The State Services Commission is considering introducing a more interactive way of receiving suggested changes to government website standards by setting up a wiki.
The wiki format is intended to promote discussion of and suggestions for the standards from government agencies, and to give the agencies increased “ownership” of the wiki document.
The SSC guidelines are aimed chiefly at improving accessibility and usability of government websites.
The latest version is the third, so far. The emphasis has been on removing duplications and dated material and making the standards document itself more easily usable, says the SSC.
Discussions and suggestions for amendment will, naturally, be moderated by SSC staff.
A prototype wiki will be set up later this year.
The draft version 3.0 has been posted on the e-government website, at www.e.govt.nz, for a three-week period of public consultation, closing on October 31.
The Office for Disability Issues (ODI), supported by the SSC, will be conducting an independent accessibility audit on government websites between October and December 2006.