Submitted by elupusor on

The Drupal PublicGov distribution is a Drupal-based starter kit tailored specifically for building government and public sector websites. It's designed to meet common needs of municipalities, public institutions, and local or national government bodies — with features that ensure accessibility, transparency, usability, and compliance with open data and privacy regulations.

Key Features of PublicGov

  1. Content Types for Government Needs
    • News & Announcements
    • Events with calendar integration
    • Services (what the government provides)
    • Departments & Officials
    • Documents & Files repository
    • Job postings
  2. Accessibility First
    • WCAG 2.1 AA-compliant out of the box
    • Semantic markup, proper contrast, keyboard navigation, and screen reader support
  3. Multilingual Support
    • Ready for multilingual content (especially relevant for EU or multi-ethnic regions)
  4. Open Data Integration
    • Easily expose and display datasets
    • Support for CSV/JSON/XML file uploads
    • CKAN or other open-data platform integration possibilities
  5. Preconfigured Layouts
    • Homepage templates with areas for announcements, alerts, services, and quick links
    • Responsive and mobile-friendly
  6. Security and Compliance
    • GDPR-ready cookie management
    • Secure user role management
    • HTTPS ready
  7. Customization-Friendly
    • Built with site builders and devs in mind (clean architecture, extendable content model)
    • Easily themeable with Drupal’s standard theming system (Twig-based)

Technical Stack

  • Based on Drupal 9/10
  • Uses Layout Builder or Paragraphs for flexible content layouts
  • Often uses GovCMS components or inspired by US Web Design System (USWDS) or similar EU standards

Good Use Cases

  • Municipal or City Hall websites
  • Government portals for citizen services
  • Digital transparency platforms (e.g., publishing budgets, decisions, policies)
  • Ministry/Department web presence

Where to Find It

While not an official Drupal core distribution, PublicGov is often found:

If you're looking for an installable publicgov distribution and can’t find it directly, it's often a rebranded/customized solution built on top of base distributions like: