Lily Design System

Government Identifier

A government identifier is a <section> placed at the bottom of a page that identifies the parent agency, links to the agency's site, optionally shows the agency logo and description, and exposes a <nav> of required government links.

Use it on government and public-sector sites that must comply with parent agency identification standards (e.g., 21st Century IDEA Act).

Implementation Notes

  • Uses a <section> element with aria-label to form a labeled region
  • label prop is required — sets aria-label on the section
  • agencyName prop is required — rendered inside the masthead
  • When agencyHref is provided, the agency name is wrapped in an <a>
  • Optional logoUrl + logoAlt render an <img> in the masthead
  • Optional description renders a paragraph in the masthead
  • Children render inside an inner <nav class="government-identifier-links"> with aria-label

Props

  • label: string (required) -- aria-label for the section
  • agencyName: string (required) -- parent agency name
  • agencyHref: string (optional) -- link to the agency's site
  • logoUrl: string (optional) -- agency logo src
  • logoAlt: string (optional) -- agency logo alt text
  • description: string (optional) -- agency description text
  • children: slot -- required-links list content (typically a list of links)
  • ...restProps: any additional HTML attributes

Usage

Identifier with logo, agency link, and required links:

<GovernmentIdentifier
  label="Agency identifier"
  agencyName="General Services Administration"
  agencyHref="https://www.gsa.gov"
  logoUrl="/img/gsa-logo.svg"
  logoAlt="GSA logo"
  description="A U.S. General Services Administration website"
>
  <ul>
    <li><a href="/about">About this site</a></li>
    <li><a href="/accessibility">Accessibility statement</a></li>
    <li><a href="/foia">FOIA requests</a></li>
    <li><a href="/privacy">Privacy policy</a></li>
  </ul>
</GovernmentIdentifier>

Keyboard Interactions

  • Tab: moves focus through the agency link and child links
  • All key handling is delegated to native interactive elements

ARIA

  • <section> with aria-label provides a labeled region landmark
  • Inner <nav> with aria-label provides a labeled navigation landmark
  • Image alt provides the logo's accessible text

When to Use

  • Use at the bottom of every page on a government website to identify the parent agency.
  • Use to expose required government links (FOIA, accessibility, privacy, no-FEAR, etc.).

When Not to Use

  • Do not use on non-government sites — use a regular Footer instead.
  • Do not use as the page's primary navigation.

Headless

Renders the structural skeleton — <section> with masthead <div> and required-links <nav> — wired with the correct ARIA. Visual layout, columns, logo size, and link styling are entirely the consumer's responsibility.

Styles

Consumer CSS targets the government-identifier class plus the inner government-identifier-masthead, government-identifier-agency, government-identifier-description, and government-identifier-links classes for fine-grained control.

Testing

  • Verify the component renders a <section> element with class government-identifier
  • Verify aria-label is present and equals the label prop
  • Verify agencyName is rendered in the masthead
  • Verify the agency name is wrapped in an <a> when agencyHref is provided
  • Verify the logo image renders only when logoUrl is provided
  • Verify the description paragraph renders only when description is provided
  • Verify children render inside the <nav class="government-identifier-links">
  • Verify the inner <nav> has aria-label matching label
  • Verify additional HTML attributes pass through to the root <section>

Advice

  • Designers: Keep the masthead layout consistent across all government sites in your portfolio. Treat the description as a single short sentence.
  • Developers: Always pass an <ul> of required links as children. Always supply logoAlt when logoUrl is set.

Related components

  • government-banner — a banner identifying a website as belonging to a government, with an expandable details panel
  • organization — an organization component that contains other organization-related information

References

  • US Web Design System Identifier: https://designsystem.digital.gov/components/identifier/
  • 21st Century IDEA Act: https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/5759
  • WAI-ARIA region role: https://www.w3.org/TR/wai-aria-1.2/#region
  • WAI-ARIA navigation role: https://www.w3.org/TR/wai-aria-1.2/#navigation