# Design Principles

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## 1. Accessible

We design our site to be accessible for people with mobile devices, older devices and browsers, assistive technologies, and with low-data connections. We meet AA+ WCAG standards. 

## 2. Usable

We strive to create an SF.gov experience that is intuitive and simple, helping users find what they need quickly and complete common city tasks as easily as possible. We design around the needs of people visiting SF.gov.

## 3. Credible

We center our city seal and our .gov domain to emphasize our institutionality and our connection to the City. Our restrained color palette and typefaces create a visual balance that is appropriate for a City government: balancing modern and classic, not overly casual, and emphasizing trustworthiness. We build these into building blocks of our site experience to instill a sense of predictability, safety, and trust for users.

## 4. Welcoming

We aim to weave together visual design, user experience design, and content to make City services feel approachable and human-scaled. We design for discoverability, content variety, and overall simple usability.

## 5. Readable

We prioritize type design to increase content scannability through font variety, clear visual hierarchy, and whitespace utilization. 

## 6. San Franciscan

We strive to build in touches and sparks of personality that represent our wonderful City through inclusive, accessible imagery and illustration. (Achieving this principle is an ongoing exploration.)