H. R. 5759 

One Hundred Fifteenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE SECOND SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday, 

the third day of January, two thousand and eighteen 

An Act 

To improve executive agency digital services, and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘21st Century Integrated Digital 

Experience Act’’ or the ‘‘21st Century IDEA’’. 

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

In this Act: 

(1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means the Director 

of the Office of Management and Budget. 

(2) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘executive agency’’ has 

the meaning given the term ‘‘Executive agency’’ in section 105 

of title 5, United States Code. 

SEC. 3. WEBSITE MODERNIZATION. 

(a) REQUIREMENTS FOR NEW WEBSITES AND DIGITAL SERVICES.—Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of 

this Act, an executive agency that creates a website or digital 

service that is intended for use by the public, or conducts a redesign 

of an existing legacy website or digital service that is intended 

for use by the public, shall ensure to the greatest extent practicable 

that any new or redesigned website, web-based form, web-based 

application, or digital service— 

(1) is accessible to individuals with disabilities in accordance with section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 

U.S.C. 794d); 

(2) has a consistent appearance; 

(3) does not overlap with or duplicate any legacy websites 

and, if applicable, ensure that legacy websites are regularly 

reviewed, eliminated, and consolidated; 

(4) contains a search function that allows users to easily 

search content intended for public use; 

(5) is provided through an industry standard secure connection; 

(6) is designed around user needs with data-driven analysis 

influencing management and development decisions, using 

qualitative and quantitative data to determine user goals, 

needs, and behaviors, and continually test the website, webbased form, web-based application, or digital service to ensure 

that user needs are addressed; 

(7) provides users of the new or redesigned website, webbased form, web-based application, or digital service with the 
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option for a more customized digital experience that allows 

users to complete digital transactions in an efficient and 

accurate manner; and 

(8) is fully functional and usable on common mobile devices. 

(b) REQUIREMENTS FOR EXISTING EXECUTIVE AGENCY WEBSITES

AND DIGITAL SERVICES.—Not later than 1 year after the date of 

enactment of this Act, the head of each executive agency that 

maintains a website or digital service that is made available to 

the public shall— 

(1) review each website or digital service; and 

(2) submit to Congress a report that includes— 

(A) a list of the websites and digital services maintained by the executive agency that are most viewed or 

utilized by the public or are otherwise important for public 

engagement; 

(B) from among the websites and digital services listed 

under subparagraph (A), a prioritization of websites and 

digital services that require modernization to meet the 

requirements under subsection (a); and 

(C) an estimation of the cost and schedule of modernizing the websites and digital services prioritized under 

subparagraph (B). 

(c) INTERNAL DIGITAL SERVICES.—The head of each executive 

agency shall ensure, to the greatest extent practicable, that any 

Intranet established after the date of enactment of this Act conforms 

to the requirements described in subsection (a). 

(d) PUBLIC REPORTING.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

of enactment of this Act and every year thereafter for 4 years, 

the head of each executive agency shall— 

(1) report annually to the Director on the progress of the 

executive agency in implementing the requirements described 

in this section for the previous year; and 

(2) include the information described in paragraph (1) in 

a publicly available report that is required under another provision of law. 

(e) COMPLIANCE WITH UNITED STATES WEBSITE STANDARDS.— 

Any website of an executive agency that is made available to 

the public after the date of enactment of this Act shall be in 

compliance with the website standards of the Technology Transformation Services of the General Services Administration. 

SEC. 4. DIGITIZATION OF GOVERNMENT SERVICES AND FORMS. 

(a) NON-DIGITAL SERVICES.—Not later than 180 days after the 

date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall issue guidance 

to the head of each executive agency that establishes a process 

for the executive agency to— 

(1) identify public non-digital, paper-based, or in-person 

Government services; and 

(2) include in the budget request of the executive agency— 

(A) a list of non-digital services with the greatest 

impact that could be made available to the public through 

an online, mobile-friendly, digital service option in a 

manner that decreases cost, increases digital conversion 

rates, and improves customer experience; and 

(B) an estimation of the cost and schedule associated 

with carrying out the modernization described in subparagraph (A). 
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(b) SERVICES REQUIRED TO BE DIGITAL.—The head of each 

executive agency shall regularly review public-facing applications 

and services to ensure that those applications and services are, 

to the greatest extent practicable, made available to the public 

in a digital format. 

(c) FORMS REQUIRED TO BE DIGITAL.—Not later than 2 years 

after the enactment of this Act, the head of each executive agency 

shall ensure that any paper based form that is related to serving 

the public is made available in a digital format that meets the 

requirements described in section 3(a). 

(d) NON-DIGITIZABLE PROCESSES.—If the head of an executive 

agency cannot make available in a digital format under this section 

an in-person Government service, form, or paper-based process, 

the head of the executive agency shall document— 

(1) the title of the in-person Government service, form, 

or paper-based process; 

(2) a description of the in-person Government service, form, 

or paper-based process; 

(3) each unit responsible for the in-person Government 

service, form, or paper-based process and the location of each 

unit in the organizational hierarchy of the executive agency; 

(4) any reasons why the in-person Government service, 

form, or paper-based process cannot be made available under 

this section; and 

(5) any potential solutions that could allow the in-person 

Government service, form, or paper-based process to be made 

available under this section, including the implementation of 

existing technologies, procedural changes, regulatory changes, 

and legislative changes. 

(e) PHYSICAL AVAILABILITY.—Each executive agency shall maintain an accessible method of completing digital services through 

in-person, paper-based, or other means, such that individuals without the ability to use digital services are not deprived of or impeded 

in access to those digital services. 

SEC. 5. ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES. 

Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of 

this Act, the head of each executive agency shall submit to the 

Director and the appropriate congressional committees a plan to 

accelerate the use of electronic signatures standards established 

under the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce 

Act (15 U.S.C. 7001 et seq.). 

SEC. 6. CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE AND DIGITAL SERVICE DELIVERY. 

The Chief Information Officer of each executive agency, or 

a designee, shall— 

(1) coordinate and ensure alignment of the internal and 

external customer experience programs and strategy of the 

executive agency; 

(2) coordinate with the management leaders of the executive agency, including the head of the executive agency, the 

Chief Financial Officer, and any program manager, to ensure 

proper funding to support the implementation of this Act; 

(3) continually examine the digital service delivery strategy 

of the executive agency to the public and submit recommendations to the head of the executive agency providing guidance 

and best practices suitable to the mission of the executive 

agency; 
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(4) using qualitative and quantitative data obtained from 

across the executive agency relating to the experience and 

satisfaction of customers, identify areas of concern that need 

improvement and improve the delivery of customer service; 

(5) coordinate and ensure, with the approval of the head 

of the executive agency, compliance by the executive agency 

with section 3559 of title 44, United States Code; and 

(6) to the extent practicable, coordinate with other agencies 

and seek to maintain as much standardization and commonality 

with other agencies as practicable in implementing the requirements of this Act, to best enable future transitions to centralized shared services. 

SEC. 7. STANDARDIZATION. 

(a) DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION.—Each executive agency 

shall, to the extent practicable, seek to maintain as much standardization and commonality with other executive agencies as practicable in implementing the requirements of this Act to best enable 

future transitions to centralized shared services. 

(b) COORDINATION.—The Chief Information Officer of each 

executive agency, or a designee, shall coordinate the implementation 

of the requirements of this Act, including the development of standards and commonalities. 

(c) FEDERAL SUPPLY SCHEDULE.— 

(1) IN GENERAL.—The General Services Administration 

shall make available under a Federal Supply Schedule the 

systems and services necessary to fulfill the requirements of 

this Act. 

(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The Federal Supply Schedule 

described in paragraph (1) shall, to the extent practicable, 

ensure interoperability between executive agencies, compliance 

with industry standards, and adherence to best practices for 

design, accessibility, and information security. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.