Category: Design

New Lighthouse Release! (v1.3)

Our developers have just announced another update to our continuously evolving, open-source design system!Here are some of the features you’ll find in the new release of Lighthouse v1.3! State-Level Notification Icon Accessibility The icons in the state-level notification bar were being flagged for accessibility violations for having non-specific file names. Our developers hid those names, […]

October 1, 2026

Managing Your Website Updates

How to Use the Maintenance Request Form Keeping your agency’s digital presence accurate, accessible, and current requires collaboration. While state agencies are responsible for authoring and managing their own website content, the Government Information Center (GIC) provides technical support and deployment assistance. The GIC Website Maintenance Request Form is the designated gateway for submitting implementation […]

September 22, 2026

The Big Impact of Small Words

Why Effective Microcopy is Crucial “Microcopy” might sound like classified intel from a spy thriller, but there’s no secret code involved. It’s simply the “next-step” instructions provided for your website’s visitors. Microcopy is the short bits of text – button labels, link text, error messages, form field prompts – that guide visitors through their digital […]

August 21, 2026

Building Your Own Lighthouse Site

Advice for Agencies and Third-Party Vendors If you are a state agency, partner, or third-party vendor tasked with building or updating a Delaware state website, the Lighthouse Design System is here to make your project easier, faster, and more accessible. The Government Information Center (GIC) is also here to help, through free consultation and pre-launch […]

July 29, 2026

Scaling Consistency and Accessibility

Widespread Adoption of Delaware’s Lighthouse Design System Use of the GIC’s Lighthouse Design System continues to spread across the state, through agencies big and small! Lighthouse Design System provides a WordPress library of pre-designed components that allow agencies to focus on content decisions since the accessibility of the design is already baked in. Here’s a […]

July 1, 2026

Equal Access Postponed

The Impact of the ADA Compliance Deadline Extension On April 20, 2026, just days before state and local governments nationwide were set to meet landmark new digital compliance standards, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued an unexpected Interim Final Rule (IFR). The decision pushed back the enforcement deadline for Title II of the Americans […]

June 4, 2026

New AI Tool to Manage Your PDFs!

Seeking Volunteers for an Exciting New Pilot Program If you’ve ever wondered, “How many PDFs does my agency actually have online—and what do we do with them?”—this is your chance to find out. One of the biggest challenges facing government agencies is the overwhelming number of legacy PDF files on their websites. Inaccessible documents that […]

May 27, 2026

Starting Fresh with Fewer Pages

When the Delaware Division of the Arts set out to update its website, the challenge wasn’t just strategic, it was the technical equivalent of cleaning out the attic before moving into a new house. With more than a decade of old content, hundreds of legacy pages, and only one person dedicated to the task, the […]

May 5, 2026

Important Update to the Public Meeting Calendar!

The GIC is excited to introduce a helpful new feature to the Public Meeting Calendar (PMC). This update is designed to make managing meeting documents faster, easier, and more accessible than ever before. Coming soon, the PMC will support text-only agendas and meeting minutes in addition to file uploads. Whether you are an agency web editor, admin, […]

April 16, 2026

A Love Letter to White Space

It’s not the notes you play, it’s the notes you don’t play. – Miles Davis Miles Davis was a champion of economy in music. French impressionist composer Claude Debussy said: “Music is the space between the notes.” For generations, musicians and artists have paid attention to that space. A study has even shown that musicians […]

April 15, 2026