The Govt.nz style guide published on Govt.nz has been helping people write for public sector websites since 2013, but the time has come for it to join similar guidance on Digital.govt.nz.
The style guide on Govt.nz covered everything from what tone to use when writing for Govt.nz, to how to style a phone number. It was aimed at people who write content for Govt.nz, but now it makes sense to broaden the audience and create one set of guidance that is suitable for any government agency.
This means its natural home is on Digital.govt.nz, in the Design and UX section. Migrating the style guide from Govt.nz means we can replace and update the old ‘Content design and management’ pages on Digital.govt.nz, and reduce duplication between Govt.nz and Digital.govt.nz.
There is still style information specific to Govt.nz on Govt.nz (like their typography and colours), but the general best-practice guidance is now on Digital.govt.nz. It is essentially the same guidance as always, but in a new home.
In its new home, the content design guidance is not mandatory for agencies to follow. But it is recommended, and it is the style that Govt.nz and Digital.govt.nz both follow.
The guidance is a work in progress, along with the Accessibility section. So, we’ll use on-page surveys and other methods to get feedback from people who use it.
If you're a content designer, please let us know about anything that would be useful to include, and what you think of the guidance. We'd love to hear from you, just email info@digital.govt.nz.
