Banner - Maintenance - Design decisions

What is an ADR?

We use the ADR (Architecture Decision Record) to structure design decision documentation. Each ADR covers three things: the context that prompted the decision, the decision itself, and its consequences — including trade-offs and any open questions.

ADR 001 - Standardize system-wide maintenance banner messaging

• Date raised: February 12, 2026
• Decision date: February 12, 2026

Context

System-wide maintenance banners had inconsistent structure and phrasing. This made them harder to reuse, increased engineering effort, and created unnecessary variation across implementations.

Decision

Standardize the structure and wording of system-wide maintenance banners.

The new pattern:

• Uses a consistent, reusable message structure
• Reduces one-off variations
• Simplifies engineering implementation
• Supports consistent user experience across VA.gov

Consequences

Positive

• Easier to reuse across maintenance events
• More efficient to implement in code
• Clearer and more consistent messaging
• Lower long-term maintenance overhead

Negative

• Slightly less flexibility for unique edge cases