Penn Medicine web and digital standards

This site brings together the standards that guide how we design, write, and build for Penn Medicine’s digital platforms. It covers visual design, content guidelines, technical standards, and accessibility compliance requirements —giving teams a shared foundation for creating clear, consistent, and inclusive experiences that reflect Penn Medicine at its best. Whether you’re starting something new or improving something existing, these standards and the libraries that support design system adoption are here to help you work faster and with confidence.

The importance of a design system

A design system brings consistency, speed, and clarity to digital work. Instead of reinventing buttons, forms, or layouts from scratch, teams can reuse well-tested components that already follow best practices for accessibility, branding, and usability. This saves time, reduces errors, and makes it easier for designers, developers, and content creators to collaborate.

Standards and guidelines

Design standards

How to use page types, templates, components and patterns when building a website in the Penn Medicine system.

Learn about design

Content guidelines

Learn about writing for the web best practices and get aligned with the Penn Medicine style.

Learn about content

Technical standards

Information about a variety of technical topics, from performance to HIPAA compliance.

Accessibility standards

Make every digital experience usable for all and ensure compliance with legal requirements. Learn how to meet accessibility standards and create inclusive, compliant designs.

Learn about accessibility

Get started by role

For designers

Design with clarity and consistency. Explore the new Penn Medicine design system foundations, Figma kits, and usage guidance to create accessible, patient-focused experiences.

For developers

Build with confidence. Find documented components, usage standards, and a reusable design front-end code library in Storybook — accessible via VPN — to bring help with adopting the new Penn Medicine design system.

Contact

For more information about this standard, email: web-standards@pennmedicine.upenn.edu