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In October, we released beta.USA.gov and beta.USA.gov en Español to the public. These websites are where we are building the next version of USA.gov. We want the future federal front door to be more human-centered, actionable, interactive, and accessible. But how do we know if the choices we have made are accomplishing these goals?
In order to measure the effectiveness of our previous choices and to guide future decisions, we’re evaluating beta.USA.gov in a variety of ways.
USA.gov and USAGov en Español have always taken a human-centered approach to making it easier to find and understand government information and services. As part of the larger effort to reimagine the USAGov websites, our content team developed new data-driven processes and best practices that reshape how we present content for beta.USA.gov and beta.USA.gov en Español.
The USAGov team strives to ensure all our websites are accessible to as many people as possible. This includes those who need the use of specialized assistive technologies when browsing the internet. As a result, in building beta.USA.gov we deliberately validated that it met Section 508 and WCAG 2.0 compliance requirements.
This mindset wasn't only applied to the testing phase of beta but in all phases of the project including prototyping. Our testing approach includes a three step hybrid method that may be suitable for other agency use.
As we’ve been building our beta.USA.gov and beta.USA.gov en Español sites, our usability (UX) team has been developing new ways to make improvements through usability testing, information architecture, and design elements. Here are five changes we’ve made that are helping us better understand user needs and pain points:
The USAGov program has been developing a new iteration of our bilingual sites, USA.gov and USAGov en Español. In the process of building beta.USA.gov and beta.USA.gov en Español, we’ve been rethinking our work style and priorities. Follow the “Building Beta” series to learn how we’re reimagining the way we approach product management, usability, accessibility, content creation, analytics, and outreach.
