Our design principles
The Keystone Design System is a unified approach to digital experiences for the Commonwealth. Our goal is to ensure consistency, accessibility, and ease of use across our range of web apps and sites.
Accessibility
Ensuring high-quality experiences for people with disabilities, while complying with WCAG AA standards.
Consistency
Promoting a cohesive visual language and user experience across all Pennsylvania web apps and sites.
Flexibility
Providing and maintaining a modular and scalable design system that supports many types of content and tasks.
Design system basics
What is a design system?
Design systems help organizations create web apps and sites that look and feel like part of a whole. Organizations that use design systems customize them to meet their needs. They usually include a combination of concepts, tools, standards, and techniques. They may focus on development, visual design, accessibility, content strategy, or other roles.
Design systems include documentation, user interface components, design tokens, and other elements. It takes time, effort, and teamwork to maintain a centralized design system. This investment enables teams across the organization to quickly build high-quality products.
About PA's Keystone Design System
When you renew your driver's license, pay state taxes, or research how to become a teacher, you're using one of PA's digital services. As the need for online services has expanded, so have our needs at the commonwealth. Our teams have to be able to build modern, easy-to-use, and accessible web apps and sites — fast.
Keystone Design System lays the foundation with colors, typography, and visual design standards. It includes a full suite of customizable components, so teams can adapt them to agency needs. It's also free to use, with ongoing support for the system from CODE PA.
Why did we choose the keystone?
A keystone is the stone at the top of an arch. This single stone supports every other stone, holding the arch together.
From the founding of the United States, Pennsylvania has served as a keystone to the nation. That's why they call us the Keystone State! We hope this design system becomes as essential and dependable as any other keystone.