Digital Accessibility

The Digital Service at CMS (DSAC) works to help all people in the U.S. access healthcare, contributing to CMS’s broader mission. This includes giving people actionable, plain language information and making digital health technology available to people with disabilities. 

Our Work

FindSupport.gov

In collaboration with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA) and the White House Domestic Policy Council, DSAC developed a plain language, accessible website to help people navigate getting care and support for issues with mental health, drugs, or alcohol. Taking a trauma-informed research approach, we learned that people needed a trustworthy resource on how to cope, pay for treatment, support loved ones, and deal with a crisis situation. 

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline Accessibility Improvements.

During usability research with people who leverage screen readers, DSAC identified opportunities to collaborate with the technology industry (including Apple, Google, and Samsung) to make 988 more accessible during a crisis. We also worked with SAMHSA on decreasing call wait times, resulting in an expected 36,000 more calls answered over the next year.

Learn more about our work