Plain Language
2022 Federal Plain Language Summit
Join the best and brightest plain language practitioners from across the federal government.
2022
News and Updates
Innovative work, news, and ideas from people and teams in government
GSA Celebrates the 10th Anniversary of the Presidential Innovation Fellows (PIF) Program
GSA Celebrates the 10th Anniversary of the Presidential Innovation Fellows (PIF) Program—Since 2012, over 200 Presidential Innovation Fellows have supported initiatives at more than 50 agencies, providing expert advice in specialized disciplines such as artificial intelligence, data strategy, product management, human-centered design, software development, and digital strategy. These efforts have enhanced agencies’ abilities to provide the best customer experience for their stakeholders and the public. The PIF program plans to celebrate the anniversary over the next year with activities to highlight the program’s impact and community since it launched.— via General Services Administration
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
Senior Executives Part 4: Initiate More Direct Interaction To Build Rapport
Senior Executives Part 4: Initiate More Direct Interaction To Build Rapport—It’s critical that senior executives and product teams make small decisions over time about important technology initiatives to be able to adjust plans as things change. How does that work? What works well?— via 18F
USWDS Inclusive Design Patterns
USWDS Monthly Call - August 2022
Join us to learn more about design patterns and how they fit into the design system.
2022
FedRAMP Launches OSCAL Developer Data Bites Series
FedRAMP Launches OSCAL Developer Data Bites Series&mndash;FedRAMP is excited to launch an Open Security Controls Assessment Language (OSCAL) Developer Data Bites series! It will cover a variety of technical topics regarding users’ utilization of OSCAL for FedRAMP, FedRAMP automation updates or changes, and open forum conversations with subject matter experts. The first OSCAL Developers Data Bites session will be held on Thursday, September 1, at 12:00 pm, EDT. The series will continue on a bi-weekly basis.— via FedRAMP
U.S. Department of Defense Releases First Departmentwide Social Media Policy
The DOD released a policy that for the first time spells out, from the highest levels of the defense community, how DOD military and civilian personnel should use official social media accounts to best advance the mission of the U.S. military and further instill trust in the credibility of the DOD.
Modernize Your Identity Management Process Through ILM
Modernize Your Identity Management Process Through ILM—GSA’s Office of Government-wide Policy is pleased to announce the Identity Lifecycle Management (ILM) Playbook, designed for identity program managers, and enterprise and application architects interested in modernizing their identity management process for federal employees. This practical guide helps federal agencies understand how to shift their focus from managing employee access based on credentials to managing the lifecycle of identities as outlined in section III of OMB Memo 19-17. This will help agencies achieve an enterprise Identity, Credential, and Access Management (ICAM) system that is agile enough to support technology modernization and aligns with the Federal Identity, Credential, and Access Management (FICAM) architecture.— via General Services Administration
Senior Executives Part 3: Use Short-term Initiatives To Build Confidence in Long-term Decisions
Senior Executives Part 3: Use Short-term Initiatives To Build Confidence in Long-term Decisions—Deadlines often force executives to make long-term decisions about technology without certainty it’ll be successful. Modern software development strategies help reduce this risk by leveraging a product team to incrementally test software upfront.— via 18F
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.
White House and GSA Celebrate Record Years in Prize Competitions, Citizen Science Efforts
White House & GSA Celebrate Record Years in Prize Competitions, Citizen Science Efforts—On July 20, GSA’s Open Innovation Program and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) co-hosted the Open Innovation Forum in partnership with Digital.gov. The event was themed around building equitable partnerships and it celebrated OSTP’s biennial report to Congress that covers the federal government’s prize competitions, crowdsourcing and citizen science initiatives in fiscal years 2019 and 2020.— via General Services Administration
Senior Executives Part 2: Work Outside the Traditional Hierarchy To Set up an Initiative for Success
Senior Executives Part 2: Work Outside the Traditional Hierarchy To Set up an Initiative for Success—In order to ultimately succeed at delivering human-centered software, two critical groups need to work closely together: the product team and a champions group. This is part two in a series on how senior executives and tech teams can be better allies.— via 18F
Webinar Recap: How to Build Your Digital Dream Team
Highlights from the Web Managers Community of Practice panel that shared how to get the right team in place to create a trusted, seamless online experience for all your customers.
Federal Communicators Network
How Effective Is Your Communication?
Join us to learn about best practices for measuring communication and outreach efforts.
2022
Outreach
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline Partner Toolkit
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) recognizes the need for governments, states, territories, tribes, crisis centers, and partners to speak with one voice to ensure there is a clear understanding about what 988 is and how it will work. We encourage you to use these communication outreach materials and build upon them with your community coalitions to meet the needs of your specific audiences.
Celebrating OSTP’s biennial report to Congress on Implementation of Federal Prizes and Citizen Science Authority, Fiscal Years 2019 - 2020, and the role of community partnerships in the federal open innovation landscape.
2022
Senior Executives Are the Allies Tech Teams Need, Part 1
Senior Executives Are the Allies Tech Teams Need, Part 1—Successfully delivering software in government requires people to work differently. Without clear answers for how to do this, well-intentioned executives and teams default to existing processes that risk undermining their own success. This is part one in a series on how to evolve that relationship.— via 18F
What Agile Looks Like at the Office of Natural Resources Revenue
Agile at the Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) started with 18F. They reflect on where they are today, five years later.— via Office of Natural Resources Revenue
Help Us Improve Digital Forms
Help Us Improve Digital Forms—People in the U.S. spend over 10 billion hours each year completing government forms. The Office of Evaluation Sciences is working to reduce this burden and make digital forms easier and more accessible. You can help by filling out a short typical form. It will take less than five minutes!— via General Services Administration
Content Design for beta.ADA.gov: Writing for Action and Flexibility
Content Design for beta.ADA.gov: Writing for Action and Flexibility—18F worked with a team at the Department of Justice to redesign ADA.gov. They helped them launch beta.ada.gov, and designed new content for some of the most sought-after ADA topics.— via 18F
