The U.S. Web Design System (USWDS) team will go over some basics of Web Components and how they apply to the design system.
Watch Video
2024
Software Engineering
Develop websites and services that are secure, reliable, and easy to maintain.
Federal websites are essential tools for unifying and communicating government information with the public in a timely manner. A well-developed website builds public trust in government and provides users with access to information when they need it. Follow up-to-date technical standards and software best practices to build accessible websites and digital services.
Related Policy
21st Century IDEA) & M-23-22
Software engineering: essential knowledge
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An introduction to GitHub
Understand how to create, manage, and publish website content in GitHub.
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Accessibility for front-end developers
Ensure that people with different abilities can access, understand, and navigate web content, regardless of how they’re accessing it.
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An advanced approach to accessibility
How to develop websites with accessibility requirements in mind.
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Technology Transformation Services (TTS) Engineering Practices Guide
Aim for consistency around deployments, communications, and workflows.
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U.S. Web Design System: Getting started for developers
Understand how to get started using the Design System by installing, compiling, and customizing code.
Software Engineering events
Join the U.S. Web Design System team for a lesson on customizing and extending the design system.
Watch Video
2024
Contributing to USWDS
USWDS Monthly Call - June 2022
What you need to know before contributing to USWDS.
2022
Optimizing Performance with USWDS 3.0
USWDS Monthly Call - May 2022
The U.S. Web Design System (USWDS) team will show you how to reduce CSS size and optimize build time with the design system.
2022
New resources for developers who are new to USWDS.
2022
Software Engineering news
Amplifying customer voices
Understand how to use natural language processing and advanced analytics to gain insights on high-impact service performance and survey design.
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.
Managing a high-performing dream team in the federal government
Discover how the Open Data, Design, and Development (ODDD) team at the Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) transformed their federal projects with Agile methodologies, creating a culture of collaboration, accountability, and openness. From unique sprint names to engaging traditions and innovative knowledge-sharing practices, this blog post offers insights into building a high-performing dream team in government. — via Office of Natural Resources Revenue
Catching up with the TANF Data Portal project
Around 800,000 low-income American families receive cash assistance through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) each month. 18F and the Administration for Children & Families’ Office of Family Assistance partnered on building a new data portal for TANF. We caught up with Office of Family Assistance leaders to see how their agency is continuing with the work. — via 18F
U.S. Digital Corps
Making Impact at Scale: Software Engineering in the Federal Government
Engineering fellows with the U.S. Digital Corps share their paths to becoming software engineers and why they decide to use their skills to improve government services.
Resources on Software Engineering
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An introduction to ATOs
What is an Authorization to Operate? Before you use software in government, you need to make sure it is allowed. You should know what an ATO is and when you need one.
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U.S. Web Design System
A design system for the federal government that makes it easier to build accessible, mobile-friendly government websites for the American public.
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Revised 508 Standards Roadmap
Follow the Revised 508 Standards to ensure your information and communication technology (ICT) is accessible and usable by individuals with disabilities.
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An introduction to GitHub
Steps for managing website content in GitHub.
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An Introduction to USWDS 3.0
A design system for the federal government that makes it easier to build accessible, mobile-friendly government websites for the American public.
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USWDS Maturity Model
How to adopt the design system incrementally and design and build better digital experiences.
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Requirements for delivering a digital-first public experience
Learn how to implement 21st Century IDEA to design and deliver better websites and digital services.
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18F De-risking Guides
The Federal Field Guide to De-risk Government Technology offers guidance to federal agencies on how to structure software development teams, write contracts, and oversee agile software activities to reduce risks and improve outcomes for end-users.
Tools and Services
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18F
We help government agencies fix technical problems, build products, and improve how government serves the public through technology.
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Presidential Innovation Fellows
We help government agencies fix technical problems, build products, and improve how government serves the public through technology.
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Resources.Data.gov
An online repository of policies, schema standards, tools, best practices, and case studies to provide agencies with resources for federal data management.
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U.S. Digital Corps
A two-year fellowship for early-career technologists to start careers in public service, with professional development and mentorship.
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U.S. Digital Service
We deploy small, responsive groups of designers, engineers, product managers, and bureaucracy specialists to work with and empower civil servants.
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Code.gov
A collection of federal source code including open source software.
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Data.gov
Data, tools, and resources to conduct research, develop web and mobile applications.
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DotGov Registry
We make it easy to register and manage a .gov domain for US-based government organizations.
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U.S. Web Design System
A toolkit of principles, guidance, and code that helps agency digital teams build accessible, mobile-friendly government websites for the American public.
More News and Events on Software Engineering
280 posts
The U.S. Web Design System (USWDS) team will go over some basics of Web Components and how they apply to the design system.
Watch Video
2024
Join the U.S. Web Design System team for a lesson on customizing and extending the design system.
Watch Video
2024
Amplifying customer voices
Understand how to use natural language processing and advanced analytics to gain insights on high-impact service performance and survey design.
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.
Managing a high-performing dream team in the federal government
Discover how the Open Data, Design, and Development (ODDD) team at the Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) transformed their federal projects with Agile methodologies, creating a culture of collaboration, accountability, and openness. From unique sprint names to engaging traditions and innovative knowledge-sharing practices, this blog post offers insights into building a high-performing dream team in government. — via Office of Natural Resources Revenue
Catching up with the TANF Data Portal project
Around 800,000 low-income American families receive cash assistance through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) each month. 18F and the Administration for Children & Families’ Office of Family Assistance partnered on building a new data portal for TANF. We caught up with Office of Family Assistance leaders to see how their agency is continuing with the work. — via 18F
U.S. Digital Corps
Making Impact at Scale: Software Engineering in the Federal Government
Engineering fellows with the U.S. Digital Corps share their paths to becoming software engineers and why they decide to use their skills to improve government services.
Inclusive Design Patterns Research Report
The U.S. Web Design System (USWDS) is excited to provide a new library of guidance and examples focused on key digital interactions — what we call design patterns — that foster effective, inclusive, and equitable digital experiences. This online report has four pages; Summary, Findings, What’s Next, and Get Involved. It also links to the new patterns section, where you can learn how to help your users complete a complex form, identify and select a preferred language, or create a user profile. — via U.S. Web Design System
The 18F Engineering Sandwich for Cloud-based Web Apps
The 18F Engineering Sandwich for Cloud-based Web Apps—18F Engineering is often thought of as a technology shop, but that’s too broad. There are very few technology choices we actually make at the project level, so, more often than not, we combine a limited set of technologies to make our applications. To explain this, we’ll use the metaphor of a sandwich shop. — via 18F
Helping People Discover Benefits With the New BEARS Locator
Helping People Discover Benefits With the New BEARS Locator—Back in March, we shared about the work we were doing to develop BEARS, the Benefits Eligibility Awareness Resource Service. USAGov’s new online locator tool, available in English on USA.gov and in Spanish on USAGov en Español, helps people find government benefits and services geared to major life events. It officially launched in early August, and we wanted to give you an update. — via USA.gov
Contributing to USWDS
USWDS Monthly Call - June 2022
What you need to know before contributing to USWDS.
2022
Optimizing Performance with USWDS 3.0
USWDS Monthly Call - May 2022
The U.S. Web Design System (USWDS) team will show you how to reduce CSS size and optimize build time with the design system.
2022
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.
New resources for developers who are new to USWDS.
2022
Get started with the design system and a how-to demo of template creation and a prototyping approach.
2021
USWDS
Webinar Recap: U.S. Web Design System October 2021 Monthly Call
In this recap of the October 2021 U.S. Web Design System (USWDS) Monthly Call, the USWDS team shares how their community can help teams solve problems together, and what tools and channels we can use to ask questions, get answers, and provide useful feedback.
Veterans Day
TTS Reflects: Why I Continue To Serve
For Veterans Day 2021, we asked members of TTS’s Veterans affinity group to write one or two paragraphs in response to the question, “Why do I continue to serve?”
This month’s topic: Community, Connection & Contribution. How can our community help teams solve problems together?
2021
Navigating ATOs
Navigating ATOs—Authority to Operate (ATO) processes work differently at different federal agencies. As a technology and design consultancy inside the United States government, 18F has worked on ATOs at many of them. We are still learning and experimenting, but there are definite patterns we have seen work well across multiple agencies. — via 18F
This summit brings together the federal community to share success stories and best practices for utilizing federal source code and open source software, and examine the implementation of the Federal Source Code policy.
2020
