U.S. Government · Design system breakdown
Public-service design system for U.S. federal websites.
A community-authored style reference in Markdown — colors, type, spacing, and an AI-ready prompt. Unofficial; not affiliated with U.S. Government.
USWDS launched in 2015 (under 18F and the U.S. Digital Service) to bring consistency, accessibility, and modern web standards to federal websites. v3 (2022+) modernized the architecture around design tokens and Sass utilities; major federal agencies use it directly.
Maintained by GSA's Technology Transformation Services (TTS). Open source on GitHub, MIT-style license. Public Slack and bi-weekly office hours; agencies contribute through public PRs.
| Token | Value | Role |
|---|---|---|
| blue-60v | #005ea2 | Primary action |
| ink | #1b1b1b | Default text |
| white | #ffffff | Page surface |
| spacing-2 | 16px | Default spacing step |
| radius-md | 0.25rem | Default radius |
| focus | outline 0.25rem #2491ff | High-visibility focus ring |
Token names and values are illustrative — refer to the system's official tokens reference for the canonical, current set.
If you're evaluating this system
Adopt directly if you're building a U.S. federal or state government site. For public-service work elsewhere, USWDS is a strong reference for plain-language patterns and accessibility-first defaults; cherry-pick the patterns rather than the visual identity.
Where next
