Guidelines for Indian Government Websites - Standards for Enhancing Web Usability

摘要

Web enablement of citizen services is one of the focus areas of NeGP (National e-Governance Plan) which was formed and approved on May 18, 2006 by the Government of India. As it is well established that websites facilitate an efficient and timely interaction between the citizens and the Government, the availability of web driven information and services also finds its space as one of the 27 Mission Mode Projects of the NeGP. With the penetration of the Internet and its availability on a range of devices, it is highly likely that the first point of interface for enabling information and services from Government departments to the citizens' will be the Government Websites.The "Indian Right to Information Act - 2005" has further strengthened the initiative by requiring mandatory disclosures of certain categories of information by the government to citizens and other stakeholders.However such a system still does not validate the best practices of information delivery through websites. On critically evaluating a number of websites available in the Indian government web space, there still remain certain challenges like lack of identity and citizen centricity, inconsistency in presentation and navigation strategy, outdated content, non compliance to best practices and above all insufficient sensitivity to the access needs of people with special needs, which require attention. These are major impediments in allowing citizens to effectively use the government websites. This paper outlines a mechanism to address the above challenges so as to provide much better experience to citizens while accessing government websites and also enhance the level of trust in government while accessing information and availing government services online.