Design and Brand
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!
Use the U.S. Web Design System for Design
Fonts
USDA Masthead and Signature Lock-up
USDA Footer
USDA Colors
USDA Social Media Icons
USDA Photography & Visual Standards
Program-Specific Guidelines
USDA Style Guide
Follow Federal Guidance and Mandates
- 21st Century IDEA Act
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)
- Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 [Accessibility]
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.
- Connected Government Act [Mobile-Friendly Design]
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.
