A community of practice (CoP) for state employees who create, edit, or oversee content for their organization's website, applications, and more.
- This page, Content Lab, is offered by
- Massachusetts Digital Service
What is Content Lab?
Content Lab is a learning community of state employees that meets regularly to share best practices for content strategy and management. Our goal is to continually improve website content to make sure it's current, clear, and constituent-friendly.
We host sessions and workshops where you can learn about:
- Writing in plain language
- Using data and feedback to improve content and the constituent experience
- Reaching your target audiences
- Developing accessible content
We also host regular Co-Lab sessions, which are a more informal space for peer-to-peer learning. This is a space where you can connect with and hear from other state employees as they ask questions, share knowledge, and seek help problem-solving together.
Who can join?
We welcome anyone who wants to learn about content strategy and content management best practices. Attendees might include content writers, content strategists, web designers, service designers, subject matter experts, product managers, program managers, and experience owners.
Meetings are interactive and encourage knowledge sharing and collaboration. People who attend should come ready to participate.
Chat with us
If you need 1-on-1 help with content strategy and content management issues, we offer Content Lab consult. This is a 30-minute session where you can chat with us and ask questions on many topics including:
- Reviewing new content before you launch it
- Setting up a new way to manage and improve content
- Improving findability and SEO of specific content
- Addressing content that has poor analytics or feedback
Featured resources
Video: Accessible content
Content writers for state organizations can learn the basics of creating accessible digital content through this video training course.
Monthly QA checks
This guide describes how state organizations can regularly check content to identify broken links, accessibility issues, and potential performance issues.
Scenario walkthroughs
A scenario walkthrough is a fast, flexible, and inexpensive method for evaluating the things you build, including applications, documents, web content, and processes for service delivery.