{
    "version" : "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1",
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    "title" : "A Deeper Look into the USDA.gov Website Redesign |Digital.gov",
    "description": "A Deeper Look into the USDA.gov Website Redesign",
    "home_page_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/","feed_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2017/04/26/a-deeper-look-into-the-usda-gov-website-redesign/index.json","item" : [
    {"title" :"A Deeper Look into the USDA.gov Website Redesign","summary" : "We hope you are finding it easier to get the information you need on USDA.gov following the launch of our site redesign in March. We’ve already welcomed over 1 million visitors to the new site and we are pleased with the positive feedback we’ve received thus far. Our redesign makes it easier for you to","date" : "2017-04-26T11:00:11-04:00","date_modified" : "2025-01-27T19:42:55-05:00","authors" : {"bernetta-reese" : "Bernetta Reese"},"topics" : {
        
            "accessibility" : "Accessibility",
            "accessibility" : "Accessibility",
            "content-strategy" : "Content strategy",
            "design" : "Design",
            "information-architecture" : "Information architecture",
            "mobile" : "Mobile",
            "product-and-project-management" : "Product and project management"
            },"branch" : "bc-archive-content-3",
      "filename" :"2017-04-26-a-deeper-look-into-the-usda-gov-website-redesign.md",
      
      "filepath" :"news/2017/04/2017-04-26-a-deeper-look-into-the-usda-gov-website-redesign.md",
      "filepathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/blob/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2017/04/2017-04-26-a-deeper-look-into-the-usda-gov-website-redesign.md",
      "editpathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/edit/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2017/04/2017-04-26-a-deeper-look-into-the-usda-gov-website-redesign.md","slug" : "a-deeper-look-into-the-usda-gov-website-redesign","url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2017/04/26/a-deeper-look-into-the-usda-gov-website-redesign/","content" :"\u003cp\u003eWe hope you are finding it easier to get the information you need on USDA.gov following the launch of our site redesign in March. We’ve already welcomed over 1 million visitors to the new site and we are pleased with the positive feedback we’ve received thus far.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOur redesign makes it easier for you to get the news you care about quickly and get on with your busy life. Now, you can explore “USDA in Action,” an area designed to quickly share what’s happening across the department. And another friendly feature is being able to \u003ca href=\"https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDAOC/subscriber/new\"\u003esign up for email updates\u003c/a\u003e with the click of a button from any page on the site. It’s all part of our strategic efforts to improve upon digital communications across USDA, strengthen collaboration with all of our USDA agencies, and expand our digital capabilities.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2017/04/600-x-425-usdagov-site-blog-042017_0.jpg\"\n    alt=\"Find the information you need, faster, with the redesigned USDA.gov website.\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\n\u003cp\u003eThrough our redesign, we were able to introduce new design elements from the \u003ca href=\"https://standards.usa.gov/\"\u003eU.S. Web Design Standards\u003c/a\u003e that help to make the site more intuitive. Our primary goals for the redesign included highlighting more social and engaging information and placing it right at your fingertips; making better use of real estate on our homepage; enhancing our site search to help you get to information faster; improving the site’s information architecture; and implementing responsive design across the entire site to provide a better viewing experience from any device.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor those who’d like to learn what’s behind it all, you might enjoy this deeper look at our plan. As part of our initial planning efforts and project kick-off, we developed a simple roadmap that provided a high-level outline of deliverables and requirements for the site. Throughout the project we worked within a system that allowed us to track hundreds of individual tasks specifically tailored to the redesign. We completed content mapping tasks, archived outdated content, and established new taxonomy, metadata, and keywords for the site, supported by our site analytics.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd as part of our continued effort to ensure the new site is user and mobile-friendly, we leveraged industry-based tools, including Google and Bing, to test the site across multiple devices and platforms. We also worked to ensure the new site is fully accessible using the WCAG 2.0 guidelines outlined in the U.S Access Board’s Section 508 Refresh—a new mandate that updates the standards for accessibility requirements for information and communication technology. We’re not stopping there as we will continue to make improvements moving forward.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn addition to adopting new Federal guidelines, the site is now built on a Drupal platform, which allows us more flexibility in our approach to content management and the ability to quickly edit and publish content. It also provides us with a centralized location to host all of our content, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.usda.gov/media/blog\"\u003ethe USDA blog\u003c/a\u003e. On top of that, the platform provides easier onboarding and training, and a simplified approach to analytics and engagement, with improved methods for digital media and social sharing integration. We also have the ability to monitor and maintain a more reliable and usable infrastructure compared to our legacy content management system.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOur digital team worked diligently alongside a team of contractors to meet many deadlines and complete a successful launch. Using agile project management methods, strategic planning, workshops and user testing, and a combination of web development and accessibility tools, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2017/03/06/complete-redesign-you-mind\"\u003enew USDA.gov embodies the best of government and industry expertise with our audience—you—in mind\u003c/a\u003e. By working closely with our stakeholders, agencies and offices, and federal partners, we were able to not only meet our goals for the new website, we were able to reestablish our digital processes and the way we deliver and receive information online.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBy sharing the efforts that went into our redesign, we hope it provides you with a better understanding of the site and the steps we’ve taken to provide an improved experience. We want you to continue to explore the new site and continue to \u003ca href=\"mailto:feedback@oc.usda.gov\"\u003eshare feedback with us\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThis post was originally published on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.usda.gov/media/blog\"\u003eUSDA blog\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n"}
  ]
}