At Ad Hoc, we believe adopting an accessibility compliance mindset leads to more equitable digital services – even at the largest government agencies.

New guidance was recently published to help make websites more usable and available to a wider range of people.

Designers can live in the visual world of user interface (UI) design without often considering what’s under the hood.

A well-maintained, 10-year-old car will work fine to get you from A to B. A well-maintained bike will probably last even longer than the car. A 45-year-old landline phone can still receive and place calls. But what happens if you try to access a web page using a 3-year-old smartphone? How about a 5 or even a 10-year-old one?

As we think about ways in which government sites meet the needs of their users, speed is an integral part of what makes a site accessible to more people.

On a recent project, we had a set of focus styles built into a design system that were inconsistent and ineffective, leading to a not-so-great end user experience.

While government websites don’t need to match or outpace commercial websites on design novelty or retention metrics, they should aim to outperform on ensuring users accomplish their goals easily and efficiently.

The 21st Century IDEA Act mandates that every agency prioritize public services that need modernization. The best way for agencies to prioritize their services is to thoroughly research how users interact with those services.

Reading the IDEA Act, I saw much of how Ad Hoc works with our customers on government digital services. I thought it would be helpful to share our experience in implementing these kinds of digital services.