| Making
all government websites friendlier |
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Imagine you are looking
for information at a government website. Where is
the search feature? Or the terms and conditions?
Or the annual report? Now imagine moving on to another
government website. Where can you find similar information?
These are questions our online customers ask every
day when they interact with the government through
the websites of different agencies. The myriad of
Web designs and interfaces used present a fragmented
and confusing experience for our customers. Our
customers have to “re-learn” each website
they interact with.
Now there is a way to make government websites friendlier
and easier
to use.
The Web Interface Standards (WIS) is a set of standards
and guidelines for designing government websites
and online services.
The WIS aims to:
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• |
facilitate
ease of navigation, information retrieval
and access to online services within and across
government websites |
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ensure a consistent,
intuitive and smooth online experience when
moving from one government website to the
next |
The WIS standardises certain aspects of website
and e-service design such as the basic design and
layout, the naming and placement of basic hyperlinks,
and the availability of helpful information to the
customer. It also promotes widely adopted best practices
to guide agencies in designing usable and accessible
websites.
To ensure that the WIS is practical, relevant and
applicable, many agencies were consulted at various
stages of its development.
The introduction of the WIS is timely. With over
1,600 e-services available at the government websites
today, there is a need to maintain quality in delivering
information and e-services to the public. The WIS
will serve as a guide for the future deployment
of government websites and e-services. With the
WIS, agencies will be able enhance the online experience
of their customers.
Providing a consistent user experience to our customers
does not mean that all our websites have to look
like clones of one another. Only the basic parameters
are defined. Agencies are given flexibility to exercise
their creativity in building their own unique websites
on top of the standardised features that have to
be included.
The migration to WIS will take place over three
years from August 2004 to August 2007. This way,
agencies can incorporate the standards when they
revamp their websites.
But the road towards better service delivery does
not stop with WIS. While the WIS lays down the basic
requirements for government websites, agencies still
have to “complete the equation” by continuously
listening to their customers and improving the e-services
to satisfy their needs. It is through constant feedback
and improvement that we will be able to raise our
e-government efforts to a higher level. |
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| By
IDA |
