gov.uk (styled on the site as GOV.UK) is a

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, infra ...

information website, created by the

Government Digital Service The Government Digital Service is a unit of the Government of the United Kingdom's Cabinet Office tasked with transforming the provision of online public services. It was formed in April 2011 to implement the "Digital by Default" strategy prop ...

to provide a single point of access to

HM Government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal coat of arms of t ...

services. The site launched as a

beta Beta (, ; uppercase , lowercase , or cursive ; grc, βῆτα, bē̂ta or ell, βήτα, víta) is the second letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 2. In Modern Greek, it represents the voiced labiod ...

on 31 January 2012, following on from the

Alphagov gov.uk (styled on the site as GOV.UK) is a United Kingdom public sector information website, created by the Government Digital Service to provide a single point of access to HM Government services. The site launched as a beta on 31 January 2012, ...

project. The website utilises a modified digital version of the Transport typeface called ''New Transport''. It officially replaced

Directgov Directgov was the British government's digital service for people in the United Kingdom, which from 2004 provided a single point of access to public sector information and services. The site's portal was replaced (along with the Business Link po ...

and the online services of

Business Link Business Link was a government-funded business advice and guidance service established in England in 1992. It consisted of an online portal managed by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and a national telephone helpline. The service's network of ...

on 17 October 2012. The website was planned to replace the individual websites of hundreds of government departments and public bodies by 2014. By 1 May 2013, all 24 ministerial departments had their URLs redirecting to gov.uk. As of March 2022, GOV.UK hosts pages for 23 ministerial departments, 20 non-ministerial departments, and over 410 agencies, public corporations, and other public bodies.

History

The first ministerial departments and other organisations moved to the Inside Government section of gov.uk on 15 November 2012. On 12 December 2012, a further three departments migrated, bringing the total of ministerial departments to six out of a total of 24. By 1 May 2013, all 24 ministerial departments, as well as UK embassies around the world, had transferred to gov.uk. On 16 April 2013, gov.uk won Design of the Year 2013 at the

Design Museum The Design Museum in Kensington, London exhibits product, industrial, graphic, fashion, and architectural design. In 2018, the museum won the European Museum of the Year Award. The museum operates as a registered charity, and all funds generat ...

awards. The Government Digital Service has also won a

D&AD Design and Art Direction (D&AD), formerly known as British Design and Art Direction, is a British educational organisation that was created in 1962 to promote excellence in design and advertising. Its main offices are in Spitalfields in London. I ...

"Black Pencil" award for their work. In 2019, gov.uk won a

"Wood Pencil" award for its Step-by-Step digital design pattern. In 2018, the Government Digital Service introduced the GOV.UK Design System, with the intention of having styles, components and patterns in a centralised location, to support government departments in utilising GOV.UK.

Alphagov

Alphagov was the project name of the experimental prototype website built by the

, which was launched on 11 May 2011 by the

Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for supporting the prime minister and Cabinet. It is composed of various units that support Cabinet committees and which co-ordinate the delivery of government objecti ...

. The website was open for public comment for two months, in order to judge the feasibility of a single domain for

British Government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...

web services. Launched in response to the report by

Martha Lane Fox Martha Lane Fox, Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho, (born 10 February 1973) is a British businesswoman, philanthropist, and Public service, public servant. She co-founded Lastminute.com, Last Minute during the dotcom boom of the early 2000s and has su ...

, ''Directgov 2010 and Beyond: Revolution Not Evolution'', published in November 2010, Alphagov sought to act as a proof of concept for the way citizens could interact with the government through a series of useful online tools, where they were more useful than published content alone. As well as improving the 'citizen experience' of using government web services online, the project also identified the potential for £64 million in yearly savings on the central government's annual £128 million web publishing bill. The initial consultation period was completed in June 2011. A beta version was then created, which led to the launch of GOV.UK.

References

External links

*
data.gov.uk
*
Accessibility.blog.gov.uk

Government Digital Service

Government Service Design Manual
{{Authority control 2012 establishments in the United Kingdom Government services web portals in the United Kingdom Internet properties established in 2012 Government Digital Service

History

Alphagov

See also

References

External links