DOJ

Transforming How DOJ’s Civil Rights Division Engages With the Public

Transforming How DOJ’s Civil Rights Division Engages With the Public—In order to be more responsive to the public’s changing communication needs and the increased reporting volume, the Civil Rights Division, in close collaboration with 18F, has launched a user-friendly online submission experience at civilrights.justice.gov that transforms the way the Division collects, sorts, and responds to civil rights reports. — via 18F

Jul 07, 2020

FOIA Best Practices Workshop Continues This Summer

The Office of Information Policy (OIP) is pleased to announce two new topics and dates for our Best Practices Workshop series as we continue this initiative this summer.

Office of Information Policy, DOJ

May 03, 2017

Updated FOIA Regulation Template and Guidance Now Available

On September 7th, the Office of Information Policy (OIP) released an updated version of its Guidance for Agency Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Regulations, along with an updated FOIA Regulation Template. These resources were first issued in March 2016. OIP has updated them to take into account changes made to the FOIA by the FOIA Improvement

Office of Information Policy

Sep 16, 2016

Once Upon a FOIA Request: How You Can Open Public Records

Like many of you, we watched with great interest this week when a citizen submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) asking them to release to the public Wu-Tang Clan’s album, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin. While official sources explain that the desired outcome is not possible

Justin Herman

Meredith Stewart

Dec 18, 2015

Learn about the Fight Against Transnational Crime with INTERPOL Washington

INTERPOL Washington—What is it? It’s a movie. It’s the latest spy novel…No, it’s a mobile app from INTERPOL Washington, a component of the U.S. Department of Justice. INTERPOL Washington, the United States National Central Bureau, serves as the designated representative to the International Criminal Police Organization

Nirmala Ramprasad

Oct 15, 2015

DigitalGov Summit Recap: No Longer the Team of No

No one likes to be told no. This is especially true at work, when you’re moving toward something that you feel is in the best interest of your customers. But so often in government, our forward progress gets slowed down by others in our organization who we think “just don’t get it”—namely those in content,

Andrea Sigritz

Sep 02, 2015

The API Briefing: Department of Justice Frees the Content with Two New APIs

When websites were first created back in the 1990s, developers perfected their skills designing sites that presented content in an attractive and eye-catching manner. Content was completely contained within the four corners of the site. With the rise of Web 2.0, content

Bill Brantley

Dec 17, 2014

Data Visualization Challenge: Using Open Data to Reduce Crime

Criminal justice agencies collect a variety of information and use it in multiple ways. Having a clear understanding of current realities is critical to shaping policies and improving the administration of

Nancy Merritt

Katie Gresham

Dec 10, 2014

Getting to Work for the American People

Over the last 6 months, 18F has embarked on a mission to transform the way the U.S. Government builds and buys digital services. We’re currently working with more than half a dozen agencies to help them deliver on their missions in a design-centric, agile, open, and data-driven way. How do we say yes to a

18F Team

Sep 25, 2014

A New Look at the Freedom of Information Act

There are many ways the public can get information from the federal government. For example, you can check out Data.gov to find scores of datasets and APIs, agency websites for information about their work, or other important information in online FOIA Libraries. Or you can also just ask for it. Since 1966, the Freedom of

Sep 08, 2014

Multilingual Digital Content

Federal agencies are required to provide meaningful access to government information to people with limited English proficiency. This applies to your agency’s digital content too. You need to determine how much information you need to provide in other languages, based on an assessment of your audience.

Laura Godfrey

Leilani Martinez

Jul 01, 2014

508 Accessible Videos – How to Make Audio Descriptions

What are Audio Descriptions? Audio Description, also called descriptive video or video description, is an additional audio track that describes and gives context for essential visual information. Audio Description makes videos and multimedia accessible to people who have “low vision” (very poor vision), or who are blind, by capturing what

Jonathan Rubin

Ryan Leisinger

Gary Morin

Jun 30, 2014

What Is a “Terms of Service” and How Do I Get One?

Imagine this: You just found a great online tool that can help you do your federal job 100% better. You’re all ready to download it and start conquering the world when someone asks, “Have you checked the Terms of Service?” You’re not sure what they’re