{
    "version" : "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1",
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    "title" : "Introducing a Guide to the Paperwork Reduction Act |Digital.gov",
    "description": "Introducing a Guide to the Paperwork Reduction Act",
    "home_page_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/","feed_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2019/06/18/introducing-a-guide-paperwork-reduction-act/index.json","item" : [
    {"kicker" : "New Guide","title" :"Introducing a Guide to the Paperwork Reduction Act","deck" : "Navigating the PRA process with confidence.","summary" : "A guide to navigating the PRA process with confidence.","date" : "2019-06-18T09:00:00-05:00","date_modified" : "2025-01-27T19:42:55-05:00","authors" : {"elizabeth-ayer" : "Elizabeth Ayer","amanda-costello" : "Amanda Costello","sharon-mar" : "Sharon Mar","jeremyzilar" : "Jeremy Zilar"},"topics" : {
        
            "information-collection" : "Information collection",
            "public-policy" : "Public policy"
            },"primary_image" : { "uid" : "pra-guide-launch", "alt" :
  "overlapping screenshots of the desktop view and mobile view of the new Guide to the PRA", "width" :
  "1200", "height" :
  "702", "credit" :
  "", "caption" :
  "[**The new PRA Guide**](https://pra.digital.gov/) aims to increase employees’ confidence save everybody time by explaining the basics in plain language.", "format" :
  "png" },"branch" : "bc-archive-content-3",
      "filename" :"2019-06-18-introducing-a-guide-paperwork-reduction-act.md",
      
      "filepath" :"news/2019/06/2019-06-18-introducing-a-guide-paperwork-reduction-act.md",
      "filepathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/blob/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2019/06/2019-06-18-introducing-a-guide-paperwork-reduction-act.md",
      "editpathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/edit/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2019/06/2019-06-18-introducing-a-guide-paperwork-reduction-act.md","slug" : "introducing-a-guide-paperwork-reduction-act","url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2019/06/18/introducing-a-guide-paperwork-reduction-act/","content" :"\u003cp\u003eToday, we’re proud to launch \u003ca href=\"https://pra.digital.gov/\"\u003ea new guide on the Paperwork Reduction Act\u003c/a\u003e (PRA) — a clear introduction to the Act and the clearance process around it.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe PRA Guide is a plain language guide which answers the most common questions like, “What is the PRA for?”, “Do I need clearance?”, and “What’s the process?”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt aims to give federal employees confidence working with the PRA—and through this, lower the barriers to working effectively with the public.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll of the content has been reviewed and approved by the office that oversees clearances—the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n        src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/pra-guide-launch.png\"alt=\"overlapping screenshots of the desktop view and mobile view of the new Guide to the PRA\"/\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://pra.digital.gov/\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe new PRA Guide\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/a\u003e aims to increase employees’ confidence save everybody time by explaining the basics in plain language.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\n\u003ch2 id=\"paperwork-reduction-act-a-law-for-modern-times\"\u003ePaperwork Reduction Act, a Law for Modern Times\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Paperwork Reduction Act was enacted in 1980 to protect the public from excessive demands for information. Despite its age, the PRA’s concerns are especially relevant now. Now more than ever, good data is essential for government decision-making, but gathering this data must be balanced against the desire to decrease burden on the public. It’s a tricky balancing act.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUntil today, federal employees have struggled with navigating the clearance process. Whenever they wanted information from the public - from official forms to online surveys - they’ve entered a world of uncertainty.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFederal employees are often reluctant to modify forms because of the hassle and delay of the clearance process.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSome unfortunate examples are when paper forms are directly copied to web interfaces to avoid the process. Especially when many agencies are improving their digital service offering, this presents a huge wasted opportunity.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis website aims to lower the barrier by increasing employees’ confidence and eliminating a common cause of delay: the back-and-forth between agencies and OIRA. Having the basics in \u003ca href=\"https://www.plainlanguage.gov/\"\u003eplain language\u003c/a\u003e is expected to save everybody time.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe site’s \u003ca href=\"https://pra.digital.gov/clearance-process/\"\u003eprocess table\u003c/a\u003e also helps agencies plan the right activities at the right times.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith these barriers decreased, the joint project teams hope to unblock good changes while preserving scrutiny on burdensome collections.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"how-this-came-about\"\u003eHow This Came About\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe PRA Guide was developed with the help of a fund called \u003ca href=\"https://10x.gsa.gov/\"\u003e10x\u003c/a\u003e, which funds innovative ideas from within government. When OIRA (which handles PRA clearances) heard about this opportunity, it presented a clear path to address the frustration around PRA.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe PRA Guide is the result of \u003ca href=\"https://10x.gsa.gov/the-10x-process/\"\u003ePhase 3\u003c/a\u003e of 10x funding, which established the best path forwards through user research: a clear and intuitive website that presents a holistic view of the PRA process.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"the-future-of-the-pra-guide\"\u003eThe Future of the PRA Guide\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWork doesn’t stop now that the PRA Guide is released. OIRA and Digital.gov are committed to addressing the challenges \u003ca href=\"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov-pra/wiki/Summary\"\u003euncovered by the user research\u003c/a\u003e so far, and continuing this research.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat we need most from you right now, though, is feedback! Does the PRA Guide answer your questions? Is something missing or still unclear? You can give feedback in \u003ca href=\"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov-pra\"\u003eour open code repository on GitHub\u003c/a\u003e, or send directly to \u003ca href=\"mailto:pra@omb.eop.gov?subject=PRA%20Website%3a%20Site%20Feedback\u0026amp;body=Please%20fill%20out%20the%20information%20below%0A%0A%0AWhat%20were%20you%20trying%20to%20do%3f%0A%0A%0AGeneral%20Comments%3a%0A%0A%0A\"\u003epra@omb.eop.gov\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n"}
  ]
}