Does your site look like a USDA website?
OneUSDA isn’t just a slogan: It also communicates that all USDA agencies are part of an organization singularly unified in serving the American agricultural producer and consumer. By following USDA’s brand identity, you reinforce that message and provide a consistent experience across all USDA web properties.
Goals
- Evaluate your adherence to USDA web and brand guidelines
- Ensure UI consistency and usability by following the U.S. Web Design Standards System
- Make designs uniform across all of USDA (color, font, look and feel, placement, style etc.) and follow the best UX practices for doing so
- Keep accessible design in mind
Understand USDA Guidance and Learn More!
Follow Federal Guidance and Mandates
-
The 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act (IDEA) lists requirements (including some outlined here separately) that new and redesigned websites must:
Sec. 3(a)-
Comply with Section 508 accessibility requirements
-
Have consistent appearance
-
Not overlap with or duplicate legacy websites
-
Have a site search feature
-
Use industry-standard secure connection (https)
-
Be designed around user needs based on qualitative and quantitative data
-
Have an option for a more customized digital experience
-
Be fully functional on common mobile devices
Section 3(b)(2)(A)
-
Report to Congress their agency’s most-viewed or most-utilized websites and services
Sec. 3(e)
-
Comply with U.S. Website Standards (the U.S. Web Design System)
-
-
Agencies must give disabled employees and members of the public access to information comparable to the access available to others. In 2017, the Access Board updated the 508 Standards and Guidelines with several major changes to provide clarity and keep up with advances in technology and standards. Significantly, the revised standards incorporate the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, which require websites to meet Level A and Level AA success criteria.
-
The Connected Government Act requires that all new and redesigned agency websites be mobile-friendly.
Previous: Accessibility Plays Next: Design and Brand Plays
This page was last updated May 8, 2023.
Tell Us What You Think
The USDA Digital Strategy is being produced iteratively and relies on feedback from you to tell us what content you need to see, as well as what is and isn’t working. To send feedback, email us at feedback@usda.gov.