How OGP Local Members in Spain are Making Government More Accessible

SUMMARY
For many people, reading official documents can be confusing and frustrating. When public information isn’t accessible, people struggle to understand the services designed to support them. This is an even greater challenge for individuals with intellectual disabilities. To address this, local governments across Spain are embracing reforms to make public information easier to understand. Learn more about how OGP Local members in Aragon, Madrid, and Navarra are working to co-create policies with citizens, simplify tax procedures to benefit both residents and administrations, and train civil servants to communicate more effectively.

For many people, reading official documents can be confusing and frustrating. This is an even greater challenge for individuals with intellectual disabilities. Alejandro García Torrubia, a resident of Aragon, explains that, “Official documents use complicated language that makes you ask yourself, ‘How do I figure out what’s needed?’”

When public information isn’t accessible, people struggle to understand the services designed to support them. This can leave them feeling abandoned by public institutions and lead to a breakdown in trust. But access to information goes beyond it being available—it’s about understanding. Using plain language is key to this goal. Clear, simple, and jargon-free communication helps people make informed decisions and builds trust between citizens and government.

Across Spain, local governments are embracing this approach. Through the Open Government Partnership Local program, reformers in Aragon, Madrid, and Navarra, along with broader efforts in regions like the Basque Country, Valencia, Catalonia, and Asturias, are making public information easier to understand. These efforts include co-creating policies with citizens, simplifying tax procedures to benefit both residents and administrations, and training civil servants to communicate more effectively.

The Power of Co-Creation in Aragon

Official documents often contain technical jargon, passive language, and complex phrasing. These barriers are intensified when marginalized groups are not included in the process of creating documents or the information is not adapted to meet diverse needs, excluding many from participating in public life.

Aragon responded with Gobierno Fácil (Easy Government), an award-winning initiative from their 2021–2023 OGP Local action plan. The program focuses on bringing together the government and people with disabilities to rewrite and redesign administrative texts in plain, accessible language. These efforts are supported by trained “validators” who review and adapt complex documents into easy-to-read formats.

Each month, organizations like Plena inclusión Aragón collaborate with different institutions—such as health or education—to identify critical materials. Validators, who have a disability and receive training on cognitive accessibility, then translate these into formats that are simpler and clearer for all citizens. David López, a long-time validator, shares, “I’ve been adapting texts for eight years, like school applications and COVID-19 information. Sometimes I don’t understand them at first, but with support, we make them easier. It helps us live fuller lives.”

Elisa Barrera Meneses from Plena Inclusión Aragón describes that “Aragon was interested in opening up its public policies and making them easier to understand for different population groups. Plena Inclusión had the knowledge to make these plans accessible to people with comprehension difficulties, with the participation and technical capacity of our easy-to-read and cognitive accessibility teams.”

Throughout the process, over 100 people with disabilities have worked alongside public officials to make government services more accessible, from disability recognition documents to justice guides and school enrollment forms.

Simplifying Fiscal Policy in Madrid

While Aragon is working across a wide range of public services, Madrid is applying plain language principles to specific areas, such as taxation.

Angela Pérez Brunete, General Director of Transparency at Madrid City Council, notes “Clear tax communication is, in itself, a very demanding and complex challenge. Many see the mere idea of ‘clear tax communication’ as an oxymoron. The tax collection process is rooted in legal frameworks that often limit how much the language can be simplified.”

The complexity creates obstacles for both residents and the local government. When people struggle to understand how taxes work or where their money goes, it leads to frustration, lower compliance, and ultimately poorer public services.

Since 2024, Madrid City Council, in partnership with the Madrid Tax Agency has taken steps to improve communication between the administration and the public. This includes redesigning documents, removing barriers such as language obstacles (technical jargon, legal complexity) and usability issues (navigation problems, unclear design), training staff, testing new tools, and ensuring accessibility at every stage.

Pérez Brunete notes, “Plain language signals empathy. It reduces frustration and builds trust. For the administration, it improves reputation and streamlines the tax collection process.”

Alongside higher satisfaction, greater trust and improved quality and accessibility of public services for citizens, it’s been a game-changer for the local government. Simple, clear language reduces the need for in-person support, minimizes errors, lowers the number of complaints, while increasing efficiency.

These efforts build on the Council’s work from 2017 with the creation and pilot of a Practical Guide to Clear Communication, which tested the principles on their website and in-staff training. In 2020, the project was expanded to a city-wide review of its communication materials, identifying where residents struggled most — from dense legal wording in notices to confusing layouts in online forms. These findings shaped a set of priority actions moving forward, including a focus on taxation.

Bridging the Gap between Civil Servants and the Public in Navarra

While the primary goal is to make public communication understandable for everyone, this isn’t possible without those delivering services being able to apply the principles. As Jon Iriarte, Head of the Citizen Service Section, points out, “The greatest challenge is a change in the aptitude of the workers themselves.”

Navarra consists of 30,000 civil servants. One of the main obstacles facing the region is that despite extensive public services, around a third of its population still struggles to understand administrative procedures due to excessive bureaucracy. To address this, the region has launched a plain language and easy reading training program as part of its OGP Local action plan (2025–2027).

The initiative includes both in-person and online training designed to reach as many staff as possible, especially those in registries, citizen service offices, and local entities. The training focuses not only on writing clearly but also on verbal communication and cultural change, embedding accessibility into everyday administrative practices. But the commitment goes further, ensuring inclusion at every stage by embedding ongoing citizen feedback that directly shapes training priorities, driving both efficiency and effectiveness. “We saw the need to provide simple, foundational training for all staff, all the way to the highest-level civil servants,” says Iriarte. He adds that “It’s a practical way to generate internal agents who can help us convey clearer messages to citizens.”

Ana Etxaleku, from the Citizen Participation and Volunteering Section, adds, “If public servants can adopt the lens of accessibility, it becomes part of how we serve. If they can’t reach people, we simply won’t succeed.”

This approach also includes awareness campaigns, policy reviews, and partnerships with civil society to co-develop accessible materials. The long-term vision is communication that enables full public participation and brings policy closer to communities.

When creating the digital modules, the videos were made in collaboration with disability associations, featuring their members to ensure authentic representation. Training on clear language and easy reading was delivered by ANFAS,¹ an association of people with intellectual disabilities, reflecting a commitment to having people with disabilities lead the training. In this way, inclusion becomes not just a principle but a living process, continually shaped by the voices and needs of the public.

¹ In Spanish, ANFAS stands for the “Asociación navarra en favor de las personas con discapacidad intelectual o del desarrollo,” or the Navarra Association for People with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities.

The Evolution from Access to True Understanding

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the International Day for Universal Access to Information. OGP Local members offer powerful examples of what it means to move from simply making information available to ensuring that it is truly understood. It’s more than simply publishing information—rather, it’s about co-creating content, particularly with groups often excluded from public participation. It also involves partnering with civil society organizations that represent marginalized communities and training both public servants to embed the shift.

The three local governments highlighted here are far from the only examples. In fact, this movement is visible across OGP Local members in Spain. In the Basque Country, the PEGIP 2020 strategy prioritized plain language in digital services. Catalonia’s Department of Social Rights introduced easy-to-read requirements into its Accessibility Code and published a Clear Communication Guide. Asturias launched their own Gobierno Fácil program via its Virtual Office for Universal Accessibility to simplify public websites and procedures. Valencia improved its transparency portal, conducted accessibility audits, and introduced a Clear Language Guide to make public information easier to understand. These efforts demonstrate the growing transformation toward inclusive, citizen-centered governance across Spain.

As Alejandro García Torrubia puts it, “I am convinced that all these [local governments], not just in Spain, will see that initiatives like this will have an impact and inspire more participation.”