Design and Branding Guidelines For Harmonization of Digital Footprints: Indian Government Websites

The Design of a website is an integral part of website accessibility and has a major impact on the usability of a website and the branding of the organization. The website design comprises various elements such as color, fonts, images, object placement, languages, technology, etc. This paper presents a study and summary of guidelines for the branding and design of government websites of India in terms of a Digital Brand Identity Manual. These guidelines were developed with a focused approach to harmonize the digital footprints of government in terms of websites, ensuring design uniformity. These guidelines are developed through the study of government websites of multiple countries and the websites of big-brand companies. The design and branding guidelines mainly cover areas such as color, typography, logo, icons and styles, images, content, accessibility, performance, mobile apps, and social media. Applying the components of these guidelines may have a major impact on the usability, harmonization, and branding of government websites. These guidelines will also be helpful for the management and operations of government websites.