Trump-Aligned Team Takes Over U.S. Web Design System and Plans to Automate Accessibility Testing
A Trump-aligned team has taken control of the U.S. Web Design System (USWDS) with plans to automate accessibility testing, according to public activity on the project's GitHub repository reviewed by FedScoop. The USWDS is a roughly decade-old federal service housed within the General Services Administration's Technology Transformation Services that is designed to make it easier for government websites to stay current and align with accessibility standards, and it is used by federal, state and local sites.
The takeover began around the start of September, when former USWDS program lead Anne Petersen was placed on administrative leave and later removed from the repository, according to GSA sources, public comments and the project's commit history. Over the following weeks, the new team removed contributors from the repository, deployed artificial intelligence tools, blocked commenting and deleted posts, per the public record. Earlier this week, team member Ryan Parker posted a message on the system's GitHub titled "our priorities," stating an aim to "automate as much accessibility testing as possible across current and future USWDS versions."
The shift alarmed contributors and accessibility professionals. Sheri Byrne-Haber, director of accessibility projects and strategy at AccessAbility Officer, said USWDS went "from something I would recommend to something I wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole," and argued that automated testing tools are "not even close to good enough" to replace human expertise, though automation has long been part of the solution. In a now-deleted exchange, a GitHub user posting as "lauraGgit" said the current resourcing for USWDS likely violates federal guidance for digital services, which calls for agencies to maintain cross-functional teams. Support for the service had already dwindled during the Trump administration, with current and former GSA workers saying it lost almost all of its team and contractor support.
GSA spokespeople did not respond to FedScoop's questions about how the team plans to produce a quality product relying on automated testing, whether it is consulting accessibility experts on staff, or the ultimate goal of the current efforts. The concerns come as WebAIM's 2026 review of one million of the most-visited homepages on the internet found increases in accessibility issues, reversing a trend of gradual improvement.