfod-goers will get to see a demonstration of trio writing and hear first-hand the experience of public sector organisations that have put it into practice over the last 12 months.

Myra Hunt and Harriet Green, Joint Chief Executive of CDPS said: “By introducing the concept of trio writing at the Eisteddfod this week, we hope to show public sector organisations that things can be done differently in Wales when it comes to bilingual digital service design.

“One of the Welsh Digital Service Standards says that digital services should be designed bi-lingually from the start.

“The new book, which includes reflections from people and organisations who have implemented trio writing in their service design process, is a great starting point for public sector bodies that want to ensure better outcomes for the people who use their services.”

A limited number of complimentary copies of ‘Trio Writing’ will be available at the event.

An online version will be available free of charge on the CDPS website from September with hard copies available to buy.