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Writing for the web is easy. Writing for users is not.
Government websites are written for an extraordinarily diverse group of users. They come to our websites with different knowledge, backgrounds, and abilities. Fortunately, there are steps we can take to make sure the content we care about reaches the audience we want (and is useful to them).Continue reading about Writing for the web is easy. Writing for users is not.
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A sestina on sunsetting content
Sunsetting can be contentious in government. We manage websites for the public, which feels like managing content for everyone’s needs. When you have to think about everyone, that makes it a lot more complicated to delete things. -
Get your pass for Kids to Parks Day
May 21 is Kids to Park Day— a day organized by the National Park Trust to promote nature, learning, and play. And if you’re lucky to have a fourth grader in your family, you can use the Every Kid in a Park program to access all federal lands and waters for free. -
Lean on me: Asking for help on the content team
Our content squad is made of folks with a wide range of backgrounds and skills — we put this to good use by regularly asking each other for help with projects. Here’s a look into some of our recent collaboration.Continue reading about Lean on me: Asking for help on the content team
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Looking at the different ways to test content
We know good content when we see it, and we’re frustrated when we don’t. Keeping this in mind, are there ways that writers can quantify and measure their writing? We’ve looked at different tests you can run depending on the age of your audience.Continue reading about Looking at the different ways to test content
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Plain language for the win: betaFEC’s new content design
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) has been working since the 1970s to clarify the rules for raising and spending money in federal elections, and today we’re thrilled to announce the first major content launch of betaFEC: a guide to registration and reporting that makes intricate information easier to understand.Continue reading about Plain language for the win: betaFEC’s new content design
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Welcome to betaFEC: campaign finance for everyone
As the 2016 presidential election heats up, here at 18F we’ve been working with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to make campaign finance data more accessible to the public. Today, we launched betaFEC, the first piece in a complete redesign of the FEC’s online presence. We were excited to work on a project that allowed us to delve into intricate campaign finance data, plain language, and the FEC’s first API.Continue reading about Welcome to betaFEC: campaign finance for everyone
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Every Kid in a Park: Why we can’t stop smiling
Our projects are iterative, which means we keep working on them after they launch. In keeping with that practice, we’ve kept a close eye on everykidinapark.gov, which went live September 1. We’re excited to share a few of our improvements and updates with you today.Continue reading about Every Kid in a Park: Why we can’t stop smiling
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What's in a name: Understanding and using government acronyms
We have an acronyms section in our Content Guide, a resource we heartily recommend. Acronyms and abbreviations also have a ton of associated history and nuance, which we’re shedding light on here, hopefully to encourage other authors and agencies to think carefully about how they use them in digital tools.Continue reading about What's in a name: Understanding and using government acronyms
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How to design a government site for kids
Every Kid in a Park gives U.S. fourth graders free access to all federal lands and water for a full year. Here at 18F, we were proud to develop the site in partnership with the U.S. Department of Interior and other federal land management agencies.Continue reading about How to design a government site for kids
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Making websites more like M&Ms
Web standards and accessibility expert Aaron Gustafson recently came to 18F to speak about progressive enhancement and to challenge designers to improve user experience across browsers and devices. -
Imagining a water cooler for the digital age
Last week, information architect Thomas Vander Wal came to 18F to lead a discussion on his research into social and internal collaboration in the workspace.Continue reading about Imagining a water cooler for the digital age
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What Estonia can teach us about the future of government records
At 18F, we were thrilled to meet for a discussion on digital services, cyber security, and IT funding with Estonia's most prominent technologists.Continue reading about What Estonia can teach us about the future of government records
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Building a better welcome wagon
As our team expands to meet federal digital needs, we've learned to appreciate documentation for its ability to turn new hires into self-sufficient contributors quickly, with minimal disruption to the organization. -
Dan Brown: The art of conflict in design process
On Friday, author and designer Dan Brown gave a talk at 18F. “Stop fighting, start designing,” centered around the design process and inherent conflict therein.Continue reading about Dan Brown: The art of conflict in design process
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