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
Buying things for your government agency can be intimidating. There are opaque and strict rules to follow. Sometimes we are tasked with buying something we don’t know much about. This is often the case when it comes to software and technology. I’ve been on both sides of procurement, once as a local government buyer and … Continued
Written in partnership with ProudCity. Communication is critical to emergency management. When disaster strikes, government must share content in ways that meet the moment. Why it matters Effective disaster communications: Lets you update faster, frequently Builds trust in government Removes confusion Keeps people safe How they get it People get disaster updates from many sources: … Continued
There’s a big election in November. While the news focuses on the presidential election, you most likely have local ballot measures and open seats on your City Council. Our communities are stronger when more people run for local office. But getting people interested in running for City Council can be hard. The process can feel … Continued
Local government agencies need to soon comply with a new federal web accessibility law. This means all government web content needs to be accessible to people with disabilities. Learn how this applies to your agency and what you can start doing to make sure you comply. What this applies to This law applies to more … Continued
Most people learn about your government services and programs online. They don’t typically start on your homepage – they start with a Google search. This now means, they start with Gemini. AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity are answering questions about your services. Are they getting them right? This depends on how good your … Continued
Information on your government website is the foundation of your customer service. If it’s easy to understand and accurate, you’ll save time and build trust. Government website projects typically focus on a new content management system and a new design. Content is often an afterthought. Departments are usually left on their own to manage the … Continued
You don’t need a big budget or a lot of staff to make a great website. When I started Department of Civic Things, I knew I wanted to work with small cities. About 85% of towns in America have fewer than 25,000 residents, and 76% have fewer than 5,000. With tiny budgets and few staff, … Continued
Try our local government ai writing assistants and guide for website projects. New development happening in your city? Help people see what it will really look like. GPTs for local government We now offer several AI writing assistants to help you: Build content for your services and tasks Draft staff reports for public meetings Write … Continued
