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    GIGW 3.0

    Quality: Guidelines and Attributes

    5.4 Lifecycle Management

    5.4.1 Statement: The government organisation has nominated a Web Information Manager (WIM) as defined in the guidelines.

    Benefit: WIM can ensure a proper flow of content to the website/app and ensure that content quality and user satisfaction issues are taken care of. WIM will achieve this by coordinating with the various groups within the government organisation and undertaking multiple activities with regard to the Indian Government website being maintained by her/him. For instance, formulating policies for content management to update authentic content and manage it through the entire life cycle, e.g., creation, moderation, approval, publishing and archival getting the website certified for guidelines conformity and ensuring conformity throughout its lifecycle.

    Government organisation action: The government organisation must appoint a WIM who must be a senior official not below the rank of a Joint Secretary (JS).

    Developer Action: Display complete contact details of the WIM on the website, so that visitors could contact him/her in case of some queries or requirements.

    Evaluator Action: The evaluator will check the website for WIM details and will compare the same with the WIM details in Website Quality Manual (WQM). Further during the backend audit the evaluator will interview WIM to assess his/ her awareness and competence regarding the responsibilities.

    5.4.2 Statement: It has been ensured that all stationery of the government organisations as well as advertisements/public messages issued by the concerned organisation prominently display the URL of the website.

    Benefit: By mentioning the URL prominently on all stationery and publicity material of the government organisation, the Website can be promoted to attract visitors who may benefit from the information and services being delivered by the government organisation.

    Government organisation action: The government organisations must ensure publishing of government website URL prominently on all stationery and publicity materials such as letterheads, visiting cards, publicity material such as brochures, pamphlets and documents such as the annual report etc; advertisements, press releases, tender notifications etc. issued in the newspapers/ audio-visual media. Also, ensure publishing regular and updated news related to the Government and in the interest of the citizens to attract citizens.

    Developer Action: Promote government websites/apps by linking with other government websites/apps as well as international websites. Provision may be provided on the website/apps to send regular updates on the website/app through an electronic newsletter to registered and interested users.

    Evaluator Action: The evaluator will check during the backend audit by examining the stationery (e.g., letterhead, tender document, email signature, Visiting Cards, Publicity material such as Brochures, Pamphlets and documents such as the Annual Report etc; Advertisements, Press Releases, Tender Notifications etc.) conformity with this.

    5.4.3 Statement: Website has the following clearly defined policies and plans approved by the Web Information Manager (WIM):

    1. Copyright Policy
    2. Content Contribution, Moderation & Approval (CMAP) policy
    3. Content Archival (CAP) policy
    4. Content Review (CRP) policy
    5. Hyper linking Policy
    6. Terms & Conditions
    7. Website Monitoring Plan.

    Benefit: Having clearly defined policies helps ensure efficient management of the website and its content throughout the life cycle of the website.

    Government organisation action: Clearly define and approve the website related policies listed above. WIM must ensure their implementation throughout the website life cycle

    Developer Action: Citizen-facing policies like copyright policy, privacy policy and terms and conditions must be published on the website.

    Evaluator action: The evaluator will:

    1. Compare during the backend audit the policies given in WQM and those available at the website for consistency; and
    2. Check the implementation of these policies by examining the documented records generated by the implementation.

    5.4.4 Statement: The mechanism is in place to check the accuracy of Hyperlinked Content and clear indications are given when a link leads out to a non-government website.

    Benefit: Hyperlinking content across different websites/apps can occasionally cause ambiguity in the mind of the visitors about the owner of a particular portion of content and whom to be contacted in case of any query. Therefore, it helps to verify content accuracy before linking to an external website and thereafter clearly indicating when a visitor is being led to an external website.

    Government organisation action: Define the Hyperlinking policy, duly approved by the WIM. Check the accuracy of the linked content regularly.

    Developer Action: Ensure alert mechanism to notify the visitor when clicking any link will lead to an external website

    Evaluator Action: The evaluator will check that:

    1. The policy defined in WQM is consistent with that available on the website; and
    2. The mechanism is completely and correctly defined in WQM and the same has been implemented by examining the documented records generated by the implementation.

    5.4.5 Statement: It is ensured through content moderation and approval policy that Website content is free from offensive/discriminatory language.

    Benefit: Content that is free from offensive/discriminatory language helps in promoting inclusivity and enhances the user experience, attracting visitors to frequent the website/app for information and services they gain from.

    Government organisation action: Any information in text, visual or any other media which may offend/harm the National sentiments as well as security and integrity of the country must be avoided on the website. The government organisations must designate the officials who will implement the content moderation and approval policy (content creator, moderator and/or approver) as required.

    Developer Action: Ensure CMS has an in-built workflow for content moderation and approval.

    Evaluator Action: The evaluator will check that:

    1. The policy defined in WQM provides commitment to ensure that the website content is free from offensive/ discriminatory language.
    2. Developer action has been implemented.
    3. Randomly picked contents fulfil the policy.

    5.4.6 Statement: Documents/pages in multiple languages are updated simultaneously.

    Benefit: Helps avoid inconsistencies, at any point, between the various language versions, thus offering visitors the same content in multiple languages.

    Government organisation action: Translate all content simultaneously.

    Developer Action: Ensure mechanism for publishing content in multiple languages and to display the status of non-translated content.

    Evaluator Action:The evaluator shall check the website contents manually to see conformity with this.

    5.4.7 Statement: Mechanism is in place to ensure that there are no ‘broken links’ (internal as well as external) or ‘Page not found’ errors.

    Benefit: Presence of broken links and page not found errors will frustrate the visitors and reduce the trust level of citizens

    Government organisation action: Define the Hyperlinking policy, duly approved by the Web Information Manager/p>

    Developer Action: Ensure that ‘broken links’ or those leading to ‘Page Not Found’ errors are checked on a regular basis and are rectified or removed from the website immediately upon discovery. Use appropriate technology tools available for convenient discovery of broken links.

    Evaluator Action: The evaluator shall check that the mechanism is completely and correctly defined in the WQM and verify the implementation by examining the documented records generated by the implementation of the mechanism. Further the evaluator shall also test the website using the tool to check broken links on the website.

    5.4.8 Statement: There are no links to ‘under construction’ pages.

    Benefit: Visitors have a better experience when they find content versus experiencing “under construction” pages that convey a negative impression.

    Government organisation action: Avoid any “under construction” pages as much as possible. Also, the government organisation must provide a date in case the content is event based i.e., Republic Day speech of President

    Developer Action: Avoid publishing any pages with “under construction” / “work in progress”

    Evaluator Action: The evaluator shall manually test the website for this checkpoint.

    5.4.9 Statement: Documents are provided either in HTML or other accessible formats.

    Benefit: Enhanced accessibility for all website visitors, especially the visually challenged who should be able to use assistive technologies to read the accessible format documents.

    Government organisation action: The government organisations must ensure that the accessible version of all scanned documents is made available

    Developer Action: Ensure uploading of documents in HTML or other accessible formats.

    Evaluator Action: The evaluator shall manually test the website for this checkpoint.

    5.4.10 Statement: Website/app is bilingual with a prominent language selection link and uses Unicode characters.

    Benefit: India is a country with diverse cultures and as many as 22 languages. This will enable wider use of websites by the rich Indian demographics, a large part which is more comfortable in regional languages versus English.

    Government organisation action: Provide resources to translate all content. If difficult, determine which content is widely accessed by visitors and translate those sections to regional language.

    Developer Action: Ensure use of Unicode character set for regional language content and thorough testing to ensure access by all and no loss of layout.

    Evaluator Action: The evaluator shall manually and through tool test the website for this checkpoint.