News and Updates

The API Briefing: Test Your JSON Reading Skills with the Peace Corps Countries and Regions API

The Peace Corps just released a new dataset that lists all of the countries and regions Peace Corps volunteers serve. The API is RESTful and uses the JSON format. You have read in earlier columns about the different data formats for APIs and how to read the data presented by an API. As a refresher,

Bill Brantley

Dec 03, 2014

When it comes to implementing a social media strategy, determining how to measure success can be challenging. Yes, knowing how many followers and likes you have is beneficial. However, to really get valuable results from the trove of social

Byrhonda Lyons

Dec 02, 2014

Trends on Tuesday: America’s New First Screen

It has finally happened: Mobile has bumped TV as America’s first screen. Recent analysis from Flurry Analytics, which included data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, found that time spent on mobile devices grew in the U.S. by 9.3% to 2 hrs and 57 minutes, while time spent watching TV has remained flat at 2 hrs and 48

Treci Johnson

Dec 02, 2014

Will 2016 Be the Federal Government’s ‘Year of the Customer?’

As 2014 draws to a close, agencies across the federal government are beginning to think about what the customer experience (CX) landscape will look like in the years ahead. There is little doubt that 2014 saw the government make great strides on this front, setting in motion a number of initiatives that will help ensure

Stephanie Thum

Dec 01, 2014

Keeping Vanity URLs in Check: A Few Criteria

Shortcuts, Vanity or Marketing URLs, are all names for the requests Web managers get to shorten Web addresses. The shortened links make it easy to share long links as well as track clicks on those links. On a recent discussion thread on the Web Managers

Andrea Sigritz

Nov 28, 2014

Avoid an Awkward Family Thanksgiving with the Federal Apps Mobile Directory

Are you like me? Do you consistently eat too much on Thanksgiving to avoid invasive family conversations that have a high probability of 1) turning awkward and 2) forcing you to abandon a sworn blood oath to never again reveal details of your private life to loved ones? Don’t be like me. It’s your holiday,

Kevin Downey

Nov 26, 2014

The API Briefing: FRED® and ALFRED® Serve Up a Buffet of Economic Data

The federal government captures almost every economic data trend through several agencies. The Federal Reserve of St. Louis offers 238,000 economic trends through FRED® (Federal Reserve Economic Data). FRED® data can be accessed through the FRED® website or the FRED® mobile app (Android | Apple). FRED® data can

Bill Brantley

Nov 26, 2014

Usability Events Round-Up: 2014

This past year DigitalGov University has hosted at least one Usability event per month and we thought we’d give you a round-up of those events. After all, November 13th was World Usability Day. Since this year’s theme of World Usability Day is Engagement it would be great to take a look at the event recap

Alycia Piazza

Nov 26, 2014

Help Shape Public Participation

Public participation—where citizens help shape and implement government programs—is a foundation of open, transparent, and engaging government services. From emergency management and regulatory development to science and education, better and more meaningful engagement with those

Corinna Zarek

Justin Herman

Nov 25, 2014

Trends on Tuesday: What Are You Asking Your Phone?

What’s the weather like? When does the next movie start? What time does Target close? These are just a few questions that I may ask my phone on any given day. According to a recent Mobile Voice Study led by Google, I’m not the only having conversations with my phone. 55% of teens aged 13-18 use voice

Treci Johnson

Nov 25, 2014

Jumpstart Your Government-Sponsored Initiative in a Tight Budget Climate: Try Crowdfunding

There are many ways to apply crowdfunding in the government space. This case study highlights the U.S. Department of State’s utilization of an online crowdfunding platform (CFP) to launch the Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund 2.0 (AEIF 2.0). Through this fundraising platform, exchange program alumni were able to work on innovative solutions to the world’s toughest

Minette Wilson

Nov 24, 2014

Placeholder Text: Think Outside the Box

The verdict is in. Placeholder text is harmful in search boxes. Searchers are on your site to complete a task. Having placeholder text inside a search box distracts from the task and it reduces the usability and accessibility of the search box. Placeholders look simple, but are in fact very tricky to use. When people

Rachel Mundstock

Nov 24, 2014

Results: 2014 Federal User Experience Survey

The Federal User Experience (UX) Survey helpsus to learn how we can best improve the effectiveness, ease-of-use, and value of federal digital systems by connecting their teams to their customers.

Jonathan Rubin

Nov 21, 2014

Join the Global Climate Change Conversation with NASA’s Earth Now

Wanna join the global climate change conversation? Arm yourself with real-time facts about Earth’s vital signs from NASA’s Earth Now mobile app. Earth Now is an app that visualizes recent global climate data, including surface air temperature, carbon dioxide, carbon

Kevin Downey

Nov 20, 2014

The API Briefing: Keeping an Eye on Crime with the National Crime Victimization Survey API

Every year, the Bureau of Justice Statistics surveys nearly 80,000 households and over 143,000 individuals about crime victimization. What is unique about this survey is that both reported and unreported crimes data is collected. The survey has a well-documented API which offers data in the CSV, XML, and JSON formats. Let’s examine the documentation to

Bill Brantley

Nov 19, 2014

Young Entrepreneurs Hang Out With Government Virtually… and in Spanish

It’s a well-known fact that the Hispanic population is growing at a rapid pace, and among the areas seeing the most interest and growth is business. According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), there are more than 3 million Hispanic-owned businesses in the U.S. today, a number that is growing at three times the national

Victoria Bitzer-Wales

Nov 19, 2014

Trends on Tuesday: Speed Matters When Measuring Responsive Web Design Performance Load Times

In the mobile world, every second matters. Mobile users are a finicky bunch. They want their information anytime, anywhere and quickly. As members of the MobileGov Community of Practice have noted last year, mobile user experience is about emotion. If that emotion is not happy, you will lose the user. For this month’s DigitalGov user

Jacob Parcell

Nov 18, 2014

User Experience Impossible: The Line Between Accessibility and Usability

Bob goes to a popular federal government site, using his assistive technology, and starts reading a teaser for an article. Just below the teaser, there’s an embedded video on the page. He presses the tab key, trying to navigate to a link for the full article, but suddenly he’s trapped—he can’t tab past the video.

Angela Hooker

Nov 17, 2014

Institute of Education Sciences – Usability Case Study

After struggling with jargon-filled solicitations and a confusing website, some applicants were ready to give up on seeking grants from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES). Their complaints prompted a Plain Language makeover for the Institute’s funding materials. As the research arm of the U.S. Education Department, IES’s mission is to provide rigorous and relevant evidence

Katina Stapleton

Nov 14, 2014

ICE Expands Reach of App Designed to Locate Child Predators

Catching child predators? There’s an app for that, and it’s expanding its reach to Android smartphones. Operation Predator—the first U.S. federal law enforcement app designed to seek the public’s help with identifying and locating fugitive and unknown suspected child predators—is now

Kevin Downey

Nov 13, 2014