_posts/2015-10-21-every-kid-in-a-park-follow-up.md
---
title: "Every Kid in a Park: Why we can’t stop smiling"
date: 2015-10-21
authors:
- emileigh
tags:
- how we work
- agency work
- every kid in a park
- user-centered design
images: /assets/blog/every-kid-in-a-park/404.png
description: Since it launched September 1, we've been keeping close tabs on the website and user feedback, which helps us quickly identify and make improvements.
excerpt: Our projects are iterative, which means we keep working on them after they launch. In keeping with that practice, we’ve kept a close eye on everykidinapark.gov, which went live September 1. We’re excited to share a few of our improvements and updates with you today.
---
Our projects are iterative, which means we keep working on them after they launch. In keeping with that practice, we’ve kept a close eye on [everykidinapark.gov](https://everykidinapark.gov/), which went live September 1. We’re excited to share a few of our improvements and updates with you today.
Why fourth graders?
-------------------
After the launch, we noticed a lot of discussion centered on why the
program was created for fourth graders.
Program leaders chose fourth graders because research shows that kids
ages nine to 11 are beginning to learn about the world around
them — they're open to new ideas, and they’re likely to connect to nature
and our history. This year is just the start. Every year, a new group of
children will become fourth graders and get the opportunity to visit
parks for free.
You can read more on why the program is targeted at fourth graders on
our new [Parents and guardians](https://everykidinapark.gov/parents/)
page. Just like the rest of the site, we designed and wrote it to appeal
to children.
Responsive, inclusive design
----------------------------
From its launch, the site worked on mobile devices, but we wanted to
continue improving our design across multiple displays; 59 percent of
our sessions have been on tablets and mobile devices. Visitors will now
find an improved navigation menu on smaller screens.
Additionally, our team believed the site should be inclusive of
America’s diverse public. We knew that information aimed at “parents”
didn’t capture the broad array of families in the U.S. We went back into
the site and changed the wording to read “parents and guardians.” It was
a small change, but it made the site more friendly to more families.
"We are delighted that the site is so kid-friendly and user-focused,”
said Julia Washburn, National Park Service associate director for
interpretation, education, and volunteers. Washburn worked closely with
us throughout the site’s development.
We also worked on the site’s accessibility for vision-impaired users.
It’s largely keyboard accessible, includes detailed alt text for images,
and has improved text-to-background contrast.
Finally, [our last
post](https://18f.gsa.gov/2015/09/03/every-kid-in-a-park/) discussed the
importance of writing at a fourth-grade level. As we’ve added content,
we’ve made sure to keep it a fourth-grade reading level. If you’d like
to see how our pages break down, the reading level of page is on our
Every Kid in a Park
[README.md](https://github.com/18F/ekip-api/blob/master/README.md) file.
Less news is good news
----------------------
Despite hefty website traffic, we’ve fielded relatively few questions
from users. This is a testament to our team's dedication to
user experience, visual design, responsive development, and engineering.
“That users were able to successfully reach the paper pass creation
stage helped underline the importance of keeping things simple and
intuitive,” said Chris Goranson, the Presidential Innovation Fellow
assigned to this project.
18F Developer and Product Manager Shashank Khandelwal was heartened by
the response.
“I’ve heard a few people say that it’s a good looking site. In the space
we live in, if they’re not complaining, then we did a good job.”
18F Front End Developer Christine Cheung agreed.
“There isn’t much critique, which is pretty good. Because everyone has
an opinion.”
Final touches
-------------
Although we hope our users never encounter it, we also added a 404 page.
We’re proud of the content and design:
In all, we’re thrilled with
[everykidinapark.gov](http://everykidinapark.gov). We’ve handed the
reins to the U.S. Department of Interior, but feel free to [file a
GitHub issue](https://github.com/18F/ekip/issues) if you have
suggestions — we’re always listening!