Ideas

Clear writing creates better government: lessons from George Orwell

Posted on January 8, 2026

Writing for government carries a special responsibility. The words we choose shape how people think about policies, services, and institutions. Clarity, honesty, and readability affects trust, engagement, and democratic participation. In his 1946 essay Politics and the English Language, Orwell makes this case: vague, pompous, or clichéd writing isn’t just stylistically poor — it undermines...

Meet your new AI helpers: custom GPTs for better government content

Posted on December 30, 2025

Local governments produce a lot of written content. From services and guides to reports and proclamations, every word is part of your customer service. Much of this tends to be full of jargon, technical terms, and obfuscation. Part of making government work better is translating complex programs, policies, rules, and processes into clear, accurate, accessible information...

How to write with one voice

Posted on December 11, 2025

Written by Cassandra Cyphers. When working on a shared, public-facing project like your city’s website, multiple people are coming together to create content. Each person contributes unique perspectives, vocabulary, and tone of voice. But too many styles across a larger body of work like a website can feel chaotic to users. It erodes trust. A...

Help people do things: turn passive government content into action

Posted on October 30, 2025

Government websites should be built around helping people take action, not giving explanations. Most local government websites are full of passive content. They explain what the government does (like programs, laws, rules) instead of helping people with how to do something. If your website is like this, it’s not a digital service — it’s an...

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How more content types could end the government PDF problem

Posted on September 2, 2025

If you are like most government agencies, your website is full of PDFs. You create them for meeting agendas, annual reports, public notices, forms, and the list goes on. You have thousands on your website. They are easy to make and our tools make them the path of least resistance. But PDFs are both a...

A new tool to help you with your PDF problem

Posted on June 4, 2025

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...

Get rid of your government FAQs (they aren’t helping)

Posted on May 14, 2025

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...

Accessible government websites are better for everyone

Posted on March 19, 2025

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...

Why you need to audit your PDFs

Posted on February 27, 2025

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...

Permit guides help people do things

Posted on January 16, 2025

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....

Government websites and the cautionary tale of the Library of Babel

Posted on November 19, 2024

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,...

The elephant in the new accessibility law: PDFs

Posted on October 10, 2024

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...

Buying software and technology for your local government

Posted on September 9, 2024

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...

Government content during disasters

Posted on July 4, 2024

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:...

Clear and approachable local election content for candidates

Posted on June 13, 2024

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...

What local governments need to know about the new accessibility law

Posted on April 29, 2024

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...

How AI can help you stop wasting everyone’s time

Posted on April 18, 2024

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...

Plain language writing is a skill, and most governments don’t do it well

Posted on March 14, 2024

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...

Training: How to write better government content

Posted on March 13, 2024

Clear communications – for internal or public consumption – is at the heart of good government. Writing better content eliminates confusion, saves time and resources and delivers a better overall government experience. Department of Civic Things and ProudCity are proud to collaborate on new training to support local governments in plain language, both for online...

Small cities deserve great websites too

Posted on February 15, 2024

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,...

Content design puts residents first: Somerville’s new website makes information accessible and actionable

Posted on February 8, 2024

Challenged with a disorganized, outdated website, the borough of Somerville, NJ sought a solution. With expert guidance from ProudCity and Department of Civic Things, Somerville used a service-minded content design approach to transform their website. Somerville is a vibrant town buzzing with families and young professionals, but their website made it difficult for the local...

GPTs, government website guide, and seeing your future city through your phone camera

Posted on January 18, 2024

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...

Beginner’s guide to managing a government website project

Posted on January 11, 2024

Your website is the foundation of your digital government services and customer service. A helpful website that works well will increase public confidence and trust in government. In this guide, we’ll help you make the best local government website. We’ll provide a comprehensive rundown of a City website project, including: Why it’s important How to...

6 tips to make your government website project a success

Posted on January 9, 2024

Your website is the foundation of your government’s services and customer service. A good website makes it easy for people to get things done and this increases public trust in your organization. In this post, we’ll provide 6 tips for government website projects and why they are critical for your project’s success. 1. Help people...

How to understand and calculate government form burden

Posted on December 18, 2023

Most people interact with your government through forms. Sometimes a form is short and simple. Some forms can feel long, complex, and stressful. A lot of time is spent filling out forms and processing them. The main reasons forms take a long time to complete are figuring out what questions are asking for and tracking...

How to write business license renewal website content

Posted on December 14, 2023

It’s that time of year again - business license renewals. If your renewal cycle is based on the calendar year, you are probably sending out reminders to hundreds or thousands of business owners right now. There’s usually quite a bit of customer service involved in this program. Business owners often: Get confused about what they...

Try our custom ChatGPT to write government services content

Posted on December 12, 2023

We created a custom ChatGPT called Service Thing. It helps you write government services content that focuses on tasks and is easy to understand. Service Thing You can also use the guidance in our last post about using AI to help write content for a government service. Let us know if this helps you! We...

How to use AI to write content for a government service

Posted on December 7, 2023

Generative AI can create content based on patterns it has learned from existing data. A prompt for generative AI is a set of instructions that tells it what kind of content to create. This post explains the steps for preparing a generative AI prompt you can use to create draft government service content. An action...

What is structured content (and why it’s important)

Posted on December 6, 2023

A government website often feels like a firehose of information. It’s overwhelming to read long paragraphs of text, especially on your phone. Content editors struggle to keep things up to date, especially when the same information appears on multiple pages. Structured content is a way to organize and present information in a way that makes...

How to use generative AI to write government website content

Posted on December 4, 2023

Generative AI (gen AI) is a useful tool that can help you write draft content for your government website. At this point in time, you can’t completely trust it to write perfect and accurate content. But using it can save you time. There are several free gen AI tools available. The most common ones are...

9 things to look for in a government website vendor

Posted on November 30, 2023

If you want a great government website, you need a strong vendor to support you. A good vendor: Understands the importance of content and make it easy for you to manage it Has a deep understanding and commitment to digital accessibility and security Always gets better Most local governments rely on a vendor to support...

How to create an action page for a government service

Posted on November 22, 2023

Website content is one of the first things someone interacts with when learning about your government service. It should be part of your local government customer service strategy. A service helps someone do something and an action page is like digitally holding their hand through the process. The information in your service inventory is a...

How to create an inventory of your government services

Posted on November 22, 2023

People come to your website to accomplish tasks. They want or need to do something. This means interacting with your digital government services. Some of your services are digital government services. Some are in-person and many are somewhere in between. Regardless, people should be able to find out about all of your services on your...

Why governments should get rid of PDF documents

Posted on October 12, 2023

If your government website is like most, it has a lot of PDF documents. They outline steps to a process, answer frequently asked questions, provide checklists, list requirements. They are very common and they are a problem. Most PDFs are not accessible The best way to make a PDF accessible is to do so from...

What is plain language (and why you need to use it)

Posted on October 10, 2023

Plain language helps you convey complex information. Your readers understand and get what they need quickly, with fewer questions and less confusion. As a government, using plain language will help you improve your services, forms, and public information. Benefits of plain language: Helps people know what information means the first time they read it. Makes...

What is digital accessibility (and why it matters)

Posted on October 7, 2023

Why digital accessibility matters 1 in 4 Americans are living with some type of disability. 4.6% are blind or have serious difficulty seeing. 5.9% are deaf or have serious difficulty hearing. 12.8% are living with a cognitive disability like dyslexia, attention deficit, or autism. About 1 in 12 men are colorblind. It’s the law. Section...

3 easy ways to get feedback on your government website

Posted on September 29, 2023

When you make a new website, it’s important to get feedback on it to make sure it works for people. Getting feedback on your website should be part of your government customer service strategy. If you don’t have the time or budget to do extensive user research, here are 3 easy ways to get feedback...

Understand department priorities to support customer service

Posted on June 4, 2023

When you work with departments on a new website, it’s helpful to begin by learning about their priorities. Once you understand them, you can work on ways to make their key services easy to find. This will help you develop a government content strategy. Each department has its own mission and operational goals. Depending on...

What is a team agreement (and why you need one)

Posted on May 20, 2023

A team agreement is a shared set of norms and expectations that define how team members will interact. Sometimes they are referred to as working agreements. They create a foundation for: Trust Accountability Collaboration Why team agreements matter Team agreements pave the way for a productive and effective work environment. They provide a framework for...

Set guiding principles

Posted on September 5, 2022

This is a chapter from Proudly Serving, contributed by Laine Hendricks and Rebecca Woodbury Overview Guiding principles help organizations align their values to their digital goals. They serve as an aspirational North Star to help teams make design and content decisions. Guiding principles enable collaboration and consistency so digital products achieve better outcomes and build...

How to share updates (and why they increase public trust)

Posted on January 19, 2022

A new website project ends with a launch, but your website is never done. When you get feedback, you should report out about what you did. An easy way to do this is a regular update with a list of things you’ve done and things you are doing to improve the site. Sharing updates increases public...

Beginner’s guide to digital community engagement

Posted on September 9, 2021

How to create sustainable and effective community engagement for your government agency Written in collaboration with Go Vocal (formerly CitizenLab), this guide walks you through the basics of digital community engagement and is meant to serve as a resource for beginners and seasoned practitioners alike. After all, setting a solid foundation for your community engagement...

How to empower the local government product owner

Posted on June 30, 2021

Purpose The purpose of an empowered government product owner is to make sure that a government service or program is effective and meets people’s needs. “There must be a single product owner who has the authority and responsibility to assign tasks and work elements; make business, product, and technical decisions; and be accountable for the...

Fostering a service-minded culture

Posted on March 11, 2021

The under-resourced nature of local government often leads to de-prioritization of workplace culture. At the same time, it adds pressure to increase efficiency. The “do more with less” mantra sounds like tired nails on a chalkboard to most public servants. Work culture is made up of several elements including: Purpose (this inspires and motivates us...

Public service with purpose

Posted on February 25, 2021

Early in my career, my best friend was working as a social worker. She helped LGBTQ foster youth navigate trauma. She supported them in relationships with foster and birth parents, as well as other kids. At the end of her shift, she had to document the happenings of the day, sometimes traumatic, into their case...

What is a product owner?

Posted on February 4, 2021

A product owner ensures that a government service or program is effective and meets people's needs. This role is different from a project manager, who's job is to make sure a project gets done on time and on budget. The product owner is accountable for whether the service is any good. This mindset helps to...

Code California: openness makes things better

Posted on February 2, 2021

The book "The Open Organization" by Jim Whitehurst speaks to the idea of openness beyond the legal definition of transparency or simple collaboration, but as a tool for making government work better for people. Whitehurst talks about an “open everything culture” and that it’s not for everyone. To succeed in this culture, you must be...

Ideas

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