Not everyone can benefit from your digital service.

The framework in numbers

• 130+ User research sessions
• 12 Research-backed personas
• 6 Domains of digital exclusion
• 126 Barrier clusters identified

Digital inclusion must be assessed, not assumed.

Digital services are now a main route into healthcare, public services, education, housing, benefits and support. When people cannot access, trust or complete them, exclusion can deepen inequalities, create poor service experiences, increase staff workload and undermine confidence in services.

Many organisations are committed to digital inclusion. Yet teams are often designing, commissioning and improving digital services without a structured way to see where exclusion happens, who is affected and what to do about it.

Standard markers of success show part of the picture: the page loads, the form gets submitted, the pathway exists and some people complete the task.

DIF looks across the service journey: where people are blocked, delayed, pushed to rely on others, lose confidence, make mistakes, abandon the task or never start.

The framework — Assess → Improve → Include

DIF turns digital inclusion from a broad ambition into a practical toolkit and self-assessment. It gives organisations a structured way to assess digital exclusion across a service, product or pathway and turn that evidence into practical action.

• Step 01 Assess —
• Step 02 Improve —
• Step 03 Include —

DIF in practice — One framework. Built for different decisions.

• DIF for NHS and health/care teams — For NHS and health/care teams designing, commissioning, reviewing or improving digital services and pathways. Use it to assess digital exclusion risks, strengthen Equality and Health Inequalities Impact Assessments, review digital pathways, and support more inclusive digital transformation. Download: DIF for NHS and health/care teams
• DIF for product and service teams — For product teams, service designers, user researchers and digital teams developing or improving digital services across sectors. Use it to identify inclusion risks early, test assumptions about users and support needs, strengthen adoption plans, and support responsible innovation. Download: DIF for product and service teams
• DIF for research and evaluation — For researchers and evaluators studying digital exclusion, service journeys, user experience, technology adoption, responsible innovation or research impact. Use it to structure data collection, analyse barriers, compare patterns across services, and translate findings into practical recommendations. Download: DIF for research and evaluation

Supporting Resources — Tools and evidence behind DIF.

Digital inclusion resources that help you assess digital exclusion and act on it — the Barrier Library, DIF personas, applied guidance and an emerging self-assessment.

• The Barrier Library — A searchable evidence base of digital exclusion barriers, built from 130+ user research and service testing sessions. Browse the Barrier Library
• DIF personas — Twelve research-grounded personas that help teams test whether a service works beyond the “average user”. Browse the 12 DIF personas
• Case studies — Examples of how DIF has been applied in health, care, public services, innovation and research contexts.
• Other resources — Additional materials for understanding digital exclusion and DIF.

Rooted in health and care. Expanding across digital services.

The Digital Inclusion Framework was first developed at the University of Sussex by Professor Debbie Keeling and Dr Maja Golf-Papez, in collaboration with NHS Sussex and with support from Health Innovation Kent Surrey Sussex, especially Katherine Sykes.

The first version was informed by academic research, national reports and digital health inclusion pilots. It was then tested and refined with clinicians, commissioners, support workers, patient representatives, digital teams, and digital inclusion and accessibility specialists across NHS Sussex.

Today, Maja and Debbie lead the continued development of DIF. The framework is kept current through ongoing academic research and direct evidence from people using digital services. It is now expanding beyond health and care, with tailored versions, a growing Barrier Library, personas and practical resources that help organisations across sectors assess, evidence and act on digital exclusion.

Common questions about DIF.

What is the Digital Inclusion Framework?

The Digital Inclusion Framework (DIF) is a research-led framework for assessing digital exclusion in a service, product or pathway. It examines six domains of exclusion across the full service journey, turning digital inclusion from a broad ambition into a structured assessment that produces evidence and practical actions. It was developed at the University of Sussex.

What are the six domains of digital exclusion?

Awareness, Access & Affordability, Skills & Digital Support, Trust, Accessibility & Usability, and Motivation. Each is assessed across four journey stages - awareness, consideration, use, and post/ongoing use - so a service can be examined at the point where people are actually blocked, rather than only at sign-up.

What is the difference between digital inclusion and digital accessibility?

Accessibility is one part of digital inclusion, not a synonym. In DIF, Accessibility & Usability is one of six domains. A service can meet accessibility standards and still exclude people who cannot afford data, do not trust the service, lack support to use it, or never learn it exists. Digital inclusion covers all six.

Who is the Digital Inclusion Framework for?

Three groups, each with a tailored edition: NHS and health or care teams designing, commissioning or reviewing digital services; product teams, service designers and user researchers developing digital services across sectors; and researchers and evaluators studying digital exclusion, service journeys and technology adoption.

How do you assess digital exclusion in a service?

DIF uses three steps. Assess: examine the service through the six domains across the full journey. Improve: use the evidence to understand impact on people, staff workload and outcomes, then prioritise changes. Include: embed digital inclusion into design, procurement, equality assessment, evaluation and ongoing review so the same barriers are not recreated.

What evidence is the framework based on?

DIF draws on 130+ user research sessions across NHS, government and everyday digital services, which produced 126 identified barrier clusters and 12 research-backed personas. The framework was tested and refined with clinicians, commissioners, support workers, patient representatives and digital inclusion specialists across NHS Sussex.

Who developed the Digital Inclusion Framework?

It was developed at the University of Sussex by Professor Debbie Keeling and Dr Maja Golf-Papez, in collaboration with NHS Sussex and with support from Health Innovation Kent Surrey Sussex. The Barrier Library and persona evidence base were supported by the UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).

Is the Digital Inclusion Framework free to use?

The practical guides for NHS and health or care teams, product and service teams, and researchers are free to download from this site. The framework itself is IP-protected and owned by the University of Sussex and NHS Sussex. For use beyond fair-use citation, contact [email protected].

Explore the resources on your own or work with us directly.

DIF is built to be used - independently or with our support. Teams can draw on the framework, Barrier Library and Personas directly. Or work with us to apply DIF to a specific service, product or pathway through a facilitated workshop, a full digital inclusion assessment, or a longer-term strategic partnership. We also collaborate on research, evaluation and grant applications and can support organisations in building their own digital inclusion maturity over time.