This summer, we connected with digital leaders in the public sector to learn about their most pressing challenges and how we can leverage expertise and tools to address them. Through conversations at the National Association of Technical Directors (NASTD) Annual Conference and Drupal GovCon, several key themes emerged loud and clear: accessibility is non-negotiable, AI is both promising and precarious, and the citizen experience must evolve.
Accessibility: compliance is just the beginning
With the DOJ’s updated Title II regulations for the Americans with Disabilities Act now finalized, agencies are facing fast-approaching compliance deadlines in April 2026. Many are staring down a backlog of inaccessible PDFs, forms, and pages with poor color contrast.
Beyond compliance checkboxes, accessibility is being reframed as a cornerstone of constituent service. At the NASTD Annual Conference, Lullabot’s Senior Technical Project Manager, Nikki Flores, spoke alongside Minnesota’s first Chief Information Accessibility Officer, Jay Wyant. They emphasized the importance of progress over perfection and suggested that starting small with incremental fixes should begin now.
Accessibility isn’t about perfection; it’s about partnership.
Our eBook on How to Do a Web Accessibility Audit is a practical starting point for agencies unsure of where to begin.
AI excitement (with a healthy dose of caution)
Artificial intelligence was everywhere in our conversations and the presentations we attended, but so was caution. Leaders are curious about AI’s potential for streamlining workflows and improving service delivery, but they’re equally concerned about governance, bias, and security.
Rather than rushing to deploy, most are taking a measured approach—experimenting in controlled environments and looking for frameworks that put humans firmly in the loop. The State of Georgia’s Technology Authority has established an Innovation Lab, where agencies and partners can collaborate on projects using emerging technologies.
For public sector organizations, this means asking: where can AI responsibly help us serve people better, and where do we need to tread carefully?
Read more about our collaborative work with the GTA: Building Georgia’s Digital Future.
Community and collaboration at Drupal GovCon
At Drupal GovCon, we heard the same chorus: accessibility is essential, AI is everywhere, and agencies are looking for partners who bring expertise and collaboration to the table.
Sessions reinforced why Drupal remains a trusted platform for government: its flexibility enables agencies to innovate, while its community-driven governance ensures security, compliance, and longevity. For teams balancing accessibility deadlines with modernization goals, it’s a platform that continues to deliver.
Cybersecurity as a priority
Cybersecurity also surged to the forefront of conversations. AI-enabled threats are escalating, but only 28 states currently have a dedicated cyber budget. CIOs openly acknowledged the mismatch between the risks they face and the resources available to address them.
The workforce challenge was just as urgent: attracting, training, and retaining technical talent in government remains difficult. Leaders are seeking vendor partners who not only possess technical expertise but also have the ability to train, mentor, and transfer knowledge, ensuring that improvements endure beyond the contract cycle.
Services that find citizens, not the other way around
Citizens expect digital services from their government to work as seamlessly as the tools they use every day, from banking apps to their Amazon checkout. But for many states, constituent experience is still in its infancy.
A survey discussed at the constituent experience panel at the NASTD Annual Conference revealed that half of the states surveyed don’t currently gather data on constituent experience. Without measurement, agencies risk designing around internal priorities rather than citizen needs. Leaders from Montana, Tennessee, and North Dakota highlighted the challenges of governance, siloed systems, and the need for shared definitions of even basic terms, such as “services.”
The forward-looking message was clear:
- Design around life events, not agencies. Think about unemployment claims connecting directly to SNAP applications.
- Adopt journey-based design. Map the actual paths citizens take, not the org chart.
- Shift the burden. As one panelist put it, “It’s not about citizens finding services—it’s about services finding citizens.”
When constituent experience is prioritized, the results are undeniable. In our work with the State of Iowa, we restructured the HHS Assistance Programs section, introducing a new landing page for citizens to find what they need more easily. We saw astounding improvements:
- 107% increase in active users to assistance program pages
- 359% increase in views per active user
- 7,000 visitors to the landing page in the first week alone
- A 4.17% increase in organic Google Search clicks and a 37% increase in Google Search impressions
These numbers show how design and content decisions, like restructuring information and creating effective entry points, can dramatically improve access to essential services. Human-centered design and accessible content strategy translate directly into measurable improvements in how people find what they need from their government services online.
Related reading: Making a Measurable Difference for 3 Million Residents in the State of Iowa
Progress over perfection
From accessibility to AI, from constituent experience to cybersecurity, one theme was clear: government digital transformation is happening in small, intentional steps, but the urgency has never been greater.
At Lullabot, that’s where we thrive:
- Helping states audit and improve accessibility.
- Designing constituent experiences that work across silos.
- Partnering closely with agencies to build capacity, not dependency.
If your agency is navigating accessibility deadlines, planning a migration, or seeking a partner who understands the realities of public sector digital work, let’s talk.