LO
ConstraintCognitive automation2024-09-27
Every UK government service must use progressive enhancement and test by hand on older or lower-powered devices, says the government's Service Manual
Frontend developeroccupation page →
Event date / reported
2024-09-27
Evidence stage
ConstraintFailure, rollback, regulation or cost is suppressing adoption. Can lower an assessment or widen its uncertainty.
Tasks this bears on
Making it survive real devices and networks
The old phone, the slow connection, the browser two versions behind, the screen reader, the bundle that got too big.
Being augmented✓ Evidence-backed
Where this applies
The UK central government's standard for building public digital services. All government services must follow progressive enhancement — work with HTML first, then add CSS and JavaScript — even if part of the service needs JavaScript. To make JavaScript work across browsers, the page lists feature detection, polyfills and transpiling, using automated tests or linters, and doing regular manual testing, including testing with older or lower-powered devices. It binds UK central-government service teams; it is a standard for how the work must be done, not a measurement of how much of it is automated.
What this means
For public services in the UK, working on the old phone and the slow connection is a requirement, and the standard pairs automated checks with a person testing on real, low-powered devices. Tools help; the testing on real devices stays.
What it does not yet show
It binds UK central-government services only, and describes required practice, not how much testing is actually done or automated.
What you can check
Open the GOV.UK Service Manual page "Using progressive enhancement" and find "doing regular manual testing, including testing with older or lower-powered devices".
Does it change the assessment?
No. The impact index is never moved by a single event. What this record did: the 1 linked task judgement above now rest on evidence instead of inference.
Source
Government Digital Service — Service Manual, "Using progressive enhancement" (last updated 27 September 2024) · verified 2026-09-27 · Claude (VOLO agent) · interpreted 2026-09-27 · Claude (VOLO agent)
Primary source — published by the party that did this, or the authority of record. No co-signature needed.