News and Updates

Spotlight Story: Pioneering Open Source at the CFPB

Spotlight Story: Pioneering Open Source at the CFPB—Open source software is a fundamental aspect of how the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has served the public in its short history. In April of 2012, nine months after opening its doors, they released their source code policy, based on the work of the Department of Defense, along with their first two open source projects. Just six days later, they accepted their first pull request. Though a minor change, this was the first documented contribution to a federal government open source codebase by a member of the public.— via Code.gov

When’s the Best Time to Tweet? @USAGovEspanol Experiments with Twitter—A good following on social media is fundamental to USAGov’s goal of getting clear and helpful government information to Spanish speakers around the country. To make sure we’re reaching the right people at the right time with valuable content, our team began to rethink our USAGov en Español Twitter strategy.— via USA.gov

How to Test Websites for Accessibility

How to Test Websites for Accessibility—Use both manual and automated testing methods to create accessible websites.— via Digital.gov

Giving Users the Information They Crave: Data and Analytics Tips From USAGov en Español

Giving Users the Information They Crave: Data and Analytics Tips From USAGov en Español—User data guides what we do at USAGov. Without it, we wouldn’t know what government questions people are searching for. And we wouldn’t know how to design our content to make it easier for people to find and understand the answers.— via USA.gov

Transforming How DOJ’s Civil Rights Division Engages With the Public

Transforming How DOJ’s Civil Rights Division Engages With the Public—In order to be more responsive to the public’s changing communication needs and the increased reporting volume, the Civil Rights Division, in close collaboration with 18F, has launched a user-friendly online submission experience at civilrights.justice.gov that transforms the way the Division collects, sorts, and responds to civil rights reports.— via 18F

Mapping of WCAG 2.0 to Functional Performance Criteria

Mapping of WCAG 2.0 to Functional Performance Criteria — See how specific disabilities may be impacted by not following accessible guidelines.— via Section508.gov

Building Trust in a Public Health Crisis

Building Trust in a Public Health Crisis—Lately, the 18F content team has been thinking about how to communicate well in a crisis—providing clear, understandable content is especially important. Content strategy practices that focus on the needs of the user are essential to earning the trust of the public. Here, we will explain how to embody those qualities on the web in user-centered ways.— via 18F