It should be easy to identify governments on the internet and — as the U.S. federal government says on many of its websites like usa.gov — “the .gov means it’s official.”
While the work of government is commonly referred to as service — embodied in the terms ‘public service’ and ‘public servant’ — it’s the government-as-a-product mindset that is driving the future of truly innovative and effective civic organizations. The shift in perspective to government-as-a-product doesn’t de-emphasize the mission-critical purpose and intent of government. Instead, product … Continued
The government product owner is responsible for setting the vision, ensuring effective delivery and being accountable for a specific product, such as a website, policy or public service program. It is a role that is becoming more critical, particularly for successful digital government project launches and continued management. Government digital service organizations who incorporate product … Continued
Team pledges are a fun way to “swear in” the team and bring everyone together in a semi-formal way to vocally unify commitment to the team agreement. ProudCity uses a team pledge at the beginning of every new project. Example pledge As a member of [TEAM NAME], I solemnly swear to uphold the [TEAM NAME] … Continued
Team agreements help set a foundation of trust and effectiveness for how project members work together to achieve a common goal. Team agreements are common in agile work environments where communicated expectations help ensure projects stay focused on delivering digital services on time and on budget. As the U.S. General Services Administration says of team … Continued
ProudCity Onboarding provides governments with a, structured process in getting websites launched onto the ProudCity digital government platform. We follow a three-phase approach — alpha, beta, live — to ensure this process is as efficient as possible. In general, digital projects have four phases they go through when launching. These include: Discovery Alpha Beta Live … Continued
Customizing fonts on your ProudCity-powered government website is easy. Here’s how. Step 1 Select ‘Customize’ in the left navigation of the ProudCity Dashboard. Step 2 Select the ‘Fonts’ option in the customization tool. Step 3 Select your default and heading fonts and click the ‘Publish’ button. Visit your website to see the new fonts!
There are a number of factors that go into ensuring your website meets general digital government standards and provides a great user experience for the communities you serve.
Color is often an overlooked aspect of web accessibility, especially for brands and particularly governments, that have designed style guides and color palettes prior to accessibility becoming a priority. To understand how color and accessibility intersect, it’s first important to distinguish between “color dependence” and “contrast.” As 18F states in it’s accessibility guide: Color contrast … Continued
It is becoming more critical that governments understand and execute on website accessibility standards. Web accessibility, particularly for non-technical government leaders, can be overwhelming, both with the amount of information available, as well as the many technology nuances related achieving conformance. Here is comprehensive but condensed information on web accessibility — terms, guidelines, tips, tools, … Continued
