The Digital Service Standard is now on GitHub
About a month ago, we released the alpha of Ontario’s Digital Service Standard. Since then, we have been receiving lots of feedback and excitement from our colleagues and friends.
Our first round of edits to the alpha have been published. As we continue to publish more edits, we’d like to announce that Ontario Digital Service is now on GitHub! We’ll be revising the Standard on GitHub from now on and you can follow along with the changes.
As Kate previously mentioned, we plan to regularly update the Standard based on user research. Our user research sessions are still ongoing; we want to make sure all groups are represented and have their voice heard. We’ll be posting updates on a continual basis, to make sure the Standard reflects best practice and incorporates user feedback.
The Service Standard team, like the rest of the Ontario Digital Service, has been following an agile, iterative, and user-centred approach. As part of this approach, we’ve been hosting “show & tell” sessions with senior management, members of other teams, and our colleagues across government. These show & tell sessions not only facilitate knowledge-sharing and make sure everyone has access to the same information, but also provide valuable opportunities for members of the team to showcase their work and hear feedback. This process — collecting feedback, iterating, and then presenting our changes — is key to achieving openness and transparency throughout the development of the Standard
Our GitHub account is part of that effort to be open and transparent as well.
One of the Standard’s principles is “use open standards and common platforms.” In order to practice what we preach, we decided to make the Standard available on GitHub. (Did you know that the we’re also among the first governments to put a service standard on GitHub?)
As we prepared to launch our GitHub account, we came across a few questions. We’re sharing those questions, and the answers, so that everyone can understand what went behind our decision.
- Why did you choose GitHub?
GitHub is a tool designed for version control, which is exactly what we need. Each change can now be easily tracked at a glance, along with the rationale behind it. This ensures openness and transparency as to why certain decisions are made. - Does that mean you won’t be updating the Standard on Ontario.ca anymore?
Of course not. You can see the Standard on GitHub as our working file in the `develop` branch, and track all the changes and their rationales behind it. Once our working file is revised and approved, we’ll publish the master copy — both on GitHub `master` branch and on Ontario.ca. By having the Standard on GitHub, it allows easy comparison between different versions and the explanation for the changes. - What if I’m not comfortable with using GitHub? Can I still provide feedback?
Definitely! Having the Standard on GitHub doesn’t mean we’re taking away all the previous communication channels. You are more than welcome to continue sending us feedback by email at digital.standard@ontario.ca. - What other content will be available on GitHub?
We are (ambitiously) aiming to have our Pattern Library available to download this fall, both on our GitHub repository and on the Ontario.ca page. We’ll be sure to update you once that’s available, and will post here as soon as we add anything else to our GitHub repository.
How can I contribute to the Standard?
Thank you for wanting to improve the Standard with us! We’ll have detailed guidelines available on GitHub soon on how you can contribute. For now, you can:
- create your own GitHub account
- fork the Standard from the Ontario Digital Service GitHub page
- start editing
- submit a pull request
We’ll take it from there and incorporate your suggestions! In consideration of many factors (legal, content, grammar, etc.), the final decision over what will be accepted into the Standard will lie within the Ontario Digital Service team.
We’re all very excited about the progress that we’re making on the Digital Service Standard. We’ll be back with more updates soon! In the meantime, check out our first edits of the Standard since launch and send us your thoughts.
