Its changes stem from a content management transition, giving the city website a digital refresh and allowing greater flexibility to integrate new features, simplify content management and publish workflows more easily across agency teams.
Developed by the Digital and Data Services (DDS) team, the new website back-end system making the difference is “Karl,” built on Wagtail’s open-source content management system (CMS) platform. Its nickname is a nod to San Francisco’s unique character and is inspired by the city’s iconic fog.
Alongside the CMS upgrade, the city simultaneously introduced Maya, a new design system created to advance accessibility and responsiveness across SF.gov. Its namesake is the poet Maya Angelou, and the system is being used to create various responsive design web elements. Later this year, Maya will be available to all city agencies as a “Gitbook-based library for their websites and apps,” making it easier to develop visually compelling websites and applications with responsive interfaces.
These changes are in line with recent web accessibility standards put in place by the federal government, and support the evolving needs of San Francisco’s citizens through digital access advancement. Since SF.gov’s launch in 2019, its number of website editors has grown to 300 and the site itself has an average of 750,000 unique monthly visitors.
The transition to Karl and Maya was driven by this evolution, with the overarching goals being to provide an intuitive content management interface, the ability to quickly implement changes that benefit both administrators and the public, and provide greater flexibility for developers to create and manage new services. The migration to Karl offers significant cost savings by allowing the city to maintain and develop the platform internally rather than relying on outside contractors.
Going forward, the city said in announcing the changes, advancing technology should enable the new site to provide “many valuable things — maps, forms, data, AI tools” for residents to stay informed and engaged with their government.
