Better Web Standards for New Zealand Government

21 March 2007

The State Services Commission today released the Government Web Standards v 1.0, replacing the previous Government Web Guidelines v2.1, first issued in February 2004.

The standards have been revised to make them more usable and to ensure they can be measured and tested, making them more effective for Government agencies.

"The E-government Strategy highlights the importance of Accessible State Services in achieving the transformation of the operation of government. These standards provide the building blocks for ensuring that government websites are accessible to all, irrespective of technological or physical impediments," said Laurence Millar, Deputy Commissioner Information and Communication Technologies.

As part of the review process, a working group comprising 10 representatives of government, people with disabilities and usability professionals overhauled the existing guidelines. The new standards, while not radically different from the previous guidelines, remove duplications and dated material, and are focussed on making the standards more useable by government agencies.

"Web standards are an important part of ensuring that government online information and services are accessible to everyone. These new standards will give government agencies much more clarity and direction around how they use the Internet as a means of delivery," Laurence Millar said.

There has been an emphasis on categorising requirements into standards that are measurable and testable and classifying as recommendations those that are still important but subjective in their measure or deemed not quite as critical as a standard.

All public sector agencies were invited to review the draft standards in Oct 2006. Feedback from this consultation was incorporated into the final version of the Web Standards v1.0.

The Government has directed the Public Service departments to comply with the standards. State sector organizations are being strongly encouraged to follow suit, and local government and private sector are also invited to adopt the standards.

Government Web Standards v1.0:
http://www.e.govt.nz/standards/web-guidelines/web-standards-v1.0

Media release and related material:
http://www.e.govt.nz/resources/news/2007/20070321.html

ENDS

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