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The Canadian government has a design system[0] for government services too, that I think is quite decent. It's almost primitive, but it's clean, consistent and

The Canadian government has a design system[0] for government services too, that I think is quite decent. It's almost primitive, but it's clean, consistent and follows good accessibility principles. It's downright boring, but I think that's great. I am not interested in a flashy, only-compatible-with-latest-Chrome design for a government website. :) Oh, they even include a content style guide[1] which goes so far as to recommend things like writing with "plain language" to ensure content is easily understood. Really cool! Even further, they outline some good practice around how to actually create and maintain a good website[2], including suggestions like "build in accessibility from the start" and "use open standards and solutions".. How cool is that? For real though, I need to reiterate how impressed I am with their design system. Check out Canada.ca[3], the country's official website. It's "plain jane", right? I can't believe how readable it is. It's just plainly-worded links to topics of information you may be seeking. The chosen standard font is extremely legible, compared to so many websites. And it loads SO fast! :D I notice UK Govt's website[4] is quite similar, which is great (though the cookie banner covering 2/3 of the screen isn't so nice haha) [0] https://design.canada.ca/ https://design.canada.ca/ [1] https://design.canada.ca/style-guide/ https://design.canada.ca/style-guide/ [2] https://www.canada.ca/en/government/system/digital-government/government-canada-digital-standards.html https://www.canada.ca/en/government/system/digital-governmen... [3] https://www.canada.ca/en.html https://www.canada.ca/en.html [4] https://www.gov.uk/ https://www.gov.uk/

ricardobeat 3y ago
Dutch government websites also have a no-frills design and well-written content in a similar style: https://business.gov.nl/ https://business.gov.nl/ https://duo.nl https://duo.nl https://belastingdienst.nl https://belastingdienst.nl
- skavi 3y ago
  UK’s got a very clean system as well. https://design-system.service.gov.uk/ https://design-system.service.gov.uk/
- michelb 3y ago
  This is the NL design system: https://nldesignsystem.nl https://nldesignsystem.nl Open for public participation.
- rroose 3y ago
  I would like to note that there currently is no centralized Design System for the Dutch Government, unfortunately. All agencies are creating their own Design System based on the Rijkshuisstijl. Currently I'm working on ROOS (https://rvo.nl/roos https://rvo.nl/roos) which is the Design System for the Netherlands Enterprise Agency. This is build with the already mentioned NL Design System. My hope being that this will bring the different agencies together and start working on a centralized Design System for the Dutch Government and follow the excellent examples of https://design-system.service.gov.uk https://design-system.service.gov.uk and https://designsystem.digital.gov/ https://designsystem.digital.gov/
red-iron-pine 3y ago
The style is good, or at least alright -- consistant. Speaking as a new immigrant to Canada and I've had to deal w/ a lot of CAN Gov sites. Problem is they still use bureaucratic-ese and it's impossible to get a clear answer without calling. I'll give the US IRS a ton of credit there, I can get actual answers and what to do from the website text, but with the IRCC or other Canadian orgs I pretty much have to call and wait on hold to get basic answers.
- galaxyLogic 3y ago
  In the near future governments will probably mandate using AI on their web-sites to answer users' questions.
- amatecha 3y ago
  Oh of course, pretty often the actual content may be missing important details. I've definitely asked more questions of either my accountant or a CRA rep than by reading text on an official website, because all the edge-cases and potential weird scenarios are not covered (unless you read the entire text of all relevant laws and know them offhand, I guess).

ricardobeat 3y ago

Dutch government websites also have a no-frills design and well-written content in a similar style: https://business.gov.nl/ https://business.gov.nl/ https://duo.nl https://duo.nl https://belastingdienst.nl https://belastingdienst.nl

skavi 3y ago
UK’s got a very clean system as well. https://design-system.service.gov.uk/ https://design-system.service.gov.uk/
michelb 3y ago
This is the NL design system: https://nldesignsystem.nl https://nldesignsystem.nl Open for public participation.
rroose 3y ago
I would like to note that there currently is no centralized Design System for the Dutch Government, unfortunately. All agencies are creating their own Design System based on the Rijkshuisstijl. Currently I'm working on ROOS (https://rvo.nl/roos https://rvo.nl/roos) which is the Design System for the Netherlands Enterprise Agency. This is build with the already mentioned NL Design System. My hope being that this will bring the different agencies together and start working on a centralized Design System for the Dutch Government and follow the excellent examples of https://design-system.service.gov.uk https://design-system.service.gov.uk and https://designsystem.digital.gov/ https://designsystem.digital.gov/

red-iron-pine 3y ago

The style is good, or at least alright -- consistant. Speaking as a new immigrant to Canada and I've had to deal w/ a lot of CAN Gov sites. Problem is they still use bureaucratic-ese and it's impossible to get a clear answer without calling. I'll give the US IRS a ton of credit there, I can get actual answers and what to do from the website text, but with the IRCC or other Canadian orgs I pretty much have to call and wait on hold to get basic answers.

galaxyLogic 3y ago
In the near future governments will probably mandate using AI on their web-sites to answer users' questions.
amatecha 3y ago
Oh of course, pretty often the actual content may be missing important details. I've definitely asked more questions of either my accountant or a CRA rep than by reading text on an official website, because all the edge-cases and potential weird scenarios are not covered (unless you read the entire text of all relevant laws and know them offhand, I guess).