To build trust, aim for easy
Trust is earned through consistency and commitment. Build sites that build trust by considering user needs, respecting people’s time, and avoiding customer experience pitfalls.
Accessibility
The design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities
More News and Events on Accessibility
102 posts
Accessibility Testing for onrr.gov
How do you make sure a website is accessible? This blog post outlines the four steps the Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR - pronounced like ‘honor’) at the U.S. Department of the Interior took to verify accessibility. — via Office of Natural Resources Revenue
Sunsetting Go.USA.gov: Final User Statistics
The digital landscape has changed significantly since we launched the Go.USA.gov service in 2009. Over the last two years the team looked carefully at the program holistically, taking into consideration the future of the program, the current landscape related to using shortened URLs and alignment with strategic business goals. In early 2022 we made the difficult decision to initiate steps to sunset the service. — via USA.gov
National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM)
Observed annually in October, NDEAM celebrates the contributions of America’s workers with disabilities past and present and showcases supportive, inclusive employment policies and practices. In recognition of the important role people with disabilities play in a diverse and inclusive American workforce, the theme for NDEAM 2022, Disability: Part of the Equity Equation. — via Department of Labor
Plain Language
2022 Federal Plain Language Summit
Join the best and brightest plain language practitioners from across the federal government.
2022
Measuring and Justifying the Government Experience
Measuring and Justifying the Government Experience—Private sector organizations use revenue as the primary measurement to justify improving experiences. Many government services don’t have revenue as a lever, so how can we justify work to improve experience? The Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) leveraged a few metrics on their team that fall into three categories: laws and regulations, improving the experience for users, and saving time for employees. — via Office of Natural Resources Revenue
Community Research Explores Ways To Improve Access To Multilingual Content
A group from the Multilingual Community noticed inconsistencies in access to languages other than English across government websites, and have started working on a solution.
User Experience
2022 Government UX Summit
A two-day summit—June 7 and June 8—with experts who will share their experiences as UX practitioners in the federal government.
2022
10 Tips to Create, Maintain, and Present Non-English Digital Content: A Q&A with Michael Mulé
This question and answer session for our webinar, Language Connections: Tips to Create, Maintain, and Present Non-English Digital Content, can help you improve access to your multilingual digital content.
Web Analytics Optimization
Optimization Case Study: Performance, SEO, and Accessibility with CFPB
Join three technologists from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) as they discuss methods used to ensure that the CFPB website is discoverable and fully accessible to all.
Watch Video
2022
Our friends at Digital.gov will join us to talk through their experience migrating to USWDS 3.0.
2022
Sunshine Week: How GSA Supports Open Government Principles
Sunshine Week (March 13-19, 2022) celebrates the Government in the Sunshine Act, which promotes greater transparency in government activities. Our mission at GSA is to deliver effective and efficient government services for the American people. To do so, we have to be transparent and accessible—by opening meetings to the public, ensuring that federal buildings and facilities are fully accessible to all people, and making information on documents or pages (web pages, PDFs, newsletters, etc.) open and accessible. Learn about some of our initiatives that best display these principles.
Creating a New Way for People To Discover Government Benefits
Creating a New Way for People To Discover Government Benefits—To make it even easier for everyone to find services and benefits without needing to understand government structure, we’re developing a new digital tool in partnership with 10x, GSA’s incremental technology fund. BEARS, the Benefits Eligibility Awareness Resource Service, is an important step forward in providing an integrated, simple solution for federal benefits to improve the customer experience and will eventually cover all federal benefits from all agencies. — via USA.gov
Lessons from the 2021 Federal Plain Language Report Card
During the Digital.gov and Plain Language Community event, Results of the 2021 Federal Report Card, speaker David Lipscomb gave examples of web content that received both high and low scores in the 2021 Plain Language Report Card. Here’s what we learned.
From Fellowship To Full-time: How a CFPB Software Engineer Helped Protect Consumers and Built a Career in Civic Tech
Anselm Bradford, a front-end engineer at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), is using his tech skills to protect American consumers.
Multilingual & Web Content
Language Connections: Tips to Create, Maintain, and Present Non-English Digital Content
Tips to help you improve access to your non-English digital content.
Watch Video
2022
Next Steps for Section 508 Compliance at the Office of Natural Resources Revenue: Stakeholder Interview Findings
Next Steps for Section 508 Compliance at the Office of Natural Resources Revenue: Stakeholder Interview Findings—Accessibility is the foundation for inclusion, diversity, and equity within the federal government. The main way the government establishes accessibility requirements for information and communication technology is through Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. Our team recently documented the steps we took to ensure all documents on onrr.gov are Section 508 compliant. This daunting task is now complete! Read interview findings and discover the next steps used to ensure ONRR continues to be at the forefront of Section 508 compliance. — via Office of Natural Resources Revenue
Create accessible meetings
In recent years, how agencies gather, collaborate, discuss, share, and learn has changed from largely in-person meetings and conference calls to virtual meetings. Now, meetings are often virtual, or a hybrid of in-person and remote participants. For this reason, accessibility can and should be seamlessly integrated into your meeting. Use this guide to make your next meeting accessible to attendees with disabilities in compliance with Section 508 and other disability rights laws. — via Section508.gov
FAR Updated To Add Revised Section 508 Standards for Information and Communication Technology
FAR Updated To Add Revised Section 508 Standards for Information and Communication Technology—On January 18, 2017, the U.S. Access Board issued a final rule (the Revised 508 Standards) that updated accessibility requirements covered by Section 508 for Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Read more about the final FAR rule update and changes effective as of September 10, 2021. — via Section508.gov
Plain Language
2021 Federal Plain Language Summit
On 9/21/21, PLAIN’s Fourth Federal PL Summit showcases federal employees’ plain language projects. Topics include COVID-19 agency responses, accessibility, user experience, and career enhancement.
2021
