GOV.UK Frontend ·
GOV.UK Frontend contains the code you need to start building a user interface for government platforms and services.
See live examples of GOV.UK Frontend components, and guidance on when to use them in your service, in the GOV.UK Design System.
Contact the team
GOV.UK Frontend is maintained by a team at Government Digital Service. If you want to know more about GOV.UK Frontend, please email the Design System team or get in touch with them on Slack.
Quick start
There are 2 ways to start using GOV.UK Frontend in your app.
Once installed, you will be able to use the code from the examples in the GOV.UK Design System in your service.
1. Install with npm (recommended)
We recommend installing GOV.UK Frontend using node package manager (npm).
2. Install by using compiled files
You can also download the compiled and minified assets (CSS, JavaScript) from GitHub.
Browser support
GOV.UK Frontend will allow you to build services that comply with the guidance in the Service Manual.
Currently, GOV.UK Frontend officially supports the following browsers:
| Operating system | Browser | Support |
|---|---|---|
| Windows | Internet Explorer 8-10 | functional |
| Windows | Internet Explorer 11 | compliant |
| Windows | Edge (latest 2 versions) | compliant |
| Windows | Google Chrome (latest 2 versions) | compliant |
| Windows | Mozilla Firefox (latest 2 versions) | compliant |
| macOS | Safari 9+ | compliant |
| macOS | Google Chrome (latest 2 versions) | compliant |
| macOS | Mozilla Firefox (latest 2 versions) | compliant |
| iOS | Safari for iOS 9.3+ | compliant |
| iOS | Google Chrome (latest 2 versions) | compliant |
| Android | Google Chrome (latest 2 versions) | compliant |
| Android | Samsung Internet (latest 2 versions) | compliant |
‘Compliant’ means that the components must look as good and function as well as they do in other modern browsers.
'Functional' means the components may not look perfect in the given browser, but must still be usable without errors and without 'looking broken'.
If you are including GOV.UK Frontend as part of a stylesheet that you are generating in your application's build pipeline, you will need to generate and include a separate stylesheet in order to support Internet Explorer 8.
Assistive technology support
GOV.UK Frontend will allow you to build services that comply with the guidance in the Service Manual.
Currently, GOV.UK Frontend officially supports the following assistive technologies:
| Software | Version | Type | Browser |
|---|---|---|---|
| JAWS | 15 or later | screen reader | Internet Explorer 11 |
| ZoomText | 10.11 or later | screen magnifier | Internet Explorer 11 |
| Dragon NaturallySpeaking | 11 or later | speech recognition | Internet Explorer 11 |
| NVDA | 2016 or later | screen reader | Firefox (latest versions) |
| VoiceOver | 7.0 or later | screen reader | Safari on iOS10 and OS X |
In addition, we test that all content is accessible with keyboard only.
We aim to support users who adjust or override the colours of websites they visit. We test this by changing colours in Firefox, by enabling 'High Contrast' mode in Windows and by using the High Contrast plugin for Chrome.
Getting updates
To be notified when there’s a new release, you can either:
- watch the govuk-frontend Github repository
- join the #govuk-design-system channel on cross-government Slack
Find out how to update with npm.
Licence
Unless stated otherwise, the codebase is released under the MIT License. This covers both the codebase and any sample code in the documentation. The documentation is © Crown copyright and available under the terms of the Open Government 3.0 licence.
Contribution guidelines
If you want to help us build GOV.UK Frontend, view our contribution guidelines.