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Department of Internal Affairs
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Usability
Usability is about designing effective, efficient and satisfying user experiences. All public service and non-public service agencies must meet the NZ Government Web Usability Standard.
Benefits
Benefits of usability include:
- more effective websites and web services
- increased customer satisfaction and positive perception of the product and organisation
- decreased post-implementation changes and costs.
NZ Government Web Usability Standard
The NZ Government Web Usability Standard includes requirements, some of which apply to all government websites (public or internally facing), and some that apply only to public facing sites.
NZ Government Web Usability Standard
The standard contains 6 requirements.
Requirements for public-facing websites
1. Government identity
The homepage must include:
- the name and/or logo of the NZ Government organisation that’s primarily responsible for the website
- a visible link to www.govt.nz, ideally using a suitable all-of-government logo.
2. Contact information
The website must link to contact information for the organisation responsible for the website. The contact information must provide clear details for getting in touch with the relevant organisation, including regularly monitored email and postal addresses, as well as phone numbers for each call centre related to the service provided by the website.
3. Copyright
The website must link to a general copyright statement that clearly shows copyright and reuse rights for the site's content.
Copyright statements for websites
4. Privacy
Each website must link to a privacy statement so users know what happens to their information and their rights to access and verify it. The privacy statement must be linked to from the homepage.
Privacy statements for websites
Requirements for all websites
1. Links to non-HTML files
When a web page links to a non-HTML file the link must include information about the file’s format and size, for example, PDF 115KB.
This requirement doesn’t apply to archived web pages.
2. Printable web pages
The main content on a web page must be printable on standard sheets of paper. Ideally the content will print in black text on a white background by default.
This requirement doesn’t apply to archived web pages.
Detailed advice
- NZ Government Web Usability Standard
- About the Web Usability Standard
- Linking to non-HTML files
- Copyright statements for websites
- Privacy statements for websites
- Disclaimers on websites
- Terms of use for websites
Assessment and reporting
You need to assess and report on your conformance with the Standard when requested by the Department of Internal Affairs. This includes submitting a risk assessment and management plan regarding any areas of non-conformance.
Web Standards Self-Assessments
Related advice
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