Learn about the USWDS component lifecycle, and how you can suggest a new component.
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2024
Blogs
Government teams are improving digital experiences every day. Gain insights from their stories, case studies, and innovations.
Timeless top 10 best practices for great government websites
While the field of federal web management continues to evolve, the core best practices have remained essentially unchanged for two decades.
Balancing priorities and values
This article summarizes four priorities and values that simply take time: consideration of the public’s time, privacy, accessibility and equity, and scope.
Getting the word out about voter registration: Vote.gov’s first social media takeover with USAGov
Last fall, vote.gov and the USAGov program partnered for their first-ever social media takeover on National Voter Registration Day. The campaign, which encouraged the public to register to vote, reached 36,000 people across USAGov’s platforms and generated over 2,000 engagements. The partnership raised awareness for vote.gov, boosted vote.gov’s website traffic, and laid the groundwork for the future collaborations and resource-sharing between the two entities. This collaboration between vote.gov and USAGov offers a model for social media takeovers and partnerships between federal agencies and teams.— via USA.gov
Gathering feedback with customer panels
Explore behind-the-scenes process of creating customer panels for the .gov domain registrar, managed by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). By engaging with current users through a customer panel, the team gained direct insights, identified areas for immediate improvement, and discovered new features for the product roadmap. Learn the approach involved and how the outcomes highlight the panel’s impact on defining language, improving usability, and generating ideas for future features.— via 18F
Designing with empathy
Discover the transformative power of empathy in design with USAGov’s benefit finder. From simplifying applications to a mobile-first approach, the revamped tool not only functions efficiently in two different languages and cultural contexts, but demonstrates the consideration for users in challenging situations. Explore how empathy turned a government service into a compassionate lifeline, creating a product that genuinely understands and meets people where they are.— via USA.gov
Maximizing impact of federal websites: Integrating metrics with annual goals and policies
The Open Data, Design, and Development (ODDD) team discusses how OMB’s recent memo, Delivering a Digital-First Public Experience (M-23-22), inspired them to reassess their metrics plan to harmonize with policies governing federal public websites.— via Office of Natural Resources Revenue
In 2023, TTS stepped up to meet growing technology demands for government
GSA’s Technology Transformation Services (TTS) celebrated major milestones and met growing demand for its services in 2023. This wrap-up summaries key successes in five areas: improving customer experience, modernizing federal technology, innovating for the future, focus on equity and accessibility, and building the technology workforce of tomorrow.— via General Services Administration
Webinar: Non-Compliant Permanent Digitized Records FAQ
On January 10, 2024, NARA hosted a webinar to walk through frequently asked questions about and discuss options and paths for non-compliant digitized permanent records. The discussion also covered the upcoming June 30, 2024 deadline in M-23-07 for NARA to stop accepting records in analog format.— via National Archives and Records Administration
Customer experience and human-centered design
Customer experience is the application of design within a business context to craft the human experience.
This month the Design System team will talk about the development and rollout of their new accessibility tests for components.
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2024
Accessibility testing: Creating digital services everyone can use
Making sure that USA.gov and USAGov en Español remain accessible to people with disabilities is essential. The product team shares four testing tips they’ve learned to help ensure that everyone has equal access to digital products and services.— via USA.gov
GSA Issues Report to Congress Highlighting Need for Improvement in Federal Government Section 508 Compliance
The report, the FY23 Governmentwide Section 508 Assessment, evaluates reporting entities’ adherence to the criteria established by the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in coordination with GSA, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), and the U.S. Access Board (USAB). It provides a baseline and recommendations for strengthening compliance initiatives and enhancing Section 508 activities across the federal government.— via General Services Administration
OMB Releases Digital Accessibility Guidance to Ensure All Americans Have Ability to Access Critical Government Resources
The Biden-Harris Administration is championing inclusivity by requiring federal agencies to prioritize accessibility in the digital space, recognizing the gap in access for the 61 million Americans with disabilities on nearly half of popular federal government websites. The new guidance mandates rigorous testing, inclusion of individuals with disabilities in design processes, and the incorporation of experts in procurement, emphasizing a commitment to universal access. Read more to discover how these measures aim to change the federal digital experience for all Americans.— via The White House
Amplifying customer voices
Understand how to use natural language processing and advanced analytics to gain insights on high-impact service performance and survey design.
Less is more: Improving the public’s web search experience with filters
Explore the evolution of search experiences on federal websites as Search.gov introduces customizable search filters, providing users with the same flexibility familiar from e-commerce sites. Devolve into the NASA case study, uncovering how this innovative feature enhances accessibility and efficiency for a seamless user journey.— via USA.gov
Making GSA’s public art collection more accessible
GSA’s Fine Arts team recently leveraged modern product development practices to launch the new collection website.
Sharing artifacts and outputs from research
Have you conducted user research and are now wondering which artifacts or outputs you can share and with whom? 18F provides tips on determining your target audiences, using discretion for sensitive data, and ensuring that such work complies with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA).— via 18F
Extended comment period on draft FedRAMP memo
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is requesting public comment on a new draft memorandum to strengthen and enhance the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP). The comment period for the Modernizing the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) memo has been extended to December 22, 2023.— via FedRAMP
Delivering on 21st Century IDEA: A case study from the GSA SmartPay team (Part 3)
A GSA SmartPay product owner shares her experience designing user-centered, accessible content for multiple audiences.
