Useful info, guides and resources - all in one place

Six books floating in a circle connected by lightening bolts. Colours are bright green and red on a dark green background.

There is a lot of guidance out there for public sector comms, content and social media teams. The only problem is, most of it is scattered around dozens of different websites.

So I’ve brought together a bunch of information I have found handy, and collated it for you below.

It’s not all from New Zealand, I’ve included examples of best practice that I’ve found overseas, too.

If you find something else which I could include, please let me know at seamus@seamus.nz. I’d love to grow this resource over time to make it as useful as possible.

Enjoy.


Contents

  • Accessibility

  • Advertising

  • Artificial Intelligence

  • Benchmarking

  • Brand

  • Communications

  • Crisis/emergency comms

  • Data

  • Governance

  • Language

    • Disability language

    • Rainbow language

    • Sign language

    • Te reo Māori

    • Other languages

    • Overseas

  • Media policy

  • Photography

  • Plain language

  • Privacy

  • Signage

  • Social media dos and don’ts

  • Social media policy

    • For organisations

    • For individuals

  • Social media strategy

  • Social media from the archive

  • Style

  • Web standards

    • Contrast checker

Accessibility

The government’s Web Accessibility Guidance project features advice on UX, alternative formats, content types, and roles.
https://govtnz.github.io/web-a11y-guidance/


Comprehensive guidance around alt text, captions and titles for images from the Australian government style guide.
https://www.stylemanual.gov.au/content-types/images/alt-text-captions-and-titles-images


And requirements and standards for video and audio, also from the Australian government style guide.
https://www.stylemanual.gov.au/content-types/video-and-audio/requirements-and-standards-video-and-audio


The UK’s Government Communications Service has info on planning, creating and publishing accessible social media campaigns. Includes making hashtags and emojis more accessible, plus how to add alt text to a range of popular platforms. 
https://gcs.civilservice.gov.uk/guidance/digital-communication/planning-creating-and-publishing-accessible-social-media-campaigns/


MSD has a Word doc: Accessibility Guide: Leading the way in accessible information. It appears to have last been updated in 2021.
https://www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/work-programmes/accessibility/accessibility-guide/index.html

Advertising 

The Public Service Commission’ guidelines for government advertising includes a checklist and a range of scenarios to give you examples of what is ok and what isn’t.
https://www.publicservice.govt.nz/guidance/guide-he-aratohu/guidance/guidelines-for-government-advertising

Artificial Intelligence

The New Zealand government’s interim Generative AI guidance for the public service.
https://www.digital.govt.nz/standards-and-guidance/technology-and-architecture/artificial-intelligence/interim-generative-ai-guidance-for-the-public-service


The Australian policy for the responsible use of AI in government. This is comprehensive and includes mandatory requirements for departments and agencies.
https://www.digital.gov.au/policy/ai/policy


List of state and local government AI policies and guidelines from the United States. Plenty to choose from.
https://www.govtech.com/artificial-intelligence/keeping-up-with-state-and-local-ai-policies-and-guidelines

A list of 50 ChatGPT prompts for state and local government. The prompts are designed to ‘increase efficiency, eliminate manual administrative work, and enhance day-to-day tasks using generative AI technologies like ChatGPT’.
https://www.govtech.com/artificial-intelligence/chatgpt-example-prompts-for-state-and-local-government

Benchmarking

The latest New Zealand population estimates, broken down by region and territorial authority.
https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/subnational-population-estimates-at-30-june-2023/


Datareportal’s annual review of how people in New Zealand use digital devices and services. There’s a lot of information here (including a 130-page PDF). 
https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2024-new-zealand


Mailchimp’s email marketing benchmarks and metrics include open rates and click rates for government.
https://mailchimp.com/resources/email-marketing-benchmarks/


A list of social media statistics relevant to Australia, updated monthly, and going back to 2011. https://www.socialmedianews.com.au/social-media-statistics/

Brand

The New Zealand government identity applies to all Public Service departments, departmental agencies, interdepartmental ventures, interdepartmental executive boards and Crown agents. 
https://www.publicservice.govt.nz/publications/policy-and-guidelines-new-zealand-government-identity


For an example of more comprehensive brand guidelines, check out the extensive info on the Victorian Government’s brand guidelines for using their logos, fonts, colour palette and other elements.
https://www.vic.gov.au/brand-victoria-guidelines


The Welsh government has a helpful portal for finding and accessing brand assets by theme in its Communications Media Toolkit.
https://assets.service.gov.wales/

Communications

The UK’s Government Communications Service has a lot (I mean a lot) of great advice covering pretty much everything you might want to know. 
https://gcs.civilservice.gov.uk/guidance/


The Irish government’s Customer Communications Toolkit for the Public Service. Includes advice on written, verbal, and digital communications.
https://assets.gov.ie/27854/ba64cc4f27bf4fa1b535e4b6418f0e89.pdf

Crisis/emergency comms

Here’s the UK government’s Prepare, Respond, Recover operating model. Includes their Emergency Planning Framework.
https://gcs.civilservice.gov.uk/publications/crisis-communications-operating-model/

Data

The official NZ data guidance is on the government’s digital platform. Contains info on our open data policies and best-practice guidance for agencies managing how data is stored, published and used.
https://www.digital.govt.nz/standards-and-guidance/data/


Higher level information on New Zealand’s data strategy can be read here: https://data.govt.nz/leadership/strategy-and-roadmap/


The Australian government’s strategy is here: https://www.dataanddigital.gov.au/strategy

Governance

LGNZ have a number of excellent resources, including their Good Governance Guide, which covers everything you need to know about local government and being an elected member. Also features guides around community boards, standing orders, and conduct.
https://www.lgnz.co.nz/learning-support/governance-guides/

Language

Disability language

A list of words to use and avoid from the Ministry of Social Development. Includes guidance around using language that respects disabled people as active individuals with control over their own lives.
https://www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/work-programmes/accessibility/quick-reference-guides/disability-language-words-matter.html

Rainbow language

A rainbow-inclusive language guide from the Public Service Commission. Includes a link to United Nations guidance on gender-inclusive language.
https://www.publicservice.govt.nz/guidance/rainbow-inclusive-language-guide

And there’s a comprehensive glossary for common rainbow terms (also from the PSC) here:
https://www.publicservice.govt.nz/guidance/glossary/diversity-and-inclusion

Sign Language

The New Zealand Sign Language Dictionary includes 4500+ multimedia, multilingual dictionary entries. You can keyword search in English and Māori. https://www.nzsl.nz/

Te reo Māori

Extensive collection of resources developed by Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori, including phrase cards, posters, tool kits, and a host of other downloadable assets.
https://www.reomaori.co.nz/resources


A guide to pronouncing the five vowels and ten consonants in the Māori alphabet. https://www.reomaori.co.nz/pronunciation


NZ History has a wonderful 100 Māori words every New Zealander should know - complete with audio for pronunciation.
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/maori-language-week/100-maori-words


Other languages

The Ministry for Ethnic Communities has a comprehensive (and lovely-looking PDF) guide to translating, featuring the why, what, and how of communicating and building trust with culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities. https://www.ethniccommunities.govt.nz/resources/language-resource-hub/unlocking-language-barriers/


There is also a dedicated Pacific Languages Strategy 2022-2032 developed by the Ministry for Pacific Peoples, which includes dedicated guidance around nine Pacific languages. https://www.mpp.govt.nz/programmes/the-pacific-languages-strategy-2022-2032/


Overseas

The Canadian government has guidance for bilingual offices and facilities. Includes a short ‘good practices checklist’.
https://www.canada.ca/en/treasury-board-secretariat/services/values-ethics/official-languages/public-services/bilingual-offices-facilities.html


The Welsh government has info around social media, events, exhibitions, advertising and communicating with the media. Also features a bunch of layout examples. https://www.gov.wales/welsh-language-standards-communication-and-marketing-guidelines

Media policy

The University of Auckland has guidance around commenting publicly, including to the media, covering academics, officials, experts and private individuals.
https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/about-us/about-the-university/policy-hub/strategic-engagement/media-communications/media-public-communication-statements-policy.html


For another example see Pharmac’s media policy, which features info on roles and responsibilities. The PDF is here: https://pharmac.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/Media-Policy-November-2023.pdf

Photography

Sport New Zealand has a detailed guide to photographing, filming, and use of images, with a particular emphasis on young people.
https://sportnz.org.nz/resources/media-policy/

DIA’s photo/video consent form is here (PDF): https://www.dia.govt.nz/vwluResources/DIA-Photo-Video-Consent-Form-WORD/$file/Photo-Video-Consent-Form.docx

There is also some general advice from the Privacy Commissioner around posting photos or anything else about other people on social media.
https://www.privacy.org.nz/tools/knowledge-base/view/126

Plain Language

The Parliamentary Counsel Office has a wonderfully practical Plain Language Checklist with a whole heap of useful info on everything from tenses and italics, to avoiding emotive words, jargon, and policy-speak.
https://www.pco.govt.nz/pco-plain-language-checklist/


MSD has a shorter checklist here: https://www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/work-programmes/accessibility/quick-reference-guides/checklist-for-plain-language.html


The Public Service Commission has guidance on the why and how of implementing the Plain Language Act 2022, but it is very high level stuff and basically links to a couple of agency examples for the practical part.
https://www.publicservice.govt.nz/guidance/plain-language-act-2022-guidance-for-agencies

Privacy 

Where better to go for an example of a privacy statement than the Privacy Commissioner’s website.
https://privacy.org.nz/about-us/transparency-and-accountability/website-privacy-statement/


The website also includes a handy Privacy Statement Generator (the Priv-o-matic) so you can quickly make your own.
https://www.privacy.org.nz/tools/privacy-statement-generator/ 

Signage

For NZ government buildings, there is guidance on branding, wayfinding and signage on the Government Property Group website. Includes advice around colour palettes, artwork, and furniture, as well as DeafSpace considerations and neurodiversity accessibility. https://www.gpg.govt.nz/workplace-design/branding-wayfinding-and-signage-guidelines/


Here’s the Māori-English Bilingual Signage: A guide for best practice from Te Puni Kōkiri.
https://www.tpk.govt.nz/en/nga-putea-me-nga-ratonga/te-reo-maori/tohureorua


Includes a comprehensive PDF with real-life examples of bilingual signs.
https://www.tpk.govt.nz/docs/bilingual-signage/tpk-bilingual-signage-guide.pdf

Social media dos and don’ts

The Public Service Commission has clear guidance on the dos and don’ts of social media for public servants - both in their professional capacity and in their personal life. https://www.publicservice.govt.nz/guidance/guide-he-aratohu/guidance/social-media


NZ Police released their internal social media policy online. Includes a lot of practical advice around content and moderation - particularly around employee behaviour.
https://www.police.govt.nz/about-us/publication/social-media-policy-police-manual-chapter

Social media policy (organisation)

MBIE’s social media terms of use are really helpful - clear, smart info on engagement, monitoring, privacy and copyright.
https://www.mbie.govt.nz/about/engage-with-us-on-social-media/


NZ Parliaments’s social media moderation policy is nice in terms of presenting the info as ‘What to expect from us’ and ‘What we expect from you’.
https://www.parliament.nz/mi/footer/website-help/social-media-moderation-policy-for-nz-parliament/


Whaikaha’s social media community guidelines include simple, clear rules around commenting, messaging, and breaches.
https://www.whaikaha.govt.nz/about-us/programmes-strategies-and-studies/guidelines/social-media-community-guidelines


And here is the Ministry of Education’s terms of use, which brings all of their info into one place, including why they choose to 'follow', 'like' or otherwise establish connections with other organisations and individuals.
https://www.education.govt.nz/social-media-terms-of-use/


Wellington City Council’s Social media House Rules are good, too. They are written in a nice no-nonsense way and get to the point. You can find them at the bottom of this page: https://wellington.govt.nz/news-and-events/news-and-information/social-media

Social media policy (individual)

A wonderful social media policy from a British MP, including extremely sensible ground rules for the channels.
https://www.selainesaxby.org.uk/social-media-policy

Social media strategy

The Social Media Playbook from the UK’s Government Communication Service is a comprehensive read. It covers content and community management, listening, evaluation, and even security. 
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/social-media-playbook


Step-by-step social media strategy advice from the Victorian government, includes strategy and approval templates.
https://www.vic.gov.au/use-social-media


There is also social media advice in the Australian Government Style Manual. https://www.stylemanual.gov.au/content-types/social-media

Social media from the archive

If you want to go back in time to when social media was a much simpler thing, see the Department of Internal Affairs ‘Social Media in Government: High-Level Guidance’ from 2011: 
https://edu.cdhb.health.nz/News/Media-Guide/Documents/Social-Media-in-Government-High-level-Guidance-final.pdf


Or check out the Auditor General’s ‘Learning from public entities’ use of social media’ in 2013.
https://oag.parliament.nz/2013/social-media/docs/social-media.pdf

Style

The gold standard in style guides might well be the Australian Government Style Manual. It is extremely comprehensive and practical, with guidance on everything from writing and designing content, to grammar, punctuation and conventions - even referencing and attribution. https://www.stylemanual.gov.au/ 


There is a bunch of style information from the New Zealand government here:
https://www.digital.govt.nz/standards-and-guidance/design-and-ux/content-design-guidance/writing-style/


And here’s a handy alphabetised list of best practice and rules for punctuation and grammar for public sector websites. 
https://www.digital.govt.nz/standards-and-guidance/design-and-ux/content-design-guidance/grammar-and-punctuation/

Web standards

The NZ Government Web Standards are the official standards that Government organisations need to meet. Includes standards for logos, contact info, copyright and privacy. Also includes self-assessment tools so you can see where you’re are. 
https://www.digital.govt.nz/standards-and-guidance/nz-government-web-standards/

Contrast checker

A simple, effective contrast checker from Utah State University. Gives a contrast ratio as well as pass/fail grades for normal text, large text, and components.
https://webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker/

For additions or queries, email me at seamus@seamus.nz

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