News and Updates

Innovative work, news, and ideas from people and teams in government

How USAGov uses data to improve content

Each month, USAGov’s content designers spend many hours ensuring that the content on USA.gov and USAGov en Español is up-to-date, accurate, and meets user needs. Learn how their team does holistic reviews of each topic section based on a rolling calendar with the goal of updating all content at least every 6 months. — via USA.gov

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Apr 01, 2024

Join the U.S. Web Design System team for a lesson on customizing and extending the design system.

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2024

18F at ten

We’re celebrating all the ways we continue to realize our founding vision: bringing technologists into government, launching shared digital services, and helping partner agencies build user-centered technology. — via 18F

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Mar 19, 2024

Search.gov year in review: 2023 report

Learn what types of information people searched for on federal websites in 2023, see emerging trends the team is exploring to improve customers’ search experience in 2024, and check out three new updates. The data tab provides insightful summaries for 13 popular topic areas—and lists the public’s top 25 search terms, in their own words, for each. — via Search.gov

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Mar 15, 2024

Annual Gathering

Spring 2024 Community Summit

Digital service experts across the federal government will share case studies and best practices on delivering a digital-first public experience.
2024

Customer experience: beyond surveys

Want to measure customer experience? Surveys aren’t the only way! Consider these guiding questions to help your team select an approach based on what you want to learn. — via 18F

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Mar 05, 2024

Learn about the USWDS component lifecycle, and how you can suggest a new component.

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2024

Getting the word out about voter registration: Vote.gov’s first social media takeover with USAGov

Last fall, vote.gov and the USAGov program partnered for their first-ever social media takeover on National Voter Registration Day. The campaign, which encouraged the public to register to vote, reached 36,000 people across USAGov’s platforms and generated over 2,000 engagements. The partnership raised awareness for vote.gov, boosted vote.gov’s website traffic, and laid the groundwork for the future collaborations and resource-sharing between the two entities. This collaboration between vote.gov and USAGov offers a model for social media takeovers and partnerships between federal agencies and teams. — via USA.gov

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Feb 06, 2024

Gathering feedback with customer panels

Explore behind-the-scenes process of creating customer panels for the .gov domain registrar, managed by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). By engaging with current users through a customer panel, the team gained direct insights, identified areas for immediate improvement, and discovered new features for the product roadmap. Learn the approach involved and how the outcomes highlight the panel’s impact on defining language, improving usability, and generating ideas for future features. — via 18F

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Feb 01, 2024

Designing with empathy

Discover the transformative power of empathy in design with USAGov’s benefit finder. From simplifying applications to a mobile-first approach, the revamped tool not only functions efficiently in two different languages and cultural contexts, but demonstrates the consideration for users in challenging situations. Explore how empathy turned a government service into a compassionate lifeline, creating a product that genuinely understands and meets people where they are. — via USA.gov

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Jan 25, 2024

This month the Design System team will talk about the development and rollout of their new accessibility tests for components.
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2024

GSA Issues Report to Congress Highlighting Need for Improvement in Federal Government Section 508 Compliance

The report, the FY23 Governmentwide Section 508 Assessment, evaluates reporting entities’ adherence to the criteria established by the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in coordination with GSA, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), and the U.S. Access Board (USAB). It provides a baseline and recommendations for strengthening compliance initiatives and enhancing Section 508 activities across the federal government. — via General Services Administration

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Dec 28, 2023

OMB Releases Digital Accessibility Guidance to Ensure All Americans Have Ability to Access Critical Government Resources

The Biden-Harris Administration is championing inclusivity by requiring federal agencies to prioritize accessibility in the digital space, recognizing the gap in access for the 61 million Americans with disabilities on nearly half of popular federal government websites. The new guidance mandates rigorous testing, inclusion of individuals with disabilities in design processes, and the incorporation of experts in procurement, emphasizing a commitment to universal access. Read more to discover how these measures aim to change the federal digital experience for all Americans. — via The White House

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Dec 21, 2023