Swedish National Guidelines for Public Sector Websites

Web address of the case:

http://www.verva.se/english/guidelines/public...

Country of the case:

Sweden

Posting Date:

30 April 2008

Last Edited Date:

30 September 2008

Author:

Magnus Burell

standardization | Usability | design

Type of initiative

Strategic initiative
Promotion/awareness campaign

Case Abstract

The Swedish National Guidelines for Public Sector Websites takes an integrated approach to usability, accessibility and standardization.

The Guidelines support the procurement, development, and maintenance of a website or eService by a public administration so that it offers equal opportunity usage for all citizens. The guidelines contain criteria which cover the entire lifecycle of a website or eService. The guidelines are intended for several target groups and give recommendations concerning strategic planning as well as design, development and administration. As follows from the principle of mainstreaming accessibility, the Guidelines present web accessibility as an integral part of the overall development process.

The Swedish National Guidelines for Public Sector Websites give public sector organisations practical advice and examples on how to procure, create and evaluate websites and eServices in order to improve accessibility, usability, searchability and comply with the international standards and EU i2010 goals. The guidelines have had a huge impact on the accessibility and usability of public websites and eServices in Sweden.

Description of the case

Domain

eGovernment

Topic

Policy | User-centric Services | Inclusive eGovernment

Sector

Education, Science and Research

Start date - End date

January 2002 (Ongoing)

Target Users

Business (industry) | Business (SME) | Business (self-employed) | Administrative | Intermediaries

Target Users Description

The primary audience for these guidelines are those people in Swedish public administrations with responsibility for the procurement, development and maintenance of websites. There are approximately 1,000 public administration websites in Sweden; 300 of them belong to Government authorities. However, it is fair to say that the guidelines can also be applied by any organisation (public or private sector alike) that wants to improve the quality of its website for its users.

Scope

National

Status

Operation

Language(s)

English | Swedish

Policy Context and Legal Framework

There is no law in Sweden specifically addressing web sites or web accessibility.

In 2002, Statskontoret, the predecessor of Verva, was commissioned by the Government to produce guidance to other agencies on, inter alia, web design. This commission was part of more general efforts towards the 24/7 agency. Accomplishment of the eEurope 2002 action â€œAdoption of the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) guidelines for public websitesâ€ was incorporated in this work, which resulted in the first version of the Guidelines. Subsequent versions, produced on Statskontoretâ€™s and Vervaâ€™s own initiative, have taken later EU Action Plans, e.g. i2010, into account.

Project Size and Implementation

Type of initiative

Not applicable/not available

Overall Implementation approach

Public administration

Technology choice

Standards-based technology | Mainly (or only) open standards | Accessibility-compliant (minimum WAI AA)

Funding source

Public funding national

Project size

Implementation: €15-49,000

Yearly cost:

€49-299,000

Implementation and Management Approach

The Swedish National Guidelines for Public Sector websites are maintained by Verva (the Swedish Administrative Development Agency), as part of Vervaâ€™s goal to ensure that all communication between citizens and public administrations are perceived as simple, efficient and suitable for their purpose.

The users of the guidelines have been involved in the development of the guidelines. Thereby the quality increases, the material becomes more targeted to the usersâ€™ needs and the guidelines become easier to adopt as the users view them as partly theirs.

The Guidelines are maintained through an open two-way dialogue with target groups, through the Guidelines Network (with over 1,900 registered members), regular seminars (to date over 60 have been held), dedicated e-mail and phone contact.

Impact, innovation and results

Impact

The Swedish National Guidelines for Public Sector Websites helps Swedish authorities to utilize the Internet as a channel for making their tasks and processes more efficient. Adhering to the guidelines ensures that authorities work in line with policies in the public sector. It also ensures improvement of return of investment in web based services to citizens and companies.

Web accessibility is presented as an integrated element of the development process and not as a separate issue. Web accessibility guidelines are incorporated into general web development guidelines.

The support provided by the Swedish National Guidelines for Public Sector Websites to public administrations, in achieving a higher level of usability and accessibility, can be seen by their widespread adoption in Sweden. To date 16,000 electronic copies of the most recent version of the Guidelines have been downloaded and over 1,400 printed books sold. The guidelines are divided into chapters which can be read separately depending on the readerâ€™s role and responsibilities.

A survey carried out in February 2007 showed that over 90 % of those responsible for public administration websites in Sweden were aware of the Swedish National Guidelines for Public Sector Websites, with 80 % or more actively using them.

Verva regularly performs automated testing on over 900 public administration websites, checking specific pages against various criteria from the guidelines. The most recent benchmarking study was performed in April 2008 and clearly showed that the guidelines were also being applied. Of the large number of websites tested:
- 22 % had valid code, a 100 % increase on the previous year.
- 44 % had a correct heading structure.
- 41 % were using style sheet-based layout â€“ decreasing the number of websites using frames or tables for layout.

The project is ongoing and does not have an end date. The first version of the Swedish National Guidelines for Public Sector Websites was published in 2002. In 2004 a new version was published and in 2006 the current one.

Track record of sharing

In order to support and inspire other countries, Verva has translated the Swedish National Guidelines for Public Sector Websites into English.

The Guidelines are maintained through an open two-way dialogue with target groups, through the Guidelines Network (with over 1,900 registered members) and dedicated e-mail and phone contact. To further expand the knowledge contained in the guidelines, Verva frequently hosts local seminars at agencies to inform them of the benefits associated with working in compliance with the guidelines, to date over 60 have been held.

The Swedish National Guidelines for Public Sector Websites were developed by Verva in collaboration with the Swedish Agency for Disability Policy Coordination (www.handisam.se), the Swedish organisation for companies within the IT and telecom sector (www.itforetagen.se), the Swedish W3C office (www.w3c.se) and the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (www.skl.se).

The Guidelines are written by a work group consisting of experts from Verva and consultants who specialize in web development, accessibility and usability. Specialists from other agencies have also been involved, e.g. in parts concerning crisis information, regulations and privacy statements.

Due to the broad spectrum of organisations involved in producing the Guidelines, they have contributed to an increased awareness on usability and web accessibility among public sector organisations and in the ICT industry.

The dissemination of the guidelines among public sector organisations has been facilitated by:
- using a plain language with a minimised use of jargon.
- giving practical advices, examples and suggestions for further reading instead of only translating international standards into Swedish.
- providing a target group based structure of the document.
- being available on e-mail and phone for answering questions, make clarifications and give tips on web development

Lessons learnt

Lesson 1 - Present web accessibility, usability and web standards as an integral part of the overall development process and not as separate issues.

Lesson 2 - Involve your users in the development of your guidelines.

Lesson 3 - Offer a regular dialogue with your target groups and continously update and develop your work.

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