A lot of government PDFs are about to be against the law. Even small agencies have thousands of them. The vast majority of them aren’t accessible–and it’s expensive and time-consuming to fix them. This is a big problem. A new audit tool from Code for America Code for America just released a new AI-powered tool … Continued
Governments love FAQs. People don’t. We make FAQs because they seem like an easy way to provide information, but they actually make it harder for people to find what they are looking for. They force people to formulate what they need as a preset question. They have to scan a long, random list of questions … Continued
The controversial file format beloved by government. This week, Luke Fretwell invited me on the GovFresh podcast to talk about government PDFs. We talk about the 90s, what it’s like to download a PDF on your phone, and what governments can do instead of PDFs. Listen to the podcast About Luke Luke is an entrepreneur, … Continued
Originally published March 2025 in the Houston Landing: Among the most visited webpages for the city of Houston and Harris County is the home page. Houston’s home page was viewed 1.6 million in fiscal year 2024; 2 million people accessed the county’s home page. Making those pages easy to navigate is important, researchers say. “You … Continued
The new web accessibility law could mean better government services for everyone. Seize the opportunity. Accessibility is good design When we make government websites accessible, we design services that work better for everyone. Accessible websites make information: Easy to find Clear to understand Usable by everyone—regardless of their abilities Good design isn’t about aesthetics. It’s … Continued
In April 2026 a new web accessibility law goes into effect for state and local governments. If you have PDFs on your website (you probably have a lot), they need to be accessible (they probably are not). This is a big deal. Some qualify for exceptions (and you need to move them into clearly labeled … Continued
It’s hard to create content for local government permits. There’s a myriad of rules and processes. Things get muddled with if/then circumstances and special cases. This leads to confusion and sets the wrong expectations. A process that may in fact be simple appears overly burdensome. Or a complex process seems more simple than it is. … Continued
Clear Creek Recreation recently launched a new website using the ProudCity platform. The new site organizes information so people can easily find classes and activities. Department of Civic Things supported their project team with: Content strategy and design Developing content Building out the site Online forms Check our their new website.
We often visit a local government website for a simple purpose: find street sweeping hours, pay a parking ticket. Instead of clarity, we’re met with a labyrinth of links, random information, and dead-end pages. The Library of Babel is a 1940s absurdist short story about overwhelming knowledge and the search for something meaningful. Its author, … Continued
Local government agencies need to soon comply with a new federal web accessibility law. This includes making sure documents, like PDFs, are accessible. If your government agency is typical, you have a lot of PDFs. Probably thousands. They are probably not accessible. It’s expensive to make PDFs accessible through remediation services. The underlying goal of … Continued
