About page with agency mission, leadership, and structure

Government websites are public-sector institutions, and citizens have a right to understand what an agency does, who leads it, and how it is structured before engaging with its services or submitting information. OMB M-23-22 and the 21st Century IDEA Act both require agencies to provide this institutional transparency. An about page without a substantive mission statement or leadership information signals either a placeholder site or an agency that has not completed its public-facing obligations — both undermine trust and fail the transparency standard that distinguishes government from commercial web presence.

Create app/about/page.tsx with at minimum a mission statement, at least two named leadership roles, and an organizational overview. The mission statement must be substantive — not a placeholder.

// app/about/page.tsx
export const metadata = {
  title: 'About Us | Agency Name',
}

export default function About() {
  return (
    <main>
      <h1>About the Department of Example</h1>
      <section>
        <h2>Our Mission</h2>
        <p>We protect public health by ensuring the safety of food, drugs, and medical devices for all Americans.</p>
      </section>
      <section>
        <h2>Leadership</h2>
        <ul>
          <li>Director: Jane Smith</li>
          <li>Deputy Director: Robert Jones</li>
        </ul>
      </section>
      <section>
        <h2>Organization</h2>
        <p>We operate through four regional offices and a headquarters in Washington, D.C.</p>
      </section>
    </main>
  )
}

• ID: gov-web-standards.required-content.about-page

• Severity: high

• What to look for: Look for /about, /agency, or similar routes. Examine the page content for agency mission statement, leadership information, organizational structure, and history. Check for photos, names, and titles of key leaders. Enumerate all content sections found on the About page (mission, leadership, structure, history, etc.).

• Pass criteria: An About page exists and contains at least 3 of: agency mission statement, leadership names/titles, organizational structure, agency history. Quote the mission statement text (first sentence) to confirm it is substantive, not placeholder.

• Fail criteria: No About page found, or the page exists but lacks most of the above content. A page with only a heading and no substantive content does not count as pass.

• Skip (N/A) when: Never — federal sites should have About pages.

• Detail on fail: "No About page found" or "About page exists but lacks mission statement and leadership information"

• Remediation: Create an About page with your agency's mission, key leaders, and structure:

  // app/about/page.tsx
  export default function About() {
    return (
      <main>
        <h1>About Our Agency</h1>
        <h2>Mission</h2>
        <p>Our mission is to serve the public by...</p>
        <h2>Leadership</h2>
        <ul>
          <li>Director: John Doe</li>
          <li>Deputy Director: Jane Smith</li>
        </ul>
      </main>
    )
  }