Government Website Redesign Guide

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Key Takeaways

• Government websites have legal accessibility obligations under Section 508 and the ADA that are not optional or aspirational. Enforcement has increased significantly.
• Public procurement rules affect vendor selection, timelines, and contracts in ways that commercial web projects do not. Budget the procurement process itself into the project timeline.
• Citizens are the end audience. Government websites that are organized around agency structure rather than citizen needs consistently produce poor user experience and poor satisfaction outcomes.
• Plain language is a federal requirement for federal agencies and a best practice standard for state and local government. Websites that use bureaucratic language fail the citizens they serve.

The Purpose of a Government Website

A government website exists to help citizens access services, information, and assistance. That is the entire purpose.

It is not a PR channel for the administration. It is not a showcase for the agency's organizational chart. It is not a place to publish PDFs of documents that citizens should be able to navigate and read in a browser.

When a government redesign starts from this premise, the project brief becomes much clearer. When it starts from internal political priorities or departmental turf considerations, it produces the kind of government websites that consistently rank among the least satisfying websites citizens interact with.

Compliance Requirements That Govern the Design

Government website redesigns must meet compliance standards that most commercial web projects do not face.

Section 508:

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requires federal agencies to make electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities. State and local government agencies receiving federal funding face similar requirements under Title II of the ADA.

WCAG 2.1 AA is the current accessibility standard referenced in Section 508 guidance and in most ADA-related enforcement actions against government websites.

Every page, every document, every video, and every interactive tool on a government website must meet these standards. Not most pages. All of them.

Plain Language Act:

The Plain Writing Act of 2010 requires federal agencies to use clear, plain language in all documents intended for the public. This extends to websites. State and local agencies increasingly adopt similar standards.

Plain language requirements affect how content is written, how navigation is labeled, and how processes are explained on the site.

Privacy and data collection requirements:

Government websites that collect any personal information must comply with applicable federal and state privacy laws, including the E-Government Act, relevant state privacy statutes, and any sector-specific requirements (health data, financial data, etc.).

The Procurement Reality

For government agencies at all levels, purchasing a website redesign involves procurement processes that commercial organizations do not face.

Common government procurement requirements:

Organizations that do not account for this in their project planning end up in a situation where the budget was approved in Q1 but the vendor is not onboarded until Q4.

Plan the procurement process first. Design work begins after contract execution.

The Citizen Journey Problem

Most government websites are organized by agency structure, not by how citizens look for services.

A citizen looking for information about renewing a driver's license does not know or care which state agency handles that. They search "renew driver's license [state]" and expect the result to take them directly to the process.

A government website organized by department makes the citizen figure out which department to visit before they can find the information. Most will struggle. Some will give up.

The citizen journey approach:

Redesign the site structure around the questions citizens most commonly ask and the tasks they most commonly need to complete, not around the agency's internal organizational structure.

Top citizen task analysis, also called "top tasks" methodology, is a research approach that surveys citizens to identify the small number of tasks that represent the majority of visits to a government site. Designing the navigation and homepage around those tasks consistently produces better outcomes than organizing by department.

Accessibility: The Legal Standard and the Design Standard

Section 508 and ADA compliance cannot be treated as a checklist to complete after design and development. They must be built into the process from the beginning.

Accessibility requirements for government websites:

• WCAG 2.1 AA compliance on all pages, including all PDFs, all videos, and all interactive tools
• Screen reader testing on primary assistive technologies (NVDA, JAWS, VoiceOver)
• Keyboard navigation working for all interactive elements without a mouse
• Color contrast ratios at 4.5:1 minimum for all text
• Form labels correctly associated with input fields
• Error messages that explain the problem and how to fix it
• Skip navigation links for keyboard users
• All government forms accessible and completable without requiring a mouse

The website redesign ADA compliance standards that apply to government agencies involve the same WCAG framework used for commercial sites, but the legal consequences of non-compliance are different: government agencies face civil rights enforcement actions, not just reputational risk.

An accessibility audit by a certified specialist should occur at the design phase, during development, and again before launch.

Plain Language in Government Web Content

Government agencies have decades of institutional writing habits that produce impenetrable content.

Common government writing problems:

• Passive voice: "Applications must be submitted by the deadline" instead of "Submit your application before [date]"
• Jargon: "Pursuant to regulatory guidance" instead of "Based on the rules"
• Noun stacking: "Benefit eligibility determination process" instead of "How to find out if you qualify"
• Long, unbroken paragraphs with no visual hierarchy
• Instructions buried in policy language instead of separated as clear steps

Plain language standards:

• Use "you" and "we" to write directly to the citizen
• Break processes into numbered steps
• Use headers to organize content by what citizens need to know, not by how the agency thinks about the topic
• Write at a reading level appropriate to the widest possible audience (Grade 8 is a common government standard)
• Test content with actual citizens before finalizing it

The website redesign user experience principles that apply to citizen-facing government content place plain language at the center, because comprehension is a prerequisite for any other user experience goal.

Forms and Transactions: The Highest-Priority User Experience

Government websites are often gateways to services that citizens need urgently. Permits, licenses, benefits, registrations, tax payments: these are not optional interactions.

When these forms and transactions are difficult, citizens experience government as a barrier, not a service.

What good government transaction design requires:

• Clear explanation of what information is needed before the form begins
• Progress indicators on multi-step forms
• The ability to save progress and return later for complex applications
• Confirmation that the submission was received, with a reference number
• Clear explanation of next steps after submission
• Accessible on mobile, completable on a phone

Many government forms are still PDF downloads that must be printed, filled by hand, and mailed or delivered in person. A redesign that digitizes these forms, even partially, produces measurable improvement in citizen experience and operational efficiency.

CMS Considerations for Government Websites

Government agencies have additional CMS requirements beyond content management.

Key requirements:

• Role-based permissions that allow multiple departments to manage their content without accessing other departments' content
• Workflow and approval processes that match the agency's content review requirements
• Document management for the large libraries of PDFs and public records most agencies maintain
• Compliance with government-specific security frameworks (FedRAMP for federal agencies, SOC 2 or state equivalents for state and local)
• Accessibility-aware authoring tools that help content editors produce accessible output

Common platforms in government contexts include Adobe Experience Manager, Drupal (widely used in federal and state government), Sitecore, and purpose-built government CMS platforms.

The website redesign process Adapted for Government

The standard website redesign process applies to government projects with additional steps.

Government-specific additions:

• Citizen research. Government agencies should conduct usability research with actual citizens, not just with agency stakeholders. This requires IRB approval for some research methods at federal agencies.
• Stakeholder mapping. Government redesigns often involve dozens of internal stakeholder groups, each with their own content ownership and concerns. Map them all before starting.
• Legal review. All web content, including privacy notices, terms of use, and any content that could be construed as legal advice, requires review by the agency's general counsel.
• ATO (Authority to Operate). Federal government systems require a formal security assessment before going live. This process adds weeks to months to the launch timeline.
• 508 conformance statement. Federal agencies must publish an accessibility conformance report for their website.

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Budget Ranges for Government Redesigns

These ranges vary significantly based on the number of forms and transactions to digitize, the accessibility remediation scope, and the content migration complexity.

Does your agency need a website that citizens can actually use? LOW/CODE Agency is a leading AI product team for SMBs and startups. Municipal agencies and smaller government-adjacent organizations evaluating a modernization that prioritizes citizen experience over institutional structure will find we bring the clarity and user focus these projects require.

Website projects start at $10,000+. Are you on a path to a better citizen experience? Let's find out.