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Guidance on building better digital services in government
Good written and verbal communications make the government more effective and trustworthy.
Communicating with the public requires content that’s accurate, relevant, easy-to-use, and conveyed in plain language. Maximize the quality and integrity of information provided to the public by staying informed, connecting with other federal communicators, and implementing best practices shared by trusted resources.
Learn how to partner with social media influencers and design, implement, and measure an influencer program.
The CDC Clear Communication Index is a research-based tool to help you develop and assess public communication materials.
A resource to help federal employees write in plain language and comply with the Plain Writing Act of 2010.
A guide for government employees and contractors to understand and use pronouns in the workplace.
What is translation technology? This introductory resource will help you understand how and when to use translation technology to provide meaningful access for people with limited English proficiency.
Understand how and why to use plain language on government websites and other digital services
Discover how to create and maintain a successful podcast at your federal agency.
Help create inclusive digital spaces with these tips for using self-descriptions in virtual meetings or conference calls.
This event recap highlights best practices, a short case study video, and examples of federal web content that received both high and low scores in the 2021 Plain Language Report Card.
Wendy Wagner-Smith of the Small Business Administration (SBA) shares her tips and tricks for presenting virtually.
Improve written and verbal communication to make government more effective.
To support people working to enhance access to federal information technology (IT), we identify and promote best practices for compliance with Section 508 law, and conformance to the Revised 508 Standards.
Promote the use of plain language to provide better service to the public.
Create a better online experience for the public alongside government web content managers.
The Office of Natural Resources Revenue’s Open Data, Design, and Development (ODD) team is taking on management of a fourth website, despite being short-staffed. As a result, they have revisited and reprioritized their yearly goals. To do so, they utilized a prioritization matrix, developed a structured impact assessment, and laid out a transition plan. Their process ensured realistic workload adjustments, improved team morale, and highlighted the importance of practical goal-setting, especially when teams are short-staffed.— via Office of Natural Resources Revenue
18F recently celebrated its 10th anniversary by renewing its commitment to refining and sharing best practices through regular publications, tech talks, and updates to The 18F Engineering Guide. They also instructed a permanent principal consulting engineer role to enhance digital service delivery and support skill development within the organization.— via 18F
The summit highlighted digital transformation, emphasizing the significance of recent OMB memos for improving accessibility and customer experience.
More Veterans are turning to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for healthcare and benefits, accessing these services online through tools like the VA Health and Benefits mobile app and VA.gov. With over 2.28 million app downloads and 17.8 million monthly visitors on VA.gov, these digital tools provide faster, easier, and more inclusive access to VA services. Learn more about how these technologies are often Veterans’ first interaction with VA by watching their latest video, Digital Front Door: Expanding Access to VA.— via U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
At USA.gov and USAGov en Español, the goal is to make content more useful to the public, and meta descriptions are one way to help people quickly find the government information they’re looking for. These brief summaries of webpage content appear in search engine results to entice users to click through, attracting visitors to agency websites. Regularly updating these descriptions based on user data can enhance their effectiveness. Read in more detail about their three tips to create effective meta descriptions: identify commonly searched keywords, write engaging and actionable descriptions, and ensure each one is unique.— via USA.gov
Learn how to partner with social media influencers and design, implement, and measure an influencer program.
The CDC Clear Communication Index is a research-based tool to help you develop and assess public communication materials.
A resource to help federal employees write in plain language and comply with the Plain Writing Act of 2010.
A guide for government employees and contractors to understand and use pronouns in the workplace.
What is translation technology? This introductory resource will help you understand how and when to use translation technology to provide meaningful access for people with limited English proficiency.
Understand how and why to use plain language on government websites and other digital services
Discover how to create and maintain a successful podcast at your federal agency.
Help create inclusive digital spaces with these tips for using self-descriptions in virtual meetings or conference calls.
This event recap highlights best practices, a short case study video, and examples of federal web content that received both high and low scores in the 2021 Plain Language Report Card.
Wendy Wagner-Smith of the Small Business Administration (SBA) shares her tips and tricks for presenting virtually.
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The Office of Natural Resources Revenue’s Open Data, Design, and Development (ODD) team is taking on management of a fourth website, despite being short-staffed. As a result, they have revisited and reprioritized their yearly goals. To do so, they utilized a prioritization matrix, developed a structured impact assessment, and laid out a transition plan. Their process ensured realistic workload adjustments, improved team morale, and highlighted the importance of practical goal-setting, especially when teams are short-staffed.— via Office of Natural Resources Revenue
18F recently celebrated its 10th anniversary by renewing its commitment to refining and sharing best practices through regular publications, tech talks, and updates to The 18F Engineering Guide. They also instructed a permanent principal consulting engineer role to enhance digital service delivery and support skill development within the organization.— via 18F
The summit highlighted digital transformation, emphasizing the significance of recent OMB memos for improving accessibility and customer experience.
More Veterans are turning to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for healthcare and benefits, accessing these services online through tools like the VA Health and Benefits mobile app and VA.gov. With over 2.28 million app downloads and 17.8 million monthly visitors on VA.gov, these digital tools provide faster, easier, and more inclusive access to VA services. Learn more about how these technologies are often Veterans’ first interaction with VA by watching their latest video, Digital Front Door: Expanding Access to VA.— via U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
At USA.gov and USAGov en Español, the goal is to make content more useful to the public, and meta descriptions are one way to help people quickly find the government information they’re looking for. These brief summaries of webpage content appear in search engine results to entice users to click through, attracting visitors to agency websites. Regularly updating these descriptions based on user data can enhance their effectiveness. Read in more detail about their three tips to create effective meta descriptions: identify commonly searched keywords, write engaging and actionable descriptions, and ensure each one is unique.— via USA.gov
How to engage leadership personally, adapt communication styles, and choose appropriate timing for effective interactions and feedback.
It has been a year since USA.gov and USAGov en Español were relaunched using human-centered design principles. Using task backlog, the USAGov team has addressed content gaps, improved discoverability, and implemented technical updates. Through usability tests, visitor comments, and click behavior the team was able to unravel and respond to user feedback and unmet needs, leading to noticeable increases in visitor satisfaction and task accomplishment. Moving forward, the focus will shift to enhancing public engagement with the government, improving the search for benefits-related content, and exploring interactive and personalized user experiences.— via USA.gov
The Federal Emergency Management Agency Office of External Affairs is convening risk and crisis communicators and community leaders who are on the front-line of the climate and emerging hazard crises. Attend the free, June 10, 2024, summit virtually, or in Washington, DC. The agenda includes: the sharing invaluable tools and insights, how to implement culturally competent and accessible communications, how to integrate behavior change strategies, and more. An ASL interpreter will be provided.— via Federal Emergency Management Agency
Performance.gov invites you to participate in their #GovPossible campaign to celebrate Public Service Recognition Week (PSRW)! Recognize the invaluable efforts of government employees who ensure that the everyday needs of Americans are met. Access a range of tools and resources to help you join the #GovPossible campaign and show your support. The #GovPossible toolkit makes it easy for you to participate in this important (and fun!) campaign.— via Performance.gov
How well do 18F software development practices work? The 18F team reflected on a recent project for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) .gov registry to gauge the effectiveness of six recommendations aligned with what they actually did.— via 18F
The Open Data, Design, and Development (ODDD) team has replaced signed consent forms with a more accessible user research agreement process, offering multiple opt-in points. This ensures informed consent and participant autonomy. Explore why and how the ODDD team implemented this comprehensive participant consent process in their user research.— via Office of Natural Resources Revenue
As a bilingual program, USAGov aims to give English and Spanish-language audiences the information they want in the cultural context they need. Here are a few main things the team learned when transcreating messaging through the USAGov and USAGov en Español outreach channels.— via USA.gov
OMB released new policy guidance for government that includes a variety of actions and standards to help federal agencies design, develop, and deliver modern websites and digital services. Memo M-23-22, Delivering a Digital-First Public Experience, will make it seamless for the public to obtain government information and services online, and help agencies fully implement the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act (21st Century IDEA).— via The White House
Project handoffs are not simple. Teams have their own cultures and work styles. Without planning, a project could lose institutional memory, time, quality, and funding when it passes from one team to the next. Here are 6 lessons we learned as a recent project changed hands.— via USA.gov
What is the best case style to use for titles and headings? For the new USAGov websites, we discuss the decision to use sentence case on USAGov products.— via USA.gov
Bots can help us improve our inclusivity by gently nudging us to use more appropriate language, explaining why some terms are offensive, and prompting us to consider others.
As plain language writers and editors, we need to demonstrate the value we bring to projects. This writeup explains how to calculate the costs of our work and articulate its value.
Showing appreciation works best when it’s not one-size-fits all. Here are 10 ideas to get started.
Digital.gov
An official website of the U.S. General Services Administration
