From the White House

The federal government wants to re-invent how it delivers information and services online, and we need your help. We want to bring the best of the web to the .gov domain. So share your ideas to help us answer: What practices, policies, and principles should guide federal websites. You can submit ideas on any of the campaigns from Sept 19 - Sept 30, but we will also be hosting one hour dialogue-a-thons with our discussion catalysts on each campaign. You can also follow comments about the dialogue on Twitter under the hashtag #dotgov.

Accessibility Dialogue-A-Thon

Monday September 26, 3:00 PM ET.

We invite you to participate in the one-hour long, live "dialog-a-thon" on Universal Access to have a targeted, real-time conversation with a critical mass of participants. Sharron Rush will be hosting the accessibility dialog-a-thon on Monday, September 26, from 3-4 pm ET. If you are unable to join, you can still participate in the National Dialog for the full 2 weeks. The dialogue-a-thon is a time we've devoted to specifically addressing ideas for improving accessibility of federal websites.

More information:

Two -Week National Dialogue on Improving Federal Websites

The National Dialogue for Improving Federal Websites is sponsored by the White House and the U.S. General Services Administration. The dialogue is a critical part of the .gov Reform Initiative launched in June 2011, to streamline how we manage federal websites and provide a better customer experience when people access government information and services online. The online conversation lasts from September 19 through September 30, 2011.

The online conversation features eight different discussion areas open for two weeks, including one on accessibility. You will have the opportunity to submit and vote on ideas for improving how people access government information and services online, with different devices and assistive technology. We hope this conversation will complement the ongoing work of our group and other public discussions that have happened recently around accessibility.

Please spread the word about the National Dialogue to your networks, friends, and colleagues. We're looking for a very broad and diverse set of ideas.

The 508 compliant IdeaScale platform is being used to host the Dialogue. Our 508 specialist has rigorously tested the platform; however, if you find things that aren't accessible, please let us know and we'll work to address them.

The purpose is to allow people to submit and vote on ideas for improving various aspects of improving federal websites, such as: content, search, usability, accessibility, social media, multilingual content, and online services. The .gov Task Force will review the ideas and consider them as they develop a National Web Strategy and make recommendations for streamlining federal websites, strengthening federal web policy, and improving citizens' experience with federal websites.

We know there is a goldmine of good ideas from the community, so we hope--and expect-- that you'll actively participate in the discussion and share your expertise and knowledge. We want to hear what's working well, what can be improved, innovative ways to rethink the federal web, and specific examples you have from your industry or organization.

You can also follow comments about the dialogue on Twitter under the hashtag #dotgov.

Many thanks for helping promote this. We hope you can chime in to submit, vote, and comment on ideas: http://web-reform-dialogue.ideascale.com/