Agencies, Want a New Website? Talk to GSA

robuart/Shutterstock.com

The General Services Administration is now in charge of a 4-year-old effort to streamline thousands of extraneous federal websites.

Nearly four years after the Obama administration began an effort to ax extraneous federal websites, the White House budget office is asking the General Services Administration to take over cracking the whip.

GSA’s Office of Governmentwide Policy is being given the power to set targets for consolidating agency domains and websites, according to a new memo from Lisa Schlosser, the acting federal chief information officer.

The little-noticed memo was issued last month. Federal News Radio first reported details of the memo.

The Office of Management and Budget is also delegating to GSA the authority to approve or deny agencies’ requests to establish new domains.

Forthcoming GSA guidelines for approving new domains “shall continue to limit the proliferation of stand-alone websites and infrastructure,” Schlosser wrote in the memo.

In other words, FiddlinForesters.gov is unlikely to make a comeback. 

New federal websites will have to follow certain guidelines, including:

  • Making sure they’re accessible to people with disabilities, known as Section 508 compliance
  • Using a GSA-run Web analytics program to track visits to federal websites
  • Following cybersecurity measures, including continuous monitoring and complying with Internet Protocol Version 6 standards
  • Encouraging the use of responsive Web design, which would make more federal content available on mobile devices.

The cluttered federal Web presence first drew attention from the administration in 2011. President Barack Obama issued an executive order freezing the creation of new federal websites unless they had been personally approved by the federal CIO. Obama also called on agencies to shut down unnecessary websites as part of a “campaign to cut waste” in government.

At the time, top-level federal dot-gov domains numbered nearly 2,000 and the total number of websites and microsites was estimated to be as much as 24,000.

A registry of current dot-gov domains, published last month by GSA’s 18F digital-services organization, appears to show progress toward slashing the number of nonessential sites.

All told, federal dot-gov domains totaled just under 1,200 sites.

Some of the sites listed in 18F’s registry appear to return blank pages, perhaps showing the success of the administration’s consolidation effort.

WoodsyOwl.gov -- a website for the Forest Service’s anti-pollution mascot (“Give a hoot — don't pollute!") appears to have been shuttered.

Also returning blank pages are the enigmatic Sandbox.gov, Ideas.gov, TheSecondThing.gov and Quick.gov. (Seriously, we have no idea what these sites are all about.)

Other quirky domains were some of the first sites to be axed by the Obama administration under the guise of saving money. The website of the U.S. Forest Service’s “official old-time string band,” the “Fiddlin’ Foresters,” was called "pointless" by Obama and promptly shut down in 2011.

Still, some niche or otherwise outdated sites remain online:

  • IsItDoneYet.gov, a site run by the Agriculture Department containing information on safe cooking temperatures.
  • BestBonesForever.gov -- “A bone health campaign for girls and their BFFs to ‘grow strong together and stay strong forever!’”
  • LooksTooGoodToBeTrue.gov -- a circa early-2000s website educating visitors about online fraud and scams. Interesting to note, however, that Deals.gov -- for which we have no information other than it kind of sounds too good to be true -- now returns a blank page.

Oh, and where do agencies go if they want to request a new domain? Why, DotGov.gov, of course. 

(Image via robuart/Shutterstock.com)

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.