Trump’s plan to redesign every .gov website leads to AI-designed horrors (arstechnica.com)

President Donald Trump's initiative to redesign every government website using AI, spearheaded by the newly formed National Design Studio (NDS), is facing significant challenges. Launched in August 2022, the NDS was tasked with updating the US Web Design System (USWDS) and overhauling 27,000 .gov sites in just three years. However, the project has struggled due to previous budget cuts to essential tech units like 18F and the US Digital Service, as well as the inherent difficulty of achieving compliance across diverse government agencies. By mid-2023, only 30% of government websites adhered to USWDS standards, highlighting the uphill battle the NDS faces. Despite the noble goal of enhancing government web usability, the NDS has largely fallen short of meaningful progress. Its most notable achievement—the modernization of the federal retirement system—has been criticized as overstated, given that work was already in progress before NDS's formation. Design experts have voiced concerns about the team's heavy reliance on AI, which they argue has compromised compliance with accessibility standards set by the Americans with Disabilities Act. As scrutiny mounts and resistance builds among agencies to connect with the NDS, the initiative’s effectiveness remains in question, emphasizing the complexities of digitizing government services in a cohesive and user-friendly manner.