‘Milestone’ reached as Number 10 website joins Gov.uk

The Number 10 website has moved to Gov.uk – the last of the major ministerial websites to join the domain.

The Number 10 website on Gov.uk
The Number 10 website on Gov.uk

Gov.uk launched in February 2012, with the aim of replacing Directgov, Businesslink and Government departmental websites. Gov.uk is bringing content and services from more than 2000 websites into a single one.

All 24 ministerial departments, as well as Number 10 and the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office, have now been brought on to Gov.uk.

Developed by the Government Digital Service, Gov.uk is based on ten design principles and aims to be a user-focused, easy-to-use site.

The Deputy Prime Minister's website on Gov.uk
The Deputy Prime Minister’s website on Gov.uk

Gov.uk uses one typeface throughout – New Transport – while unnecessary images are dropped in favour of a clean, simple design that aims to make the user experience as easy as possible.

Ben Terrett, head of design for the GDS, says, ‘Interestingly, from a design point of view, this part of the site [the ministerial departments] has a lot more pictures.

‘Following our ninth design principle, be consistent not uniform, it’s the same design, same typeface, same colours, but it feels different because the user need is different.

‘There is no picture that could make the information on the VAT page any clearer, yet when the Ministry of Defence writes a story about a military exercise there’s a clear need for pictures… and some amazing ones at that.’

Images on a Ministry of Defence story
Images on a Ministry of Defence story

Terrett says there are still more than 300 agency websites to move over to Gov.uk, but describes the completion of the ministerial site move as ‘a big visible milestone’.

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