Thank you for visiting the new ACL.gov. We’re glad you’re here!
As you look around the site, please know that it is a work in progress. In fact, we have already found some things we know we need to fix -- please see the “Future Construction” section at the bottom of this page for details. Several users with disabilities have tested the site for accessibility and usability, but if you have any problems navigating the site or accessing information, please let us know so we can help.
We’re excited to make this new site public, but this is really just a first step in what will be an ongoing effort to provide better information to the older adults, people with disabilities, families and caregivers that our programs serve; to the aging and disability networks; and to the public.
This first step accomplished two primary things. The first is behind-the-scenes. This site is built using software that will make it much easier for us to share information quickly. That software also includes dramatic improvements in search capabilities, which we hope will make it much easier for people to find what they’re looking for.
We also reorganized the content on our site to make it easier for people who are not familiar with ACL to find the information they need, and also to better illustrate the work we do. If you’re familiar with the former site, you’ll find that most of the content has not changed. We removed some information that had become outdated, and we added some information we didn’t have before. If you’re not able to find something you need, please let us know and we’ll try to help.
To help you get started, here’s what you will find in each of the main sections of the site.
Top Right Corner
At the top of every page on the site, you’ll find a search box. You can enter words or phrases and see a list of everything on our site that includes them. (For the techies: Over the next few months As we improve the tagging of our content, which will make the search feature even better.)
In that same corner, you’ll find a button that says “Find Services or Other Help.” This is a new feature on our site that we plan to continue to grow and develop. This page is intended to help people who need help finding services and supports for themselves or a loved one. This is not a complete list of all of ACL’s programs; rather, it is a list of places people can go to find programs and services in their local area.
Red Navigation Bar
Through the buttons on the red navigation bar, which appears on every page, you can navigate to all the information on the site. Here’s what you’ll find in each of the categories:
- About Community Living
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This section is brand-new. In it, you’ll find information about what we mean by “community living,” why it’s important, and how ACL programs work to make it possible for more people.
- Aging and Disability in America
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This section isn’t necessarily “about” ACL or our programs. Rather, this is a place to find information about the populations we serve. In the “Data and Research” section, you’ll find statistics and results of research compiled by ACL, whereas the “Reading Room” offers links to reports and resources compiled by other organizations. (Both of these sections are new, and we will be adding to them over the next few weeks. If you have material we should consider adding, please let us know!)
- Programs
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The Administration for Community Living (ACL) advocates across the federal government for older adults, people with disabilities, families and caregivers; funds services and supports provided by primarily by states and networks of community-based; and invests in training, education, research and innovation. We manage a variety of programs (authorized by several statutes), and in this section, you can learn more about them.
If you’ve used our website in the past, this is one of the sections that will be different for you. In the past, information about our programs was grouped by the division within ACL that managed the program.
On this site, we have grouped programs according to their focus. We think this makes sense for a couple of reasons. First, although most of our programs focus primarily on supporting older adults or people with disabilities, there are a number that support both, and some are funded through joint efforts of our Administration on Aging and our Administration on Disabilities. Second, as the aging and disability networks increasingly work together where the needs of the people they serve are similar, we want to make it easier for both to see where opportunities for partnerships and collaboration may exist.
We know we may not have gotten the category names quite right, and we’re hoping you’ll tell us if you found them confusing.
- Grants
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In this section, we have tried to pull together everything you need to know about applying for or managing grants from ACL. This is where you’ll find information about our funding opportunities, as well as toolkits for putting together your applications and meeting reporting requirements. (ACL does not manage grants to individual people. Rather, we provide grants to states, communities, and organizations, who in turn operate the programs we fund. In some cases, ACL wholly funds a particular program; in others, the program receives funding from a variety of sources, including ACL.)
- Newsroom
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Check out our Newsroom to sign up for ACL Updates (which are sent via Granicus, formerly GovDelivery), read our announcements and press releases, or follow our blog. In the News will share news stories on aging and disability issues. You can also find links to ACL videos, our fact sheets, and our downloadable logos here. Finally, we’re building a section for reporters, as well.
- About ACL
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This one is exactly what it sounds like. In this section, you’ll find our organization chart, leadership biographies, and strategic plan. You’ll also see our budget submissions and reports to Congress. You can learn more about the legislation that gives us the authority to operate our programs under “Authorizing Statutes,” and for the first time, we’re grouping all of our policy, regulations, and other guidance together in one section that you’ll find here. (That section is also where you’ll find anything that is open for public comment.)
Only on the Home Page
Especially for you
On the home page, you’ll find information we’ve pulled together for each of the main groups of users of this site. These are labeled:
- For people with disabilities, older adults, family and friends
- For grantees, and organizations seeking grants
- For partners, researchers and professionals
If you hover your mouse over the box that best describes you, you’ll see the photos and the text above them change to include quick links that that take you to pages we think you’ll need most often. You also can click on the box itself, and you’ll be taken to a page with links to the parts of the site that are especially for you.
This is a brand-new feature, and we know we can make it better. Please tell us what kind of information you’d like to be able to find here!
Featured content
Be sure to scroll down the page a little bit to see what’s new, special events, and other must see information.
Future Construction
Here are a couple of the things we’re already working on:
- Improving navigation: We know we don’t have all the content categories exactly right, we’ve discovered a few things that we accidentally missed, and we also need to put our navigation bars in alphabetical order.
- Resizing and printing: These work well throughout most of the site, but there are a few issues on the home page. We’re working to address them, but if you have trouble using the page while we make those corrections, please let us know and we’ll get you the information another way.
We hope you will explore the site and let us know what you think. We’d love to know if you were able to find what you were looking for, what you like and don’t like, and any other input you’d like to provide to help us make this site better going forward.