Standards
Federal website standards will help agencies provide high-quality, consistent digital experiences for everyone. The standards cover common visual and technical elements and reflect user experience best practices.
We’ll post information about standards as they're being developed. Each standard will have a status to indicate where it is in the process: research, draft, pending, or required.
- Researchcompleted
- Draftcompleted
- Pendingcompleted
- Requiredcompleted
Required
There are no required standards at this time.
Pending
Pending standards are finalized. They will be required after a specified time period following their publication to the pending status. Federal agencies can begin working to comply with pending standards.
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Why: The banner identifies official websites of federal government organizations in the United States.
Status: Pending
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Why: A descriptive page title is important for accessibility and discoverability.
Status: Pending
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Why: The meta description supports accessibility and discoverability.
Status: Pending
Draft
This standard has been drafted and is being shared with federal agencies and other stakeholders. Agencies can review and provide feedback.
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Why: Contact pages that are informative, comprehensive, and accessible build trust and credibility.
Status: Draft
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Why: Timeliness indicators can increase user trust in the currency and accuracy of information.
Status: Draft
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Why: Search functionality is an expected feature for websites and digital services.
Status: Draft
Research
These standards are being researched with the public, federal agencies, and other stakeholders. Agencies can contribute research and provide feedback.
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Why: Informing users when a link will take them to a different site helps them decide whether or not to click that link.
Status: Research
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Why: Language selectors that follow best practices help people access content in their preferred language on multilingual websites.
Status: Research