What is Login.gov, and why do some government websites require it?
A look at the federal sign-in system used by USAJOBS, Global Entry, and other agencies, and what auditors have found about how it's run.
James WellingtonCivictech
Civictech examines the technology governments use to serve people: application portals, identity verification, case management systems, data sharing and the contracts behind them. Coverage weighs accessibility, uptime, cost and documented failures. Useful for agency technologists, procurement officers, service designers and advocates representing users locked out of digital systems.
Benefits portals, identity systems, case management platforms and agency data reviewed for usability, accessibility, procurement cost and past failures.
How government benefit-finder tools match you to programs
Answer a short questionnaire about your life situation and the government's benefit finder returns a list of programs you may qualify for — here is how that matching works and what it does not do.
James WellingtonWhat data.gov is, and what agencies must publish on it
Data.gov is the federal government's public catalog of datasets, and since 2019 a law has required agencies to publish their data there in machine-readable, open formats.
James WellingtonWhat the Plain Writing Act requires of government documents
The 2010 law obligates federal agencies to write public documents in clear, usable prose — and it comes with a training mandate, a compliance page, and an annual report to Congress.
James WellingtonHow mobile driver's licenses work, and where you can use one
A mobile driver's license is a cryptographic credential on your phone built to the ISO 18013-5 standard — and it is designed to share your age without sharing your birthday.
James WellingtonWhat the federal website design standards require agencies to build
The U.S. Web Design System gives agencies shared components and rules, and a 2018 law requires their public sites to be consistent, accessible, and mobile-friendly.
James WellingtonHow to read USAspending: following federal money to the award
USAspending.gov is the public ledger of federal spending, built around a unit called the award — here is how to get from a program name to a specific contract or grant.
James WellingtonHow voter registration lists are maintained, and who checks them
Registration rolls are living databases that states clean continuously under federal law — and the cleanup itself is supervised by courts, watchdog groups, and private citizens.
James WellingtonWhat a risk-limiting election audit actually proves
A risk-limiting audit does not check every ballot — it hand-counts just enough of them to guarantee, with a stated confidence, that a wrong outcome would be caught.
James WellingtonHow 311 systems turn your complaint into a city work order
That pothole report you file at 7 a.m. becomes a numbered, routed, and tracked service request — here is the machinery behind the confirmation code.
James Wellington