A happy compromise between people-first and plain language
Find out how the National Institute of Corrections is using people-first plain language in its communications. See what words and phrases they’re changing.
Accessibility
The design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities
More News and Events on Accessibility
180 posts
How to manage a federal website
Managing government websites is a targeted exercise. Here are 5 steps to help you build and maintain a successful one.
9 web resolutions to jump-start 2023
Nine areas to focus on in the coming year to take your digital sites and services to the next level.
To Build Trust, Aim for Easy
Trust is earned through consistency and commitment. Build sites that build trust by considering user needs, respecting people’s time, and avoiding customer experience pitfalls.
Accessibility Testing for onrr.gov
How do you make sure a website is accessible? This blog post outlines the four steps the Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR - pronounced like "honor") at the U.S. Department of the Interior took to verify accessibility.— via Office of Natural Resources Revenue
Sunsetting Go.USA.gov: Final User Statistics
The digital landscape has changed significantly since we launched the Go.USA.gov service in 2009. Over the last two years the team looked carefully at the program holistically, taking into consideration the future of the program, the current landscape related to using shortened URLs and alignment with strategic business goals. In early 2022 we made the difficult decision to initiate steps to sunset the service.— via USA.gov
Closing the Disability Divide
Over 67 million people in the United States have a disability, constituting the largest diversity group in the country. Despite decades of advocacy and struggle, people with disabilities continue to experience significant gaps in health and well-being, educational attainment, employment, and wealth compared to people without disabilities. These gaps have been termed the “disability divide.” The purpose of this year’s National Disability Employment Awareness campaign at the National Institutes of Health is to educate staff regarding the divide and to celebrate those who help close the disability divide by advocating for people with disabilities.— via National Institutes of Health
National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM)
Observed annually in October, NDEAM celebrates the contributions of America’s workers with disabilities past and present and showcases supportive, inclusive employment policies and practices. In recognition of the important role people with disabilities play in a diverse and inclusive American workforce, the theme for NDEAM 2022, Disability: Part of the Equity Equation.— via Department of Labor
Plain Language
2022 Federal Plain Language Summit
Join the best and brightest plain language practitioners from across the federal government.
2022
Measuring and Justifying the Government Experience
Measuring and Justifying the Government Experience—Private sector organizations use revenue as the primary measurement to justify improving experiences. Many government services don’t have revenue as a lever, so how can we justify work to improve experience? The Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) leveraged a few metrics on their team that fall into three categories: laws and regulations, improving the experience for users, and saving time for employees.— via Office of Natural Resources Revenue
Community Research Explores Ways To Improve Access To Multilingual Content
A group from the Multilingual Community noticed inconsistencies in access to languages other than English across government websites, and have started working on a solution.
Five Procurement Strategies for Diverse Digital Services
Modern digital services require a close connection between federal agencies and contractors, as well as customers and other stakeholders. Use these five practical tips to attract and empower contractors who value diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.
User Experience
2022 Government UX Summit
A two-day summit—June 7 and June 8—with experts who will share their experiences as UX practitioners in the federal government.
2022
Multilingual
10 Tips to Create, Maintain, and Present Non-English Digital Content: A Q&A with Michael Mulé
This question and answer session for our webinar, Language Connections: Tips to Create, Maintain, and Present Non-English Digital Content, can help you improve access to your multilingual digital content.
Inclusive Acquisitions
The Basics of Buying Accessible Products and Services
A discussion with members of the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) and U.S. Access Board (USAB) on best practices for buying information and communications technology and services that can be used by anyone.
2022
Web Analytics Optimization
Optimization Case Study: Performance, SEO, and Accessibility with CFPB
Join three technologists from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) as they discuss methods used to ensure that the CFPB website is discoverable and fully accessible to all.
Watch Video
2022
Our friends at Digital.gov will join us to talk through their experience migrating to USWDS 3.0.
2022
Transparency, Participation, and Collaboration
Sunshine Week: How GSA Supports Open Government Principles
Sunshine Week (March 13-19, 2022) celebrates the Government in the Sunshine Act, which promotes greater transparency in government activities. Our mission at GSA is to deliver effective and efficient government services for the American people. To do so, we have to be transparent and accessible—by opening meetings to the public, ensuring that federal buildings and facilities are fully accessible to all people, and making information on documents or pages (web pages, PDFs, newsletters, etc.) open and accessible. Learn about some of our initiatives that best display these principles.
Creating a New Way for People To Discover Government Benefits
Creating a New Way for People To Discover Government Benefits—To make it even easier for everyone to find services and benefits without needing to understand government structure, we’re developing a new digital tool in partnership with 10x, GSA’s incremental technology fund. BEARS, the Benefits Eligibility Awareness Resource Service, is an important step forward in providing an integrated, simple solution for federal benefits to improve the customer experience and will eventually cover all federal benefits from all agencies.— via USA.gov
Lessons from the 2021 Federal Plain Language Report Card
During the Digital.gov and Plain Language Community event, Results of the 2021 Federal Report Card, speaker David Lipscomb gave examples of web content that received both high and low scores in the 2021 Plain Language Report Card. Here’s what we learned.
