21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act
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Summary
The text from Digital.gov explains the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act (21st Century IDEA), a bipartisan law requiring the modernization of government websites and services. It also outlines the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) accompanying policy guidance, Delivering a Digital-First Public Experience (M-23-22). This guidance mandates that agencies ensure their websites, digital services, and forms are accessible, consistent, easy to understand, discoverable, secure, user-centered, customized, and mobile-friendly. It outlines specific actions agencies must take to achieve this goal, including identifying digital experience leads and top websites, assessing common questions and top tasks, and creating digital equivalents for paper forms and services.
Timeline
December 20, 2018: The 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act (21st Century IDEA) is enacted into law (Public Law 115-336).
June 22, 2020: The deadline for agencies to submit plans to accelerate the use of electronic signatures passes.
December 20, 2019: The deadline for the OMB to issue guidance to agencies on identifying non-digital services for online conversion passes.
December 20, 2019 - September 22, 2023: Agencies undertake efforts to comply with the 21st Century IDEA, with varying levels of progress.
September 22, 2023: The OMB releases Memorandum M-23-22, “Delivering a Digital-First Public Experience.”
September 22, 2023 - Present: Agencies work to comply with the mandates and recommendations laid out in M-23-22.
Deadlines
- Within 30 days: Agencies identify a “digital experience delivery lead” as the point of contact for digital transformation efforts.
- Within 90 days: Agencies identify all public-facing websites to the OMB.
- Within 180 days: Agencies analyze website traffic, identify top websites, assess common user questions, pinpoint opportunities for content deduplication and SEO, and assess top tasks for self-service optimization.
- Within 180 days of the launch of the Federal Services Index (date TBD): Agencies submit a preliminary inventory of all public-facing services, including information about services not available in a digital format. Agencies then have one year to finalize this inventory and make it publicly available.
Ongoing
- The General Services Administration (GSA) is tasked with several immediate and ongoing actions, including updating Digital.gov with resources for implementing M-23-22, facilitating interagency coordination through a new “Digital Experience Council,” updating federal website standards, collaborating with industry stakeholders, identifying strategic sourcing opportunities, and developing and maintaining the Federal Services Index.
Agencies and Entities
- Office of Management and Budget (OMB): Responsible for overseeing the implementation of the 21st Century IDEA and providing guidance to agencies through memorandums like M-23-22.
- General Services Administration (GSA): Plays a key role in supporting agencies’ digital transformation efforts by providing resources, tools, and standards through platforms like Digital.gov and the U.S. Web Design System (USWDS).
- Executive Branch Agencies: Tasked with complying with the 21st Century IDEA and subsequent OMB guidance, agencies are responsible for modernizing their websites, digitizing services, and improving digital customer experience.
- Chief Information Officers (CIOs): Agency leaders responsible for coordinating the implementation of digital experience requirements and promoting standardization within and across agencies.
- Digital Experience Delivery Leads: Individuals designated within each agency to serve as the primary point of contact for digital transformation initiatives, including communication with OMB and other stakeholders.
- Digital Experience Council: A subcommittee of the CIO Council, established to facilitate interagency coordination and provide guidance for implementing the 21st Century IDEA.
