Digital Service Delivery
Make it easier for the public to access the information and services that they count on each and every day.
For millions, access to digital services isn’t a luxury—it’s critical. The public’s experiences using government websites to find unemployment support, file taxes, apply for student loans, or get assistance with housing, childcare, or food can dramatically affect how they feel about the government. Digital service delivery is the primary subject of 21st Century IDEA, and its policy guidance in OMB M-23-22, which requires federal agencies to enact best practices.
Related Policy
21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act (21st Century IDEA) and M-23-22
Digital service delivery: Essential knowledge
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Comply with the website standards
21st Century IDEA requires executive branch agency websites to be in compliance with the website standards.
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Use the U.S. Web Design System maturity model
Understand how to adopt the Design System incrementally, and design and build better digital experiences.
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Participate in the Digital Analytics Program
The Digital Analytics Program (DAP) offers advanced, easy web analytics for federal agencies. All public-facing federal websites can participate.
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Access Site Scanning program data
The Site Scanning program automates a wide range of scans of public federal websites and generates data about website health, policy compliance, and best practices. Use the data to understand the health of your agency’s websites.
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An introduction to digital governance
Digital governance refers to the internal systems and processes we use to manage our digital presence. Learn why governance is essential to digital service delivery.
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Test websites for accessibility
Design and deliver digital services with everyone in mind. Use both manual and automated testing methods to create accessible websites.
Digital Service Delivery events
Supporting inclusive language through automation
Digital Service Delivery news
User research and the Paperwork Reduction Act
User research is an important part of customer experience transformation. Different types of research require different approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). Through seven case studies, the U.S. Digital Service shows how agencies conducted valuable user research that did not require PRA approval and successfully integrated findings into their projects. Their work illustrates how thoughtful user research transforms delivery of services and helps agencies build trust in government.— via U.S. Digital Service
A journey of improvement: Creating a self-assessment for digital experience
Memo M-23-22 from the Office of Management and Budget provides guidance to federal agencies on delivering a digital-first public experience. To quantify its compliance with the memo, the Open Data, Design, and Development team at the Department of the Interior created and conducted a self-assessment of its digital products. The team used a scoring spreadsheet to measure compliance across categories like accessibility, design consistency, and mobile responsiveness. The results helped the team develop a plan to prioritize improvements and engage with leadership for support on other initiatives.— via Office of Natural Resources Revenue
10 years of the U.S. Digital Service: Transforming government for the digital age
Over the past decade, the U.S. Digital Service (USDS) has collaborated with more than 30 federal agencies to create user-friendly, reliable, and seamless digital experiences. Their work prioritizing human-centered design and engineering includes improving services for veterans with Veterans Affairs, launching the Internal Revenue Service Direct File Pilot, and supporting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during the COVID-19 pandemic. Looking ahead, USDS remains committed to building trust, fostering innovation, and scaling digital capacity across the federal government, ensuring better service for all Americans.— via The White House
Supporting innovation through the American Rescue Plan
GSA uses American Rescue Plan funding for over 40 initiatives to foster community, improve user experiences, and empower underserved populations.
18F’s engineering craft practices at 10
18F recently celebrated its 10th anniversary by renewing its commitment to refining and sharing best practices through regular publications, tech talks, and updates to the 18F Engineering Guide. They also created a permanent principal consulting engineer role to enhance digital service delivery and support skill development within the organization.— via 18F
Resources on Digital Service Delivery
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How to conduct a project reflection
Use this template, shared at the 2024 Spring Community Summit, to improve your own service delivery.
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How to transition a team off of a project
Use this template, shared at the 2024 Spring Community Summit, to improve your own service delivery.
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An introduction to the Digital Experience Council
The Digital Experience (DX) Council plays a critical role in coordinating governmentwide efforts and assisting agencies in delivering digital experiences that meet the public’s needs and expectations.
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An introduction to web security
Guidance on meeting security requirements for federal websites.
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An introduction to analytics
Learn how to set performance goals, and identify specific KPIs and targets to measure and meet them, using web analytics.
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An introduction to trust
Guidance on how to build government websites that people can trust.
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Federal IT Dashboard
Enables the government and the public to understand the value of their federal IT portfolios, manage the health of their IT investments, and make better IT planning decisions.
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Office of Personnel Management: Agency Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility Strategic Plan
OPM’s DEIA Strategic Plan identifies goals accompanied by actionable strategies that will advance our human capital priorities.
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Office of Personnel Management: Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility
OPM’s governmentwide DEIA policies, guidance, and strategic plans, presidential executive orders, federal personnel programs, and frequently asked questions.
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Making the big move: Search in support of federal web modernization
In this special report, we discuss a website redesign’s nine phases and their impact on search.
Tools and Services
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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 Digital Service Delivery
92 posts
A journey of improvement: Creating a self-assessment for digital experience
Memo M-23-22 from the Office of Management and Budget provides guidance to federal agencies on delivering a digital-first public experience. To quantify its compliance with the memo, the Open Data, Design, and Development team at the Department of the Interior created and conducted a self-assessment of its digital products. The team used a scoring spreadsheet to measure compliance across categories like accessibility, design consistency, and mobile responsiveness. The results helped the team develop a plan to prioritize improvements and engage with leadership for support on other initiatives.— via Office of Natural Resources Revenue
User research and the Paperwork Reduction Act
User research is an important part of customer experience transformation. Different types of research require different approval under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). Through seven case studies, the U.S. Digital Service shows how agencies conducted valuable user research that did not require PRA approval and successfully integrated findings into their projects. Their work illustrates how thoughtful user research transforms delivery of services and helps agencies build trust in government.— via U.S. Digital Service
10 years of the U.S. Digital Service: Transforming government for the digital age
Over the past decade, the U.S. Digital Service (USDS) has collaborated with more than 30 federal agencies to create user-friendly, reliable, and seamless digital experiences. Their work prioritizing human-centered design and engineering includes improving services for veterans with Veterans Affairs, launching the Internal Revenue Service Direct File Pilot, and supporting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during the COVID-19 pandemic. Looking ahead, USDS remains committed to building trust, fostering innovation, and scaling digital capacity across the federal government, ensuring better service for all Americans.— via The White House
Supporting innovation through the American Rescue Plan
GSA uses American Rescue Plan funding for over 40 initiatives to foster community, improve user experiences, and empower underserved populations.
18F’s engineering craft practices at 10
18F recently celebrated its 10th anniversary by renewing its commitment to refining and sharing best practices through regular publications, tech talks, and updates to the 18F Engineering Guide. They also created a permanent principal consulting engineer role to enhance digital service delivery and support skill development within the organization.— via 18F
Bridge the gap between policy and implementation: Impactful solutions and strategies for success from Digital.gov’s spring 2024 summit
The summit highlighted digital transformation, emphasizing the significance of recent OMB memos for improving accessibility and customer experience.
Federal customer experience: OMB has taken actions to implement cross-agency priority goals
In 2021, the President’s Management Agenda identified federal customer experience as a priority area for improvement. To implement this priority area, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) set two long-term, cross-agency priority (CAP) goals. In this study, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reviews OMB and selected federal agencies’ efforts towards these CAP goals. Learn about actions taken by OMB and selected High Impact Service Providers (HISPs), how OMB has facilitated interagency collaboration, and the extent to which OMB has overseen and assessed progress on these CAP goals.— via Government Accountability Office
Google Analytics 4: Transition strategies for federal websites
Learn how the Open Data, Design, and Development (ODDD) team at the Department of the Interior (DOI) transitioned from Google Analytics - Universal Analytics to Google Analytics 4! Discover how the ODDD team coordinated with the Digital Analytics Program, developed explorations (instead of custom reports), and set up their own DOI agency property.— via Office of Natural Resources Revenue
Meet your Digital Experience Council
The Digital Experience Council plays a critical role in coordinating governmentwide efforts and assisting agencies in delivering digital experiences that meet the public’s needs and expectations.
Justice department to publish final rule to strengthen web and mobile app access for people with disabilities
On April 8, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland signed a final rule under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to ensure the accessibility of web content and mobile applications for people with disabilities. This final rule clarifies the obligations of state and local governments to make their websites and mobile applications accessible. Learn more about this rule and why the Attorney General believes it will “break down barriers that have kept people with disabilities from fully participating in American Life.”— via Department of Justice
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
Spring 2024 Community Summit
Timeless top 10 best practices for great government websites
While the field of federal web management continues to evolve, the core best practices have remained essentially unchanged for two decades.
Maximizing impact of federal websites: Integrating metrics with annual goals and policies
The Open Data, Design, and Development (ODDD) team discusses how OMB’s recent memo, Delivering a Digital-First Public Experience (M-23-22), inspired them to reassess their metrics plan to harmonize with policies governing federal public websites.— via Office of Natural Resources Revenue
Delivering on 21st Century IDEA: A case study from the GSA SmartPay team (Part 3)
A GSA SmartPay product owner shares her experience designing user-centered, accessible content for multiple audiences.
Delivering on 21st Century IDEA: A case study from the GSA SmartPay team (Part 2)
A GSA SmartPay product owner shares his experiences as a first-time product owner in a government agile development project.
Delivering on 21st Century IDEA: A case study from the GSA SmartPay team (Part 1)
The GSA SmartPay program, the largest government charge card and commercial payment solutions program in the world, celebrated their 25th anniversary by launching three new websites with a user-centered, agile approach.
Celebrating 20 years of USAGov en Español
USAGov en Español is excited to celebrate their 20th anniversary this month! Since 2003, the website has been a trusted guide to government information and services for Spanish speakers. Explore this timeline of USAGov en Español’s milestones, name changes, and accomplishments as they’ve served Spanish speakers and federal partners over the past two decades.— via USA.gov
Why the American People Deserve a Digital Government
OMB released new policy guidance for government that includes a variety of actions and standards to help federal agencies design, develop, and deliver modern websites and digital services. Memo M-23-22, Delivering a Digital-First Public Experience, will make it seamless for the public to obtain government information and services online, and help agencies fully implement the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act (21st Century IDEA).— via The White House
From pageviews to progress
A 10-year recap of GSA’s Digital Analytics Program (DAP) highlights its impact on federal government agencies and the public, high-level observations using government-wide website analytics and trends, and new goals set for the next decade to help generate useful answers to meaningful questions to make government websites better.