Astro Government Starter
A production-ready Astro 6 starter template for government service websites with built-in accessibility, compliance, and internationalization.
USWDS-native · Section 508 / WCAG 2.1 AA · i18n (en + es) · Zero client JS · Deploy anywhere
Overview
A fully-featured Astro 6 theme purpose-built for federal, state, and local government agencies. Implements the U.S. Web Design System (USWDS) natively with automatic compliance checking, accessibility-first architecture, and bilingual support out of the box. Perfect for agencies launching modernized service portals with Section 508 compliance and zero technical debt.
FEATURES:
🚀 Built with Astro 6 — Latest framework with optimal performance and zero client-side JavaScript
🏛️ USWDS 3.x Native — Official U.S. Web Design System via SCSS, no reimplementation
📱 Fully Responsive Design — Mobile-first approach with tested accessibility patterns
♿ Section 508 / WCAG 2.1 AA — Skip navigation, landmarks, focus management, and semantic HTML
🌍 Bilingual i18n — English and Spanish with Astro’s built-in routing
🔍 SEO Optimized — Complete meta tags, structured data, and XML sitemaps
📝 Content Collections — Services, announcements, FAQs, and pages with Zod type safety and MDX support
⚡ Perfect Lighthouse Scores — Automated quality gates: TypeScript, HTML, plain language, Lighthouse compliance checks
🔧 Component Library — 20 pre-built USWDS wrappers ready to use
📋 Automated Compliance — CI/CD quality gates for accessibility, performance, and USWDS standards
WHAT’S INCLUDED:
Core Infrastructure:
- Astro 6 with MDX content collections
- USWDS 3.x design system (no custom implementation needed)
- TypeScript for development safety
- Tailwind CSS 4.0 for utility-driven styling
- Bilingual routing (en/es) with translation helpers
Component Library (20 patterns):
- Alert & SiteAlert
- Accordion (with items)
- Breadcrumb navigation
- Call-to-action sections
- Header & Footer
- Hero sections
- Pagination
- Process lists with steps
- Search interface
- Service cards
- Side navigation
- Step indicators
- Summary boxes
- Tags
- USA Banner & Identifier (required on every page)
Content Types:
- Services (with application workflows)
- Announcements & news
- FAQs with accordion display
- General pages & information
- Blog-ready structure
Deployment:
- Static output — GitHub Pages, Cloud.gov Pages, Netlify, Vercel, S3, CloudFront
- Single command builds with `pnpm build`
- Zero server requirements
Quality Assurance:
- TypeScript type checking (`astro check`)
- HTML validation (`html-validate`)
- Accessibility audit (@axe-core/cli)
- Lighthouse scoring (perf/a11y/best practices/SEO)
- Plain language enforcement (Flesch-Kincaid grade ≤ 8)
- USWDS compliance verification
- Link validation
IDEAL FOR:
- Federal, state, and local government agencies
- Public health departments
- Licensing and permitting boards
- Benefit programs and social services
- Veterans services
- Law enforcement and emergency services
- Educational institutions
- Any organization requiring Section 508 compliance
Whether you’re modernizing an existing government site or launching a new agency portal, this theme eliminates the complexity of USWDS integration, accessibility compliance, and multi-language support. Ship a professional, compliant site that passes Lighthouse audits and Section 508 standards without custom development.
License: MIT (code) | CC0 (seed content)
