Getting to a government office was historically a barrier. It still is in much of the world.

> there is a law mandating free access to government services

To be clear, I think this is a good thing. I just don't think it's reasonable to assume it to be true.

You can't in general attend government offices in the UK. You can't rock up with your tax return, or apply for a passport, say. You can get paper forms from the Post Office, or sent out from the gov service itself (sometimes, some are digital only) and most libraries (and some other community centres) offer help to access online services.