1 Government web guidelines Paul Miller Interoperability Focus UK Office for Library & Information Networking (U KOLN ) U KOLN is funded by Resource: the Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries, the Joint Information Systems Committee (J ISC ) of the Further and Higher Education Funding Councils, as well as by project funding from J ISC and the EU. U KOLN also receives support from the Universities of Bath and Hull where staff are based.

2 Some background 100% of government services available online by 2005 e–Envoy ensures compliance Focus upon services Focus upon the citizen Focus upon the Joined Up approach Recognition of multi–channel architecture. See

3 Some documents Modernising Government white paper – whitepaper/4310.htm e–Government Strategy – – localgovernment/localgovt.htm Framework for Information Age Government websites – websites/websites.htm e–Government Interoperability Framework – UK Government Metadata Framework –Watch this space…. See

4 Web guidelines “It is essential that there is the widest acceptance of the view that maintaining a web presence should become a part of the mainstream work of departments and agencies. … It should be a core aim to provide the public with accurate, timely and comprehensive information, and, in time, a wide range of online services.” See websites/websites.htm See websites/websites.htm

5 Web guidelines Guidance on management Guidance on content Guidance on design Guidance on Joined up issues. See websites/websites.htm See websites/websites.htm

6 Site Management What — and whom — is the site for? Cannot be all things for all people Who owns the site, and who is responsible? To whom do I complain? How does content provision fit into organisational workflow and structures? If content provision is an afterthought, current content is a pipe dream How should use and performance be measured?. See websites/websites.htm See websites/websites.htm

7 Site Content Content must be Timely Accurate Relevant Authoritative Legal Available to lower–end software, hardware, and network speeds Non–libellous! See websites/websites.htm See websites/websites.htm

8 Site Content Don’t forget the obvious… Phone number Fax number Postal address E–mail address Privacy policy Copyright statements Your organisational name, logo, and look & feel. See websites/websites.htm See websites/websites.htm

9 Site Content Remember Data Protection… Data Protection Act “Personal data shall be processed fairly and lawfully and, in particular, shall not be processed unless – At least one of the conditions in Schedule 2 is met, and In the case of sensitive personal data, at least one of the conditions in Schedule 3 is also met.”. See

10 Site Content Remember Data Protection… Data Protection Act “Personal data shall be obtained only for one or more specified and lawful purposes, and shall not be further processed in any manner incompatible with that purpose or those purposes.” 3.“Personal data shall be adequate, relevant and not excessive in relation to the purpose or purposes for which they are processed.”. See

11 Site Content Remember Data Protection… Data Protection Act “Personal data shall be accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date.” 5.“Personal data processed for any purpose or purposes shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose or those purposes.”. See

12 Site Content Remember Data Protection… Data Protection Act “Personal data shall be processed in accordance with the rights of data subjects under this Act.” i.e. to request a copy of personal data to prevent processing likely to cause substantial damage or distress to prevent processing for direct marketing purposes not to be subject to automated decision taking. See

13 Site Content Remember Data Protection… Data Protection Act “Appropriate technical and organisational measures shall be taken against unauthorised or unlawful processing of personal data and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, personal data.”. See

14 Site Content Remember Data Protection… Data Protection Act “Personal data shall not be transferred to a country or territory outside the European Economic Area unless that country or territory ensures an adequate level of protection for the rights and freedoms of data subjects in relation to the processing of personal data.”. See

15 Site Content Remember Special Needs… Disability Discrimination Act –“Part III of the DDA makes it unlawful for a service provider to treat disabled people less favourably for a reason related to their disability.” –Remember the needs of software speech readers –Comply with W3C’s Accessibility Guidelines – See

16 Site Design Navigation is important Provide easy – obvious – links back to the home page from all pages Provide an intuitive search service All main sections of the site should be a click away from the home page Adopt a common look and feel –Don’t let design detract from message! Reflect user needs, rather than organisational structures Remember modems, old software, and clunky computers. See websites/websites.htm See websites/websites.htm

17 Joining up Branding Relationship to physical organisation Relationship to ‘Government’ “All pages should contain a link to the open.gov.uk site”. See websites/websites.htm See websites/websites.htm

18 The e–GIF e–Government Interoperability Framework Technical standards and policies at the heart of e–Government Proposes site for ongoing dissemination of public sector standards Online, but currently password protected. See

19 The e–GIF e–Government Interoperability Framework Conformance is mandatory Adoption of Internet and Web standards across government XML/XSL, plus government–specific schemas govtalk.gov to disseminate and discuss schemas, best practice, etc. See

20 Metadata Framework Core plank of e–Government strategy Cabinet Office–chaired working group Whitehall and Devolved Administrations I&DeA Resource UKOLN Recently moved from CITU to Office of the e–Envoy. See

21 Metadata Framework Mandates the Dublin Core Some elements are made mandatory Adds two elements from AGLS agls/summary.html Endorses many of the recently approved DC Qualifiers mirrored.ukoln.ac.uk/dc/documents/rec/ dcmes–qualifiers Draft due in the next few weeks. See mirrored.ukoln.ac.uk/dc/