# Contact page with email, phone, and hours

- **Pattern:** `ab-001616` (`gov-web-standards.required-content.contact-page`)
- **Severity:** high
- **Lifecycle:** active
- **Last modified:** 2026-04-18
- **Canonical URL:** https://auditbuffet.com/patterns/ab-001616
- **License:** CC-BY-4.0 — attribute to AuditBuffet Pattern Catalog (https://auditbuffet.com/patterns/ab-001616)

## Why it matters

Federal agencies are legally obligated to provide the public with direct, accessible means of contact. The 21st Century IDEA Act (Sec. 3) and OMB M-23-22 both require agencies to offer multi-channel contact options — not just a form, but email, phone, or mailing address that citizens can use without relying on the website being functional. A contact page with only one method creates a single point of failure; users who cannot use web forms — due to accessibility needs, connectivity issues, or preference — have no alternative path to reach the agency.

## Severity rationale

High because a missing contact page or one with fewer than two contact methods violates the 21st Century IDEA Act's public accessibility requirements and leaves citizens — particularly those with disabilities or limited internet access — without a guaranteed path to agency services.

## Remediation

Create `app/contact/page.tsx` with at least email, phone, and office hours. A contact form may supplement but not replace these direct channels.

```tsx
// app/contact/page.tsx
export const metadata = {
  title: 'Contact Us | Agency Name',
}

export default function Contact() {
  return (
    <main>
      <h1>Contact Us</h1>
      <p>Email: <a href="mailto:info@agency.gov">info@agency.gov</a></p>
      <p>Phone: <a href="tel:+12025550100">(202) 555-0100</a></p>
      <p>TTY: 711</p>
      <p>Hours: Monday–Friday, 8 AM–5 PM ET</p>
      <p>Mailing: 123 Government Way, Washington, D.C. 20001</p>
    </main>
  )
}
```

Link the page from your root layout footer and, if applicable, from the primary navigation.

## Detection

- **ID:** `contact-page`
- **Severity:** `high`
- **What to look for:** Look for `/contact`, `/contact-us`, or similar routes. Enumerate all contact methods found on the page (email, phone, mailing address, office hours, contact form, TTY) and count every unique channel present.
- **Pass criteria:** A Contact page exists with at least 2 of: email address, phone number, mailing address, office hours. The page should contain no more than 5 required form fields if a contact form is present.
- **Fail criteria:** No Contact page found, or the page exists but lists fewer than 2 contact methods.
- **Skip (N/A) when:** Never — federal sites must provide public contact methods.
- **Detail on fail:** `"No Contact page found"` or `"Contact page lists only email; phone and office hours are missing"`
- **Remediation:** Create a Contact page with multiple ways to reach your agency:

  ```tsx
  // app/contact/page.tsx
  export default function Contact() {
    return (
      <main>
        <h1>Contact Us</h1>
        <p>Email: info@agency.gov</p>
        <p>Phone: (202) 123-4567</p>
        <p>Hours: Monday–Friday, 9 AM–5 PM ET</p>
        <ContactForm />
      </main>
    )
  }
  ```

---

## External references

- external 21st-century-idea-act-sec-3 — https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/5759/text
- external omb-m-23-22 — https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/M-23-22-Delivering-a-Digital-First-Public-Experience.pdf

Taxons: regulatory-conformance

HTML version: https://auditbuffet.com/patterns/ab-001616