Marketing

Marketing and incentives are very important for the success of your online services. Agency commitment is vital in ensuring the high adoption of an electronic service. Comprehensive internal and external marketing are also critical to continue to meet customer needs and expectations.

We understand that your budget for service marketing is probably small (if any), and we have experience in developing creative marketing ideas that are free or very low cost. Over the years, we have found that reaching out to your known customer groups through existing events, publications, newsletters, routine mailings, etc., is very effective. Such targeted marketing efforts to your known customer groups are more effective than large scale and often costly broad advertising campaigns.

Marketing an online service includes:

* Identify target markets
* develop and educate customers
* educate and encourage internal staff
* provide customer incentives
* create and deploy a marketing plan

The marketing methods for your online service may include:

* press releases and events
* newspaper ads, brochures, postcards, and other print materials
* association newsletter articles
* PSAs

A marketing plan will ensure optimum exposure. Ultimately, your marketing goals are to provide high customer satisfaction which, in turn, generates additional use of the online service.

Secrets of Marketing Success

* Direct Mailings
* In-person customer training
* Offer online services at a less expensive rate than the traditional methods
* Provide customer service via telephone and email for users learning the new system
* Provide outreach and education at user association meetings
* Provide easy to use and varying billing options
* Attend user association events and conferences

Website Hosting

Static Web Pages

InforME provides website hosting services for State agencies. Nearly every State agency website is hosted on InforME's servers, totalling more than 150,000 individual web pages.

Hosting of static web sites is provided at no cost to agencies, and includes access to the Maine.gov Google search engine, the AutoForms form processing tool, and the What's New tool.

Web Applications

InforME also hosts all eGovernment web applications we have built for State agencies, providing a stable, secure environment for online government transactions. View transaction security policy.

Hosting of non-InforME web applications is possible on a case-by-case basis. Application hosting must be pre-approved, and will involve charges for code review, storage, and maintenance. Alternative hosting options available to agencies include the State's Office of Information Technology and commercial ISPs.

More Information (state agencies only):

* InforME's hosting policy
* Hosting environment
* Hosting services and related services (FTP, virtual domains)

Website Design

Whether we are re-designing your agency’s website or creating one from scratch, we will work with you to develop a site that is pleasing to the eye, easy to use, meets the needs of your users and your agency, and complies with current State and industry standards.

InforME’s web design process is designed to meet the following goals:

* Evaluate Agency needs
* Emphasize usability, with a focus on the public audience
* Meet accessibility standards established by State of Maine policy and Federal law
* Meet Web Standards established by the State of Maine
* Design high-quality graphical elements
* Ensure compatibility with multiple browsers and platforms
* Provide ease of content maintenance
* Incorporate interactivity where appropriate

InforME’s Director of Creative Services will act as the project manager and will be your liaison to the InforME team for website design projects.

We Offer Experience & Expertise

The InforME Creative Services team brings eGovernment experience and expertise to every project, including graphic design, information architecture, usability, accessibility for the disabled, and multimedia.

InforME's staff is responsible for the award-winning Maine.gov portal, recognized by the Center for Digital Government as the best state government Web portal in the nation in 2004. The design team has superb expertise in website usability and accessibility, and Maine's Web Standards. We built the State's standard website templates and participated in the development of the State's Web Standards and Accessibility Policy. We understand State government and the unique role of government websites. We also champion the public website user and ensure that each website will be user-friendly and truly meet the needs of citizens.

Cost/Funding Method

Web design services are offered on a contract basis. New England Interactive is an approved IT Preferred Vendor for the State. Individual agencies may contract with us directly up to $10,000, and for larger amounts using the streamlined Preferred Vendor process.

Once we understand the scope of your project, we'll provide you with a project summary and cost quote.

Domain registration

Welcome to the home of the national rules and principles for registering and managing a domain name. These rules are an integral part of the Guidelines for UK government websites, Illustrated handbook for web management teams (section 1.9 - updated September 2004).

.gov.uk domain registration

These rules are an integral part of the Guidelines for UK government websites, Illustrated handbook for web management teams (section 1.9 - updated September 2004).

Who is eligible to register a .gov.uk domain name?

The only organisations which can register a .gov.uk domain name are:

* UK government and devolved administration departments and agencies
* local and regional government bodies, including town and parish councils
* other associated and NDPB organisations and projects.

Making an application

Review our domain naming conventions and terms and conditions. Then if you are eligible your application must be made by an appropriate Internet Service Provider, using the correct UKERNA template formats. If the supporting information detailed in rules paragraph 1.9.3.1 is not provided the application will automatically be rejected.

The national rules

These are available in HTML, PDF and MS Word formats.

* National rules - HTML version (section 1.9 of the Web Guidelines)
* National rules - PDF version (236KB)
* National rules - MS Word version (306kb)

.EU domain name

The object of this note is to provide guidance to the UK public sector on the registration and validation of an .EU domain name that may be applied for during the .EU phased registration period (also known the Sunrise Period).

* .EU domain name – guidance to the UK public sector – HTML version
* .EU domain name – guidance to the UK public sector – PDF version

How can I find out if a domain name is available?

Being shown available on the JANET Lookup Service or any WHOIS does not mean that the name you are seeking is acceptable. The .gov.uk Naming and Approvals Committee review individual names within the context of the .gov.uk domain and the information provided by the applicant.

* JANET WHOIS Lookup Service [external website]

.gov.uk Naming and Approvals Committee

* Terms of reference

Further advice

Please direct any queries on the rules or on specific names to:

* naming@coi.gsi.gov.uk

Wide Area Network Services

Nearly all of the data transport in state government — including city, county and educational network traffic — is combined onto DIS’ managed Wide Area Network infrastructure. Gathering this much demand in one place means we can competitively acquire large amounts of bandwidth, driving down costs while boosting speed and capacity. Our aim is to help you focus on your core business, so we act as your single point of contact for designing, ordering, implementing and operating networks — dispatching staff around the clock to resolve problems and work with vendors.

The Campus Fiber Network

A high-speed fiber optic backbone service that interconnects voice, video and data communications for customers located in over 30 buildings on the state Capitol Campus in Olympia.

Advanced Transport Services (ATS)

ATS is a reliable and economical wide area network transport service provided over a secure Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) infrastructure. Customer sites are connected to DIS regional nodes sites. The nodes sites are located in Olympia, Lacey, Seattle, Vancouver, Yakima and Spokane. The nodes sites are connected together using high-speed SONET and Ethernet circuits from various service providers. ATS offers customers the security of a private IP network built on a shared, fault-tolerant, high-speed IP network infrastructure.

Interconnect Services

DIS designs, orders, implements and manages a complete package of vendor services and equipment that connects customer field offices to the nearest DIS node site. Combined with Advanced Transport Services, Interconnect Services provides customers a complete multi-access networking service with DIS acting as a single point of contact.

Internet Services

DIS provides state and local government customers with high speed, secured and unsecured Internet access. This service includes Domain Name services and IP addressing.

InterGovernmental Network (IGN) Services

The IGN is the common, standard Internet protocol-based data network used by DIS customers to connect to state agencies, counties, and cities with known end points, managed gateways, and applications. The IGN is an example of the State of Washington's enterprise architecture principle of commonality.

SGN

The State Government Network (SGN) is the common, standard Internet Protocol-based network to be used by state agencies to connect separate locations within and among those agencies.

Ethernet

A local-area network (LAN) architecture. Ethernet uses a bus or star topology and supports data transfer rates up to 1Gbps. The Ethernet specification served as the basis for the IEEE 802.3 standard, which specifies the physical and lower software layers. Ethernet uses the CSMA/CD access method to handle simultaneous demands. It is one of the most widely implemented LAN standards.

Frame Relay

Frame relay is a data link network protocol designed to transfer data on Wide Area Networks (WANs). Frame relay works over fiber optic or ISDN lines. The protocol offers low latency and to reduce overhead, does not perform any error correction, which is instead handled by other components of the network. Frame relay has traditionally provided a cost-effective way for telecommunications to transmit data over long distances.

DSL

DSL technologies use sophisticated modulation schemes to pack data onto copper wires. They are sometimes referred to as last-mile technologies because they are used only for connections from a telephone switching station to an office, not between switching stations.

Webcasting

Webcasting is a powerful, versatile and innovative new communication channel. Ask us about streaming live video over the Web, or using video-on-demand from your Internet or intranet site.

Basic webcast

You can customize this simple interface with your own colors, logo and titles. The basic webcast works with a single camera to bring a presentation to life or record a message from your Director. Use this basic service if you don't need audience interaction.

Intermediate webcast

Multiple cameras and audience interaction create a sense of being there for your viewers. Our intermediate-level webcast service delivers a sophisticated interface that allows viewers to e-mail questions to a panel or presenters in real time, download course or event materials, and link out to program-related Web sites.

Advanced webcast

Watch real innovation in action as our production team creates customized live and video-on-demand presentations with a full spectrum of interactive features including polling, surveys, moderated chat, and question-and-answer sessions. You control the presentation, or have us operate your slide deck in real time. Advanced webcasting also means fast publication to your Web site.

Video Production Services

Video Production

Our highly-skilled video production team can take your message from concept development through postproduction to create high-impact videotape, CD-ROM, DVD, or streaming media products.

Basic Taping

A smart, cost-effective way to capture and distribute a time-sensitive or limited message. Document a meeting, communicate to staff, or get a dynamic clip for a PowerPoint presentation.

Multi-camera Live Production

Great for a live event or training presentation. We offer a full remote package with multiple cameras that make it possible to cut between speakers, graphics and audience shots.

Full Production

Carefully scripted and shot in multiple locations, a full production video engages the audience with a direct, creative message.

Virtual Private Networks

Commonly referred to as VPN, this security option is useful for employees that need access to their own desktops or a central network from a remote location. VPN is particularly useful for people who must travel frequently for work, or regular tele-workers. It uses the Internet to carry the traffic between the user’s location and the central network. The data moving over the VPN connection is secure because it is encrypted in transit. The speed of data exchange depends on the Internet connection speed available at the user’s location.

Benefits of VPN

*Security:

Using the Internet without encryption makes the data vulnerable to public observation, tampering, or capturing. The DIS VPN Service is safe and reliable because it uses encryption to securely send transmissions. A "tunnel" is configured between the client workstation and the DIS VPN Service gateway so the data is kept private as it travels over the Internet. Additionally, the DIS VPN Service utilizes a secondary authentication method, such as secure token cards or key fobs, to ensure the that the data is transmitted intact and that the person transmitting the
data is who he or she claims to be.

*Affordability:

Customer agencies can recognize major cost savings by using the public Internet to transmit their agency data. The DIS VPN Service is one of the most affordable, safest, and easiest ways to conduct this business securely. Agencies pay only for their connection to the Internet, their local Internet Service Provider (ISP), and the DIS VPN Service monthly fee.

*Connectivity:

Customer agencies are beginning to open up their networks to remote employees, branch offices, business partners and customers by utilizing the DIS VPN Service, a transparent, secure, and private connection across the Internet. The DIS VPN Service uses the speed and pervasiveness of the Internet to connect your agency to business partners,clients and suppliers—whether they are across the street or on the other side of the globe

*Reliability:

Current private data networks may not be able to handle cable modem, digital subscriber line (DSL) or other extensive broadband traffic. High-speed access is vital to your telecommuters who use shared network media such as cable or DSL, and especially critical for those with wireless connections. Today, with extensive redundancy, carrier-compliance, and high-speed switch routers, the DIS VPN Service provides the high reliability and availability to meet users’ requirements for speed.

*Productivity:

The DIS VPN Service improves employee productivity and work flexibility while reducing access costs. The DIS VPN Service is becoming very popular and many agencies are already enjoying the benefits of lower costs and convenience. Expected benefits include decreased IT costs, streamlined business processes, increased employee communication, and improved customer satisfaction.

WACIRC (Washington Computer Incident Response Center)

Since most of Washington’s state government is interconnected through the state government network, the security vulnerabilities or risks accepted by one are ultimately shared by all. Timely, accurate information sharing among agencies aids prevention and recovery from cyber incidents against government networks. WACIRC was created in 2002 to support this reality.

WACIRC also responds to Gov. Gary Locke’s 2001 request to the Information Services Board chair to “take decisive actions to ensure that the security of our technology stays ahead of any potential cyber terrorists,” and “work with the Board, the Department of Information Services and other state agencies to make state computer and telecommunications systems secure.”

With a membership of more than 60 state agencies and local government partners, WACIRC consists of authorized security contacts that share the State Government Network. It serves as the focal point for meeting the following
statewide goals:

* Establish a reliable process for reporting computer security related emergencies
* Coordinate the timely incident response capabilities of state agencies.
* Provide the means for communication of alert and advisory information about potential threats and emerging incidents.
* Promote incident response handling awareness within state government,
* Facilitate timely sharing among state agencies for references to technical security-related information, tools, techniques and methods.
* Foster cooperation among state agencies for the effective prevention, detection, containment, eradication, recovery and follow-up from computer security incidents.
* Provide a forum for learning and sharing information.

Secure File Transfer

Increasingly, large data centers and computing facilities are prohibiting File Transfer Protocol (FTP) transfers of sensitive data over unprotected networks because FTP is unable to deliver encrypted data transfer. FTP can expose not only data but also passwords and filenames.

Secure File Transfer is the solution for the safe transfer of data needed to address required levels of authentication including digital certificates.

Secure File Transfer uses Tumbleweed SecureTransport™ service software designed to work with industry-standard technologies including SSL and HTTPS. Secure File Transfer encrypts all network traffic (data and control), and transfers files using a single TCP/IP port, allowing the transport to use a proxy server.

Client software is available for various computer platforms. Files can be sent securely and received via a Web browser, with a graphical client, or with a command line client. The command line client can be invoked in a script using commands similar to the FTP command set. Data is delivered more reliably than e-mail and at network speed.

Secure File Transfer integrates with the state's security architecture while it safeguards document and data delivery over the Internet. Agencies can use this software solution to cover a wide range of applications at the same time they cut private network costs.

Secure File Transfer — secure data transmission over open networks

Transfer data between any two locations securely with Secure File Transfer. Encryption-based, Secure File Transfer delivers enterprise-grade security, reliability, scalability and performance at competitive pricing. Using the Tumbleweed product, Secure File Transfer is a turnkey, field-tested solution that works in large production environments, and guarantees that data transmissions will remain secure traveling across open networks.

Benefits of using Secure File Transfer

* Transfer data between any two locations securely
* Available to state, local and county governments
* Requires only a Web browser
* Complete automated transfers with a client
* Meets Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requirements for transfer of sensitive data
* Provides userid password protection and encrypted login process
* Offers firewall-protected servers
* Transfer to and from almost any type of computer including the DIS IBM and Unisys mainframes

Secure Gateway Services: Fortress Anonymous

This security service is the best choice when it’s important to protect the source of an online service or Web site, but your agency doesn’t need to know the user’s identity before he or she uses the service. The information accessed is public data and there is no need to verify the identity of the person accessing the data, or your
agency may provide its own user authentication.

Fortress Anonymous protects the identity of where the service is hosted for many services that are broadly available to the public, such as the Unemployment Claims Application, the Division of Child Support New Hire Reporting program and the personalized license plate lookup service.

Fortress Anonymous Functionality:

* Real-time translation of application URL's avoiding outsider recoding of applications to work with Fortress Anonymous.
* Real-time online customer registration and maintenance of anonymous applications.
* A replicated, actively load balanced production environment to support automated registration and setup for public applications.
* Includes development, system test, production, and customer test environments.
* A production system targeted at 24x7 availability via a load-balanced configuration. Technical staff members are on call 24 hours a day to resolve any system problems with the production environment.
* A customer test environment is targeted at 8AM to 5PM workday availability. (Subject to occasional temporary outages due to testing of new applications and troubleshooting customer problems).

Domain Naming Services

DIS plays a role in state domain naming, ensuring that Internet users can easily locate and use state Web sites and digital government services. DIS led a multi-agency group in creating statewide standards for Internet top-level, sub-domain, and host domains within the wa.gov and state.wa.us state domains.

Originally put in place in 1983, the Internet's Domain Name System (DNS) is a database that maps domain and host names to Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. Most Internet services rely on DNS to locate Web sites and successfully deliver e-mail.

Washington State’s Domain and Host Naming Standards are designed to provide:

* users with domain and host names that clearly indicate the legitimacy and authority of government Web applications, services, and information.
* agency domain administrators with clear written naming standards to follow when requesting Internet domain and host names, and
* the DIS state Internet domain administrator with standards from which decisions can be made regarding requests for Internet domain and host names and naming structures

To support state agencies in following the state standards and applying for domain names, DIS offers a fully developed resource Web site with DNS best practices, resources and instructions for requesting domain names.

Customer Network Security Design Review

With this service, DIS provides ongoing opportunities for customers to propose new or modified application-delivery/enablement systems. The range of systems discussed encompasses network components, host-based applications, and distributed application systems.

Through this intensive review process, DIS provides efficient and thorough analysis of both internal and external system modifications. The reviews are scheduled to maximize both the customer’s and our own understanding and decision of the analysis.

The process also allows Customers and DIS to gather information and ask clarifying questions to resolve all issues or questions before going into a system modification.

At the end of a review, DIS prepares a formal analysis response for review by the Customer. This response typically takes from one to two workweeks to research, prepare, and reach agreement with the customer. It then becomes a valuable resource for customers to use in negotiations and discussions with business managers and third parties, as well as other governmental organizations. It also provides as a formal record between DIS and the Customer of the strategic and architectural intent of the project.

InterGovernmental Network (IGN) Services

The IGN is the common, standard Internet protocol-based data network used by DIS customers to connect to state agencies, counties, and cities with known end points, managed gateways, and applications. The IGN is an example of the State of Washington's enterprise architecture principle of commonality.

SGN

The State Government Network (SGN) is the common, standard Internet Protocol-based network to be used by state agencies to connect separate locations within and among those agencies.

Ethernet

A local-area network (LAN) architecture. Ethernet uses a bus or star topology and supports data transfer rates up to 1Gbps. The Ethernet specification served as the basis for the IEEE 802.3 standard, which specifies the physical and lower software layers. Ethernet uses the CSMA/CD access method to handle simultaneous demands. It is one of the most widely implemented LAN standards.

Frame Relay

Frame relay is a data link network protocol designed to transfer data on Wide Area Networks (WANs). Frame relay works over fiber optic or ISDN lines. The protocol offers low latency and to reduce overhead, does not perform any error correction, which is instead handled by other components of the network. Frame relay has traditionally provided a cost-effective way for telecommunications to transmit data over long distances.

DSL

DSL technologies use sophisticated modulation schemes to pack data onto copper wires. They are sometimes referred to as last-mile technologies because they are used only for connections from a telephone switching station to an office, not between switching stations.

Wide Area Network Services

Nearly all of the data transport in state government — including city, county and educational network traffic — is combined onto DIS’ managed Wide Area Network infrastructure. Gathering this much demand in one place means we can competitively acquire large amounts of bandwidth, driving down costs while boosting speed and capacity. Our aim is to help you focus on your core business, so we act as your single point of contact for designing, ordering, implementing and operating networks — dispatching staff around the clock to resolve problems and work with vendors.

The Campus Fiber Network

A high-speed fiber optic backbone service that interconnects voice, video and data communications for customers located in over 30 buildings on the state Capitol Campus in Olympia.

Advanced Transport Services (ATS)

ATS is a reliable and economical wide area network transport service provided over a secure Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) infrastructure. Customer sites are connected to DIS regional nodes sites. The nodes sites are located in Olympia, Lacey, Seattle, Vancouver, Yakima and Spokane. The nodes sites are connected together using high-speed SONET and Ethernet circuits from various service providers. ATS offers customers the security of a private IP network built on a shared, fault-tolerant, high-speed IP network infrastructure.

Interconnect Services

DIS designs, orders, implements and manages a complete package of vendor services and equipment that connects customer field offices to the nearest DIS node site. Combined with Advanced Transport Services, Interconnect Services provides customers a complete multi-access networking service with DIS acting as a single point of
contact.

Internet Services

DIS provides state and local government customers with high speed, secured and unsecured Internet access. This service includes Domain Name services and IP addressing.

Enabled Voice Mail – send your SIMON voice mail to your e-mail inbox

Enabled Voice Mail (EVM), a service offering from DIS Local Telephone Services, increases the functionality of SIMON voice mail for campus-based users by integrating voice mail with e-mail.

Benefits

EVM is a cost-effective option for a variety of work environments such as telecommuting, critical information storage and help desks.

*Allows voice mail messages to be delivered to up to three user-defined e-mail addresses.
*Allows the user to define up to three additional IP addressable devices, such as pagers and cell phones, to be notified when a new voice mail message has been received.
*Allows SIMON voice mail messages to be treated as e-mail and forwarded or archived as required.
*SIMON voice mail messages are still accessible on SIMON using the telephone network.
EVM functionality
*EVM Notify – Sends an e-mail to pagers or cellular phones indicating that a new SIMON voice mail message has been received.
*EVM Delivery – Delivers SIMON voice mail messages in the form of a .wav file attachment to an e-mail. The e-mail is then sent to user-specified e-mail addresses.

System requirements

To fully utilize EVM, the user’s system must:

*Allow Active X content through its firewalls and e-mail filters to let users tailor EVM features.
*Use PCs within the state government network to delete messages and extinguish message waiting lights on the telephone set.
*Use PCs equipped for sound.

Private Branch Exchange (PBX)

Private Branch Exchanges (PBXs) are telephone switches that are installed on a customer's premise to provide telephone service. PBXs are normally only installed when:

1.A site either has a requirement for a minimum of 100 lines or PBX functionality is required to meet critical business requirements that can not be met by central office services.

2.The state either owns or has a long-term lease in place for the facility in which the PBX will be installed. DIS has installed and currently manages PBX systems for state agencies at over 75 different locations. DIS supports

Two different PBX architectures:

1.The Avaya Definity PBX architecture: The installed base of Avaya PBXs includes Definity G3R PBXs and associated EPNs and survivable remotes and Definity G3I PBXs.

2.The Nortel Meridian PBX architecture: The installed base of Nortel PBXs includes Meridian Option 11 & Option 61 PBXs.

PBX features

As with central office service, PBX service includes free calling within the local exchange area, access to the SCAN long distance network, access to the local operator and emergency services. It also includes an abbreviated dialing plan (4, or 5 digits) that can be used to dial between any two phones that are connected to the PBX and in
many instances also to a Centrex that is connected to a PBX.

However PBXs have many other available features and service is usually tailored to meet an agency’s specific requirements. Listed below is an explanation of some of the more prevalent features on systems that DIS currently manages:

Telephone instruments

A variety of digital telephones that offer displays, speakers, voice mail message waiting lights and programmable keys.

Dedicated voice mail service

In most instances a dedicated voice mail system is installed to provide integrated voice mail service for the PBX system. DIS installs and manages Octel Voice Mail Systems as its standard voice mail platform. These systems are networked with, and have the same functionality and classes of service as the state's SIMON voice messaging system.

Automated Call Distribution (ACD)

ACD functionality evenly distributes incoming calls among a pool of agents and allows managers to obtain both real time and historical data to analyze and adapt to call volumes. Both the Nortel and Avaya architectures provide optional ACD software for their PBX platforms. Some DIS ACD offerings allow agents to be located at remote sites by using IP connections for call control. In many instances enhanced call management systems (CMS) are being used to provide detailed real time and historical statistical data.

Interactive Voice Response (IVR)

IVR systems provide callers the ability to query a computer database or other data source using a telephone. Charges for IVR applications normally include a one-time fee for the development of custom applications and a monthly recurring charge for port usage on an IVR system. Currently DIS only offers IVR services to its Avaya PBX
customers.

PBX system contracts

DIS does not have any Master Contracts that allow agencies to purchase PBX systems directly from vendors.

Customer Support

DIS assigns a service representative to each of its customers. The customer service representative will process any orders for new service, moves, additions or changes. The DIS customer service representative will also provide the customer information on products and assist in the resolution of any problems that may be encountered.

DIS also assigns a system manager for each of its PBXs. The system manager is an experienced project manager who can assist the customer in planning substantial upgrades, implementing complex features or resolving issues that cannot be resolved by the customer service representative.

Customer charges

All rates for PBX service are tailored and monthly line charges for service vary by the number of lines and specific functionality that is required. Typical charges that a customer can expect to pay for PBX service include:

1.Wiring:

Building wiring systems may need to be upgraded or replaced when installing a PBX system.

2.Terminal equipment:

The customer is responsible for paying for telephones or terminal equipment used with the PBX system.

3.SCAN/toll charges:

Charges the customer incurs for SCAN or toll calls are the customer’s responsibility.

4.Monthly line charge:

The customer is responsible for the payment of a monthly line charge for each PBX line.

Local Telephone Services

DIS manages a statewide network that delivers modern voice telephone service to public organizations at economical rates. Local telephone service includes unlimited free calling within the local exchange area, access to operator and emergency services (E911), and access to the state's SCAN long distance network. Also available are other features and functionality that customers can select to meet their specific requirements. Local telephone service is provided in two ways:

Central Office Services (Centrex)
DIS Managed Private Branch Exchange Service (PBX)

Centrex Service

Centrex is a generic term for central office-based telephone services. Centrex provides an alternative to private branch exchange (PBX) service or flat business service. DIS Centrex service includes free calling within the local exchange area, access to the SCAN long distance network, and access to the local operator and emergency services. DIS Centrex offerings also include an abbreviated dialing plan (3, 4, or 5 digits) that can be used to dial between any two phones that are in Centrex. Access to either SIMON, the State’s Simon voice messaging system, or a vendor-specific voice mail solution is also typically available at reduced rates. Centrex lines may be terminated on either individual phones or electronic key telephone systems (EKTS). If used with an EKTS, the intelligence in the EKTS may be used to provide additional functionality.

DIS has established contracts for the provisioning of Centrex services with the following vendors. The brand specific name for the vendor's Centrex product is listed in parentheses.

* Qwest (Centrex Prime)
* Verizon (CentraNet)

Features:

DIS Centrex service includes several feature packages. Current Centrex service offerings and rates Review a current list of DIS Centrex offerings and rates by city and central office. DIS can establish additional offerings in central office serving areas where 20 or more lines can be aggregated.

Customer Charges:

DIS provides local telephone service customers with a simplified invoice with a single entry for each unit of service that contains its description and associated cost. DIS is responsible for vendor billing issues and reconciliation. Typical charges that a customer will pay for Centrex service include:

1.Installation Charges:
Standard vendor charges for the installation of new service or changes to existing service are the customer's responsibility.

2.Terminal Equipment:

The customer is responsible for paying for telephones or terminal equipment such as EKTS used with the Centrex service and for the ongoing maintenance and replacement of this equipment.

3.SCAN/Toll Charges:

Charges for SCAN or toll calls are the customer’s responsibility

4.Monthly Line Charge:

The customer is responsible for the payment of a monthly line charge for each Centrex line. The monthly line charge includes all cost components including tax.

Cost comparisons:

DIS will help public organizations analyze their current local telephone service costs to determine if DIS service is a good alternative. When comparing costs DIS customers should note that DIS rates include all cost components including tax It is not unusual for competitive quotes from other service providers to omit various federal and state mandated fees and taxes that are “understood in the industry”. These costs, which frequently add several dollars to the cost of a line, may include charges for the End User Line Charge (EUCL), Common Access Line Charge (CALC), Network Access Registers (NARS), Primary Interstate Carrier (PIC), Local Number Portability (LNP), feature charges, state and local 911 charges, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Washington State Telephone Assistance Program (WTAP), and state and local taxes.

Electronic Key Telephone Systems (EKTS)

DIS has Master Contracts in place for EKTS that can be used with Centrex service. These contracts meet the state requirements for competition and are available for use by customers eligible for DIS services to purchase EKTS systems.

Customer support

DIS assigns a service representative to each of its customers. The customer service representative will process any orders for new service, moves, additions or changes and coordinate them with the responsible vendor. The DIS customer service representative will also provide the customer information on products and assist in the resolution of any problems that may be encountered with the vendor.

SCAN long distance and SCAN Plus calling cards

DIS provides long distance services for state and local government agencies statewide through two services: SCAN and the SCAN Plus calling card. SCAN is for long distance calls from your workplace. Use the SCAN Plus calling card when you need to make long distance calls away from the office. Both SCAN and SCAN Plus long distance services offer customized detail billing of all long distance calls with special indicators for long duration calls and directory assistance. When you purchase local telephone services through DIS, you automatically have access to cost-effective SCAN to meet your agency's long distance business requirements. If you manage your own local telephone services, we'll help you analyze your current long distance costs to determine if SCAN is a good long distance alternative.

In addition to high-quality long distance service, DIS offers call management so you can customize your service to meet individual user needs. We routinely monitor service performance to make sure your access remains at the defined service levels. When you change or upgrade your equipment, we coordinate related SCAN modifications to reduce impact on service. And our help desk is open 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week to take care of problems as they happen.

Print Services: Traditional and Virtual

DIS offers a wide variety of print devices including high-speed laser printers, single cut-sheet printers and various impact printers.

Make the most of mainframe outputs with Virtual Print Services (VPS), the mainframe-based printing tool that streamlines information throughput, and eliminates the need to wait overnight for printouts. VPS works with CICS and Enterprise Output Solutions (EOS).

Features

* Remote printing for small applications (report output).
* Integration of multiple reports such as AFRS reports and HRISD Payroll data
* Output setting control — landscape/portrait/duplex — at remote sites
* Eliminates lost or misdirected printouts
* Greater control of confidential data — VPS eliminates the manual transfer of printed reports through Campus Mail.

CD-ROM Output

Get fast, accurate access to the data you need is easy with the CD-ROM alternative to paper and microfiche reports. Make the move to CD-Rom output, and you can pack 640 megabytes of information or 200,000 pages onto each CD, and eliminate the need for an onsite reader. It may be easier than you think — all the operating software to read the data is built into each CD. And any PC with a CD reader running Windows 3.1 or higher can take advantage of CD-ROM output services.

Features:

* Sort function
* Users can print directly from CD or cut and paste data into other documents
* Password protection available for individual reports or the entire CD
* CD-Rom data storage meets legal requirements because documents are considered original and cannot be modified.
* Operating software to read data is part of each CD
* Digital distribution costs less than circulating paper
* Output can be printed or faxed locally
* Ideal for mainframe output
* Simple technical requirements: CD reader and Windows 3.1 or higher

Network Attached Storage (NAS)

Enjoy all the benefits of a dedicated file server without all the headaches of owning one. DIS introduces its Network Attached Storage (NAS) service, utilizing EMC’s Celerra, an enterprise class NAS system, backed by the EMC Symmetrix storage array.

NAS Features

* Both Common Internet File System (CIFS) and Network File System (NFS) protocols are supported
* Backed by the DIS Symmetrix storage arrays
* Secure, 24-hour service, located in the DIS Data Center

NAS Benefits

* Peace of mind at a reasonable cost
* Supports Windows and Unix operating systems, as well as any others that support CIFS or NFS
* Flexible growth potential without a lengthy acquisition process
* Sharable over multiple servers and applications

Server Backup Services

Employ a comprehensive software system to backup almost any type of server over the TCP/IP network - unattended - with the Server Backup Services (SBS) from the Department of Information Services. SBS allows the immediate restoration of a file, all files on a disk, or an entire server, and enables you to backup and recover data around-the-clock, 365 days a year.

Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM), the software used for this service, is an enterprise-wide solution, which integrates automated backup and restore, archive and retrieval, hierarchical storage management and disaster recovery. Storage Manager supports approximately 39 client platforms and the following server platforms: HP-UX, IBM AIX, Windows NT, Windows 2000, sun Solaris and IBM MVS-OS-390. TSM uses its own Relational Database System to keep track of all storage management functions.

Take advantage of reliable backup services, and protect against both planned and unforeseen events with SBS.

Server Backup Service Features

* Backup a file, disk, or server automatically
* Graphical user interface provides ease of use
* Onsite and offsite data storage for customer selected server data
* Data is available during disaster recovery situations
* Robust error recovery
* File security
* No tapes or listings to manage
* More time for agency system administrators to do other work
* Notification lets you know when there’s a backup interruption, so you can fix it before it becomes a problem
* Secure, 24-hour service, located in the DIS Data Center

Unisys Mainframe Platform

The DIS Unisys platform provides the following services:

Online transactional system

Realtime enables transactions entered at remote terminals to be processed concurrently by customer written application programs. DIS supports a complement of seven application groups designed to help build and maintain the various customer applications.

Interactive computing

Demand services allow Unisys customers to develop data processing applications in an interactive mode. Various products may be used for creating, testing, and modifying computer programs, and to create, store, retrieve, and change both data and Job Control Language streams.

Database systems

DIS provides software and customer support for UDS, DMS and RDMS, including:

* Software installation, testing, implementation and maintenance
* Software problem diagnosis and correction
* Performance monitoring and tuning
* Answering questions about specific computing services
* Assisting customer in resolving database problems
* Coordinating the implementation of new or improved software with customers
* Assisting in or performing backups to ensure data integrity and allow for disaster recovery

Storage

Batch services

Batch jobs can be submitted from Remote Job Entry (RJE) stations, online terminals, over the counter, or be automatically submitted via job scheduling software.

System 390 (S/390) Mainframe Platform

The DIS S/390 platform operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The platform includes three mainframe processors running the IBM z/OS operating system. Mainframe operations are housed in the secure DIS data center, where we provide the following services to more than 100 state agencies:

Online processing (CICS)

DIS offers Customer Information Control System (CICS), an IBM systems software that enables transactions entered from remote terminals to be processed concurrently by application programs.

To submit a request to add, delete, or change CICS entries, please fill out the CICS Entry form and send it to Servicedesk@dis.wa.gov

To submit a request to add, delete, or change CICS VSAM file entries, please fill out the CICS VSAM Entry form and send it to Servicedesk@dis.wa.gov

Batch job processing

Batch jobs can be submitted from Remote Job Entry (RJE) stations, online terminals, over the counter, or be automatically submitted via job scheduling software.

Database systems

DIS provides software and customer support for ADABAS, DB2 and IMS, including:

* Software installation, testing, implementation and maintenance
* Software problem diagnosis and correction
* Performance monitoring and tuning
* Answering questions about specific computing services
* Assisting customer in resolving database problems
* Coordinating the implementation of new or improved software with customers
* Assisting in or performing backups to ensure data integrity and allow for disaster recovery

Storage

Interactive Computing

IBM's Time Share Option (TSO) is available at DIS. This service allows the interactive development of data processing applications. TSO may be used to create, test and modify computer programs and to create, store, retrieve and change data.

Customer Technical Support

DIS' technical support staff provides friendly and knowledgeable support for many batch and Time Share Option (TSO) products available on the S/390 mainframe.

Enterprise Active Directory

A cooperative, progressive approach to the enterprise

The Enterprise Active Directory marks an exciting new era for the IT enterprise in Washington state government.

Every day, state agencies use hundreds of common applications, software, services and resources. Until now, the time lost and the human and financial resources spent duplicating and reinventing applications was an expected norm. Recent, tough budgetary constraints have demanded a paradigm shift. Today, the technology leadership in the state has turned its attention toward shared access to applications, software, services and resources and the implementation of best practices. The enterprise is moving toward a standardized environment, schema, application programming interfaces (APIs) and an authentication system that is omnipresent and secure.

The Washington State Enterprise Active Directory Forest, a Microsoft Windows strategic approach, provides a common, shared environment that makes unprecedented levels of cooperation possible and, ultimately, reduces costs and optimizes resources.

Host on-Demand

Securely access the DIS S/390 mainframe from any location using the software product Host On-Demand (HOD). All you need is a Web browser and an Internet Service Provider (ISP) to establish a secure, encrypted connection to the mainframe. This access occurs either via the Internet through the State of Washington’s firewalls or from within the State Government Network (SGN). HOD runs as a Java applet in a Web browser to provide access to the mainframe over TCP/IP. This access is routed through TPX.

Supported client operating systems

Host On-Demand may be installed on the following operating systems:

* Windows 2000 (Professional)
* Windows XP Professional and Home Edition (32-bit version)
* Windows Server 2003 (Enterprise, Standard and Web)
* Windows Vista Business, Enterprise and Ultimate Editions
* Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PC IPV6
* AIX 5L 5.2 and 5.3
* OS/2 Warp 4
* Sun Solaris 8 and 9
* HP-UX 11.00 and 11i
* Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS 2.1 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3.0 and 4.0, 9.0 Personal and Professional
* SuSE Linux 8.2 and 9.0 and SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 8.0 and 9.0
* TurboLinux 8.0 Workstation and Server, TurboLinux 10 Desktop
* Windows Terminal Services for Windows 2000 and Windows 2003
* Citrix Metaframe 1.8 for Windows Terminal Server 4.0 and 1.8 for Windows 2000 Server
* Citrix Metaframe XP Presentation Server (Versions S, A and E) for Windows Feature Release V2 and V3
* Mac OS X 10.2.1, 10.3 and 10.4 (compatible when accessing HOD from the State Government Network or SecureAccess Washington)

Supported browsers

Host On-Demand works using the following browsers and Java 2 plug-ins:

* Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 and 6.0 with Microsoft Virtual Machine level 3802 or higher
* Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5, 6.0 and 7.0 with a Java 2 plug-in installed
* Safari 1.0 and 2.0 (Mac OS X) with JRE 1.4.x, 1.5.0 and 1.6.0 (compatible when accessing HOD from the State Government Network or SecureAccess Washington)
* Netscape Navigator 7.0, 7.1, 7.2 and 8.0 (HOD does not support Netscape on Mac OS X)
* Netscape Navigator (OS/2) 4.61 with integrated Java Virtual Machine
* IBM Web Browser for OS/2 V2.01
* Firefox 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 (HOD does not support Firefox on Mac OS X with SecureAccess Washington)
* Sun Java 2 plug-in 1.5.0 (builds 1.5.0_09 through 1.5.0_13) and 1.6.0
* Sun Java 2 plug-in 1.4.0, 1.4.1 and 1.4.2 (compatible when accessing HOD from the State Government Network or SecureAccess Washington)

Pricing

There is no additional cost for using HOD software itself, or accessing HOD through SecureAccess Washington. There is a cost associated with a digital certificate if you use Transact Washington.

Access from within the SGN

To use HOD from within the SGN and for more information, Contact Customer Service: 360-753-2454.

Access from outside the SGN

Access to the SGN is secured either through the use of SecureAccess Washington or Transact Washington. Your agency must be authenticated for HOD access via one of these security services. As a HOD customer, you will need to determine which security service option is right for your agency. Your agency should designate an administrator who will grant HOD access to other users within your department either through SecureAccess Washington or Transact Washington security services.

Before proceeding any further, please check with your agency to determine if an administrator has already been established. If so, they can grant access to HOD. If your agency does not have an administrator, you may register as one.

To register as an administrator using SecureAccess Washington, complete the Application for SAW/HOD Access and forward it to DIS Service Desk.

To register as an HOD administrator using Transact Washington, you must be a Transact Washington Application Owner and complete an Application Registration form specifying hodv1.dis.wa.gov for the DNS name and 80 as the port when registering your application.

Enterprise Output Solutions (EOS)

Reduce your reliance on print distribution for computer-generated output with Enterprise Output Solution (EOS) from the Department of Information Services. EOS delivers confidentiality and security in an efficient and comprehensive enterprise document management software system. EOS allows full control over the capture, storage and distribution of reports from the time of creation until they are no longer needed.

Control distribution, archive and retrieval of computer-generated reports while you eliminate high printing and distribution costs. Online viewing through a PC or Web browser delivers a big bonus for end-users who have immediate access to the information they need.

Features

* Report list filtering/culling and ‘find’
* Direct positioning within a report
* Simple or compound find/search with Boolean support
* ‘Holding’ lines and/or columns
* Report reformatting
* Font control within report or report directory
* Full cross report/application index or ‘Table of Contents’ (TOC) search capabilities

Benefits

* Ensures that recipients only have access to the data they are authorized to view
* Each agency EOS coordinator has full control over who can access their reports
* Reduces resource costs by eliminating duplication of reports for multiple end-users
* Automatically archives time sensitive reports
* Each agency controls the restoration of archived reports
* Reduction in costs due to elimination of physical printing and distribution
* Elimination of delivery delays

License fees

Enterprise Output Solutions (EOS) Thin Client License costs are per license. The first year license fee is $110.77 per license.Annual Maintenance renewal costs, per license, are effective on July 1st. Annual Maintenance costs are $16.62 per license.

Monetizing free webhosting

The majority of the hosting companies use free hosting to introduce their services, and as an entry point to their more expensive offerings. Generally they recoup their costs in one of two ways:

* Advertising - Selling online advertising on the customer sites is generally considered a fair trade - the reasoning is that high traffic sites are more expensive to host, but the additional traffic allows for additional ad impressions therefore covering the cost. For the web master, it can be a good trade if the advertising is of good quality and non-competitive. This is one of the main reasons that businesses do not use free hosting for their website. The majority of free hosting companies use this method.

* Referrals - Using a simple form of viral marketing, these providers rely on the users to spread the offer. The ratio of free to paid accounts is known, and by having each free user refer a number of friends, the hosting provider is able to get enough paid accounts to cover the cost.

* Resell Hosting - This is where someone starts up a hosting company, attracts lots of visitors, then sells the hosting company to someone else once it can no longer support itself. Once sold, this individual uses the money to start up multiple hosting ventures and sells each in turn.

Some hosting companies are using hybrid approaches that mix these tactics.

Methods of giving out web hosting

A few methods of giving out Free Webhosting to people by Webhosts

Instant Activation

Due to the risks of illegal, inappropriate, and abusive website, hosts with instant activation usually give very little storage space and monthly bandwidth. Other restrictions will likely also be in effect. The webhosts usually either require the users' web pages to display their banner ads, textlink ads, or popups; or else the users' files to be uploaded through a web-based file manager that display ads to the user uploading files.

Hosts with instant activation are often abused, such as link spamming.


Post for Hosting

Some free hosts require posting in a forum. Forum-based free hosting requires users to either reach a certain amount of posts before getting a free hosting account, or be an active contributor in the forum. Forum-based free hosting often work on a system of points where posts give points to a user and can be used as credits toward getting a hosting account or more resources. Typically, the forum where users have to post contains advertising as the hosts way of making a profit.

Forum applications

This method is popular, as the hosts can decide which applications to deny and allow. This is common when a popular forum has free hosting as an add-on service, rather than the other way around.

File hosting on webhosts

Most free web hosts discourage using their services for file or image hosting only, with no web page, since advertising is displayed on the web page. Because of this, hotlinking is usually disallowed on free hosts. Some free webhosts will also disallow files over a certain size (for example, 5 MB). However, there are free file hosting services which allow large files as well as hotlinking.

Co-branding and resellers

Some services offer co-branding services. These let you brand fixed plans with your own company. Other services, offer WHM or panel reselling. This allows the client to develop his or her own web hosting plans and business.

free web hosting service

A free web hosting service is a web hosting service that is free, usually advertisement-supported. Free web hosts will usually provide a subdomain (yoursite.example.com) or a directory (www.example.com/~yourname). In contrast, paid web hosts will usually provide a second-level domain along with the hosting (www.yourname.com). Many free hosts do allow use of separately-purchased domains. Rarely, a free host may also operate as a domain name registrar.

Features and limitations

Only a few free web hosts offer the basic package for free. Enhanced packages (with more features) are usually available for a cost. This allows users to try the service for an initial trial (see how it performs compared to other hosts), and then upgrade when (and if) needed.

Free hosting may have the following limitations:

* Limitation on the size of each hosted file
* Very small bandwidth per month compared to paid hosting
* Disabling on hotlinking of files
* File type restrictions (for example MP3, MPEG, ZIP etc.)
* Compulsory placement of the Webhosts' Banner or Popup ads into all web pages
* No provided uptime guarantee
* No allowance of custom URLS, such as "http://www.domain.com". It has to be "http://www.provider.com/domain" or "http://domain.provider.com/".
* No allowance of pornographic nature.

Some free host may provide these extra features:

* A web based control panel
* Free email accounts for the domain or subdomain hosted
* File transfer via FTP
* Scripting languages: PHP, ASP, Perl etc.
* Relational databases such as MySQL
* Scheduled processes, known as cronjobs
* Other features such as guestbooks
* Forums and community resources not typical of paid hosts
* Reward systems which provide extra free products and services
* Have no data limitations offering unlimited space'

Development Project Management System (DPMS) for P&D Department

Introduction

It is a PSDP Project approved by the DDWP on 06/03/2002 at a total cost of Rs.4.607 million under the umbrella scheme tilted “Extension of IT in NWFP
Objectives of the Project

Have a comprehensive planning and monitoring software, covering all the phases of project lifecycle starting from PC-1 up to PC-V.

Deploy the developed software in all of the 24 district planning offices of NWFP and in the provincial P&D Department.

Link all the 24 district planning offices with provincial headquarter electronically for information exchange.

Arrange user level training of the officers / officials of Provincial P&D Department and all the 24 district P&D offices.

Convert the old FoxPro Database into the new DPMS System

A scheme for digitalization of Teachers Recruitment and Staff Promotion in Schools & Literacy (S&L) Department, NWFP was approved by DDWP on 5/10/2005 for an amount of Rs.5.350 Million.

Project Duration

11 months

Estimated Cost

Capital Cost = Rs.5.350 Million.

Web-Hosting Services’ Setup for GoNWFP

E-Government is one of the major initiatives under the present IT policy and Action Plan. To pursue this initiative, the Government of Pakistan is undertaking a large number of projects in different areas. One of the main objectives of the IT Action Plan is to deliver public services efficiently and effectively with out any delays. IT is the key technology that will be used to deliver these and more services. IT as a vehicle of automation is to be used to transform the quality of services to the public.

The Department of ST&IT Govt: of NWFP has taken the initiative to present government operations online to make them more efficient and less
time consuming.

Though the project would involve some one time financial investment, but it would prove much more economical method of transmitting information and data to the general public. A computer server room will be established in IT Directorate Peshawar. The physical infrastructure being developed by the NWFP Government as below will be supportive of this initiative; it will integrate in the overall framework of I.T. development and augment the functionality to an optimum level:

The Information Technology Directorate will set up its own server room for hosting emails and information for the Government Departments in NWFP. It tends to provide web hosting facility to all the Government websites. This server room will act as a hub for all the Government Departments to carry on their business.

Objectives of the Project

Provide the Government Departments the facility to make their presence online without paying any charges.

Introduce the email facility for the official correspondence between the departments.

Provide the free access to the Government institutes and university students for real time online application testing and to provide them a facility for customizable setup regarding the need of the application.

Offer the students internships in the server room in order to offer them practical hands on experience.

Enterprise Output Manager (EOM)

Deliver print and other electronic files from a variety of computers throughout a distributed network, with Enterprise Output Manager (EOM), from the Department of Information Services. EOM is a Microsoft Windows-based application that accepts print files from various hosts (S/390, Unisys, Unix, Windows etc.), and distributes print data to the destination of your choice (a PC, file server, mainframe, e-mail system, printer, Web site, microfiche, PDF file or user program). All manipulation of the data (if desired) happens at the EOM server and does not interfere with host system application processing. EOM's approach is to distribute then print, rather than print and distribute.

Features

* Print to virtually any printer ranging from entry-level matrix printers to high-speed production laser printers
* Format and enhance your enterprise output by adding electronic forms, dynamic font changes and text positioning, barcodes or conditionally select items for printing
* Route data automatically to e-mail, fax, file server, Web servers, microfiche, user application programs and printers
* View data online before printing
* Index and archive data for later retrieval

Benefits

* Significantly reduce the cost of printed output
* Save on storage costs
* Use electronic forms and reduce the need for pre-printed business papers
* Preview information to avoid errors
* Lower application maintenance costs
* Centralize output management
* Lower hardware cost
* Reduce mailing costs

CTC Bridge

Get secure access to the Unisys mainframe via the Internet. This service offering from DIS will allow customers who use DIS mainframe services to sign on anywhere from a PC with Internet access.

Using CTCBridge, an enhanced emulation software product, is less expensive than buying individual copies of software and maintaining the latest upgrades. Installation is done at the server level - there is no need to install or update desktop clients. Users simply use the URL with a valid userid and the product automatically downloads the latest version if there has been a change.

Using industry standard 128-bit SSL encryption and DIS’ SecureAccess Washington, CTCBridge provides IP Matching and standard user/password user authentication.

Benefits

* Provides cost effective access to mainframe applications from remote sites
* Emulates terminals
* Provides userid password protection
* Configures terminal options based on user needs
* Offers online help
* Provides file transfer capabilities
* Offers choice of green screen or graphical views
* Easy installation and support
* Offers the ability to run multiple terminal types
* Provides several printing options
* Installation of the product is done at the server level — no need to install or update client desktops

Supported client operating systems

CTCBridge may be installed on the following operating systems:

* Windows XP Professional and Home Edition (32-bit version)
* Windows 2000 (Professional)
* Using Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 or 5.1, 5.5, 6.0 with Java Virtual Machine level 3802 or higher if using

Microsoft’s VM

* Other browsers may be used with your own support

Access from within the State Government Network (SGN)

CTCBridge will be accessible from within the SGN. For more information, contact DIS Unisys Technical Support at 360-902-3049.

Access from outside the SGN

Access to the SGN will be secured through the use of SecureAccess Washington. Once CTCBridge has been made available, your agency must be authenticated for CTCBridge access through the SecureAccess Washington services. Your agency should designate an administrator who will grant access to other users within your department.

tRelational

tRelational, from Treehouse Software, is an ADABAS modeling, mapping and data analysis tool. It analyzes ADABAS file structures, data and usage to aid in improving design and performance of ADABAS databases. tRelational also assists with modeling and mapping of ADABAS data into a relational format for use with a relational database management system (RDBMS). tRelational supports the Treehouse Software Data Propagation System (DPS) by generating all necessary parameters and mappings required to propagate ADABAS data and produces data definition language (DDL) to generate RDBMS schema.

To make the tasks of modeling and mapping even simpler, tRelationalPC (free with tRelational) is a windows-based graphical interface.

Features

* Compares generated PREDICT objects and physical ADABAS files to find discrepancies
* Analyzes ADABAS data to determine the usage and usefulness of ADABAS structures
* Generates the DDL statements to create the desired physical database structures in the RDBMS

Benefits

* Automates the procedures for analyzing the ADABAS design and usage to facilitate improvements in design and efficiency
* Automates the process of creating DPS code to extract ADABAS data and transform the data so that it can be loaded into an RDBMS

Data Propagation System (DPS)

Data Propagation System (DPS), from Treehouse Software, extracts and transforms ADABAS data for transfer to many popular relational database management systems (RDBMS) including MS-SQL-Server, ORACLE, Sybase, DB2 and Informix. Its highly efficient engine requires no direct ADABAS access — instead it uses the ADABAS backup (ADASAV) files to initially populate RDBMS tables and protection log (PLOG) files to keep the RDBMS tables synchronized with their related ADABAS files.

Features

* Uses ADABAS backup (ADASAV) and protection log (PLOG) files as data sources to avoid impacting the online transaction system.
* Transforms data fields from ADABAS format to RDBMS format
* Normalizes ADABAS data to meet the requirements of RDBMS systems

Benefits

* Allows the continued use of applications based on ADABAS while replicating the data into an RDBMS systems for business analysis or other data warehousing purposes.
* Provides near real-time synchronization of data between ADABAS and an RDBMS

Entire X Broker

Integrate all classes of applications across a variety of platforms with EntireX Broker from the Department of Information Services (DIS). EntireX Broker is a message-oriented middleware (MOM) offering, which allows users of Windows systems to integrate their applications with Unix systems and mainframes, enables use of existing mainframe applications, Web access to mainframe data and platform-to-platform interconnectivity (UNIX, AIX, NT, OS/390 and others).

EntireX is available from DIS, and is operating in a production environment at the departments of Labor & Industries, Social and Health Services, Health and Employment Security. These agency applications are primarily using Active Server Pages (ASP) and Visual Basic for client applications and Natural for mainframe server and backend applications. The EntireX toolset also includes DCOM wrappering and Java wrappering capabilities.

Features

* S/390, NT, Windows platforms can access EntireX software
* Enables Web access to mainframe data
* Facilitates platform-to-platform interconnectivity
* Enables use of existing mainframe applications, depending on how they are written

Benefits

* Easy to learn and use in a ADABAS/Natural environment
* Day-to-day administration requires minimal effort.
* Agencies currently using EntireX Broker are sharing their technologies and experiences.
* EntireX Broker has an interface to MQSeries, which is not currently installed or used.

Websphere MQ

Websphere MQ (formerly MQSeries) is a highly versatile software solution for application-to-application communications services regardless of where your applications or data reside. Whether on a single server, separate servers of the same type or separate servers of different architecture types, Websphere MQ facilitates communications between applications by sending and receiving message data. Applications then use the information in these messages to interact with Web browsers, business logic and databases.

Websphere MQ is a class of middleware software known as Message-Oriented Middleware (MOM). For many reasons, including market share, openness and strong third party vendor support, Websphere MQ is the de facto industry standard in message queuing technologies.

Features

* Add-on products facilitate many additional services such as message brokering (system integration, workflow), certificate security, monitoring, statistical reporting, analysis, wireless, and more.
* Open, flexible platform
* Strong customer support
* Application programming interface (API) supports a number of programming languages, including Visual Basic, NATURAL, COBOL, and C

Benefits

* Websphere MQ allows programmers to concentrate on application logic instead of message delivery issues
* The command set is consistent across all platforms, making coding easy on programmers
* Users can keep up with emerging technologies.
* Websphere MQ is the de facto industry standard for MOM
* It uses a small, standard API across all platforms
* Standard programming languages are supported: NATURAL, Visual Basic, COBOL, C
* In server-to-server configurations, assured, one-time delivery is available.
* Open architecture
* 300+ vendors actively develop supporting products
* Bridge products are available to integrate MQSeries with Microsoft's MSMQ and BizTalk

iWay Adapters

iWay adapters from iWay Software provide universal connectivity for integrating agency resources. iWay’s adapters

can provide access to agency resources residing on:

* a single server;
* separate servers using a single operating system; or
* separate servers using different operating systems.

The adapters can provide access to data sources such as ADABAS, DMS or SQL Server; transaction processors such as CICS or NATURAL; application systems such as SAP or People Soft; and many others. These adapters provide an easy-to-use tool that builds upon existing application development skills.

DIS has selected a small number of these adapters targeting some of our more widely used data sources: ADABAS, VSAM and sequential files on OS/390, and DMS files on Unisys. These adapters may be used directly on the OS/390 and Unisys mainframes, or indirectly from DIS’ Windows Integration server.

If these adapters don’t meet your needs, others are available. iWay Software has 250 adapters available for data and application access. Check out iWay's web site for a list of all of their adapters.

Features

* Enables Web access to mainframe data
* Enables access to CICS or NATURAL applications
* Adapters are available for OS/390, Unisys, UNIX and Windows platforms
* Facilitates platform-to-platform interconnectivity
* SQL access to non-SQL resources

Benefits

* Easy to learn and use
* Day-to-day administration requires minimal effort
* Users can keep up with emerging technologies
* Open architecture

Integration Services

Streamlining state government technology

Washington state agencies are increasingly asked to work as one entity to provide seamless services to citizens. However, government technology systems were originally designed for the needs of a single agency, making it difficult for agencies to share information with each other, and decreasing the level of service to citizens.

Washington State's Integration Competency Center (ICC) was created by the Information Services Board (ISB) to provide efficient, secure, and cost effective integration of information systems among multiple state agencies. The ICC provides a shared technology infrastructure that allows agency systems to interact according to industry best practices and the state's guidelines for systems integration.

Benefits

The ICC provides agencies with technical consultations, design, education and training, and technical and implementation support.

Features

* iWay Adapters
* Websphere MQ
* EntireX Broker
* Secure File Transfer

Unisys Mainframe Platform

The DIS Unisys platform provides the following services:

Online transactional system

Realtime enables transactions entered at remote terminals to be processed concurrently by customer written application programs. DIS supports a complement of seven application groups designed to help build and maintain the various customer applications.

Interactive computing

Demand services allow Unisys customers to develop data processing applications in an interactive mode. Various products may be used for creating, testing, and modifying computer programs, and to create, store, retrieve, and change both data and Job Control Language streams.

Database systems

DIS provides software and customer support for UDS, DMS and RDMS, including:

* Software installation, testing, implementation and maintenance
* Software problem diagnosis and correction
* Performance monitoring and tuning
* Answering questions about specific computing services
* Assisting customer in resolving database problems
* Coordinating the implementation of new or improved software with customers
* Assisting in or performing backups to ensure data integrity and allow for disaster recovery

Storage

Batch services

Batch jobs can be submitted from Remote Job Entry (RJE) stations, online terminals, over the counter, or be automatically submitted via job scheduling software.

System 390 (S/390) Mainframe Platform

The DIS S/390 platform operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The platform includes three mainframe processors running the IBM z/OS operating system. Mainframe operations are housed in the secure DIS data center, where we provide the following services to more than 100 state agencies:

Online processing (CICS)

DIS offers Customer Information Control System (CICS), an IBM systems software that enables transactions entered from remote terminals to be processed concurrently by application programs.

To submit a request to add, delete, or change CICS entries, please fill out the CICS Entry form and send it to Servicedesk@dis.wa.gov

To submit a request to add, delete, or change CICS VSAM file entries, please fill out the CICS VSAM Entry form and send it to Servicedesk@dis.wa.gov

Batch job processing

Batch jobs can be submitted from Remote Job Entry (RJE) stations, online terminals, over the counter, or be automatically submitted via job scheduling software.

Database systems

DIS provides software and customer support for ADABAS, DB2 and IMS, including:

* Software installation, testing, implementation and maintenance
* Software problem diagnosis and correction
* Performance monitoring and tuning
* Answering questions about specific computing services
* Assisting customer in resolving database problems
* Coordinating the implementation of new or improved software with customers
* Assisting in or performing backups to ensure data integrity and allow for disaster recovery

Storage

Interactive Computing

IBM's Time Share Option (TSO) is available at DIS. This service allows the interactive development of data processing applications. TSO may be used to create, test and modify computer programs and to create, store, retrieve and change data.

Customer Technical Support

DIS' technical support staff provides friendly and knowledgeable support for many batch and Time Share Option (TSO) products available on the S/390 mainframe.

Tumbleweed combines the right features with first-rate customer service

DIS began evaluating secure data transport solutions in 2001, settling on the Tumbleweed product because of its long list of valuable features and the high customer satisfaction rating this product received during the pilot.

Consistently, Secure File Transfer met these core requirements:

* Allows secure file transfer in both directions between the Internet and state networks
* File transfers can be done either with a browser or with a special client from Tumbleweed
* Secure transmission of file transfers
* Speed, accuracy and overall data transport security
* Encrypted communication channel for data transfers, i.e. data cannot be understood if intercepted during transmission
* Able to work with existing state infrastructure and mainframes
* Delivering high levels of authentication to meet HIPAA and other standards
* Browser support for ease of use on less complex projects
* Win32 API availability for extremely complex applications
* 128bit SSL security with all manipulations of data during the transfer process

Secure File Transfer

Secure File Transfer — secure data transmission over open networks

Transfer data between any two locations securely with Secure File Transfer. Encryption-based, Secure File Transfer delivers enterprise-grade security, reliability, scalability and performance at competitive pricing. Using the Tumbleweed product, Secure File Transfer is a turnkey, field-tested solution that works in large production environments, and guarantees that data transmissions will remain secure traveling across open networks.

Benefits of using Secure File Transfer

* Transfer data between any two locations securely
* Available to state, local and county governments
* Requires only a Web browser
* Complete automated transfers with a client
* Meets Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requirements for transfer of sensitive data
* Provides userid password protection and encrypted login process
* Offers firewall-protected servers
* Transfer to and from almost any type of computer including the DIS IBM and Unisys mainframes

Learn more about Secure File Transfer

Increasingly, large data centers and computing facilities are prohibiting File Transfer Protocol (FTP) transfers of sensitive data over unprotected networks because FTP is unable to deliver encrypted data transfer. FTP can expose not only data but also passwords and filenames.

Secure File Transfer is the solution for the safe transfer of data needed to address required levels of authentication including digital certificates.

Secure File Transfer uses Tumbleweed SecureTransport™ service software designed to work with industry-standard technologies including SSL and HTTPS. Secure File Transfer encrypts all network traffic (data and control), and transfers files using a single TCP/IP port, allowing the transport to use a proxy server.

Client software is available for various computer platforms. Files can be sent securely and received via a Web browser, with a graphical client, or with a command line client. The command line client can be invoked in a script using commands similar to the FTP command set. Data is delivered more reliably than e-mail and at
network speed.

Secure File Transfer integrates with the state's security architecture while it safeguards document and data delivery over the Internet. Agencies can use this software solution to cover a wide range of applications at the same time they cut private network costs.

Virtual Server Hosting

Server Virtualization adds a layer of software (a “hypervisor”) between the hardware and the operating system. The hypervisor allows several operating systems, and related applications, to run on the same hardware. The DIS virtual servers feature VMware.

Without virtualization, 95% of Windows servers use less than 20% of their processor cpacity. Allowing one physical server to host multiple virtual machines delivers significant cost and time savings.

DIS Server Virtualization also offers new, efficient ways of managing, moving and maintaining applications through VMware “clusters.” For example:

* Provision new servers in hours rather than weeks
* Easily migrate to new hardware
* Take “snapshot” backups that allow return to an earlier configuration, in case upgrades turn out to be problematic
* Integrate with other DIS common services
* Achieve additional cost savings

DIS Virtual Server Hosting uses the VMware hypervisor to set up individual, virtual central processor units (CPUs), thereby increasing processing capacity in each server. The virtual VMware Center monitors each virtual server, adjusting and balancing workloads as needed. Balanced workloads can then function dynamically and without disruption.

Live Communications Service

Find and Instantly Communicate with Project Partners!

DIS Live Communications Service now offers instant messaging for agencies on the state government network (SGN) and using the Enterprise Active Directory. Help improve office efficiency with this easy to manage application.

The security enhanced Live Communications Service will:

* Find and communicate instantly with people on the network to increase productivity by speeding the decision-making process
* Collaborate with partners using the whiteboard function
* Allow you to utilize a real-time communications environment with presence awareness and instant messaging
* Provide peer to peer video conferencing capabilities
* Integrate with desktop and line of business applications seamlessly

Live Communications Service also integrates well with SharePoint!

UK government website design

Introduction: Usability issues for government websites

1. This document answers the question: “What is a good government website from a usability perspective?”
2. It assumes that most of the technical problems (including issues around website functionality) of getting online and making sure the website is quickly available have been solved. If you are providing online transactions, these should already be reliable and easily used. The website should already fit within your communicationstrategy and take its place among other channels, both digital and traditional. The website must, by law, be accessible to the disabled and must meet all other legal obligations. It should join up and work with the rest of the UK Online websites and initiatives. You will have considered how to make use of central infrastructure projects such as the Government Gateway.
3. The Office of the e-Envoy provides guidelines and frameworks to help achieve these aims. However, it is quite possible to have an accessible, legal and reliable website that meets government guidelines but that is still not a good website from a usability perspective. Underpinning this is an increasing focus on human centred design issues, supported by the standards ISO12407 and ISO TR 18529.
4. This Framework pulls together advice from a wide range of web publishers, usability experts, web designers, government web managers and academics to clarify what relevant usability and design criteria should be used when planning a government website or judging how good it is. This advice also draws on the current standards for human centred design.
5. This document is concerned exclusively with websites. It does not cover best practice for DiTV, WAP or SMS, though a good website will work within a strategy that includes these channels. The Quality Framework for UK Government Website Design is not concerned with special tasks associated with running database-driven or
content-managed sites. The document focuses on users and what they see.
6. "Government websites…must raise citizen confidence by enabling a good user experience. Therefore usability must be ensured."

Source: Usability Guidelines, Catriona Campbell and Brian Shackel

7. What is a good government website from a usability perspective? It is a website that meets the goals of stakeholders while meeting the needs of users in the performance of their tasks. It goes beyond minimum adherence to best practice and policy. In this case, ‘stakeholders’ is taken to mean those people who have control over the website’s budget and purpose.
8. “Many poorly designed and unusable systems exist which users find difficult to learn and complicated to operate. These systems are likely to be under-used, misused or fall into disuse with frustrated users maintaining their current working methods. The outcome is costly for the organisation using the system.”

Source: Methods to Support Human-Centred Design, Martin Maguire

9. The aim of this document is to provide Government web managers with awareness of issues that need to be addressed in incorporating users’ needs into the design process without government web managers having to be usability experts or having to interpret the ISO standard for web use.
10. Further, the Framework will provide web managers with:
A process for briefing and working with web designers.
Research-based recommendations for processes that are likely to result in more effective content and increased user satisfaction. A process for applying Human Centred Design (HCD) to online transactions.

Human Centred Design (HCD)

11. Human-Centred Design is an approach that will ensure the aims of the site can be fulfilled for real users. There is no one kind of user and most websites will have more than one target audience. Web managers and stakeholders such as Ministers will need to decide what audiences they most need to attract and which will serve to meet their aims on the site.
12. A good government website can be defined by compliance with the following points:

It has clear input from stakeholders about what the site’s aims and audience are.
In order to establish this, preliminary research should be carried out into what users need.
It will conduct tests frequently to determine if:
- the site is meeting users’ needs (especially for usability and accessibility) on an ongoing basis; and
- the aims of the stakeholders have been achieved.
The site will then be continually adapted to meet users’ needs.
The site will be accessible and usable.
The website will effectively achieve its aims.
13. Although each government website will have its own individual goals, this Framework will be relevant to all but to varying degrees of application - depending on the objective and complexity of the website. In addition, sites designed specifically to add value to campaigns (hereafter referred to as ’campaign sites’) will differ slightly in the application of human centred design. Where this is the case, attention has been drawn to the differences.
14. Campaign sites have clearly defined audiences that are driven to the site by offline media. Thus, tighter design specifications might be more effective, eg, designs aiming specifically to attract a youth audience may call for the use of animations. Furthermore, they are likely to use slogans and logos and adhere to brand qualities which designs for mainstream government sites may not.

Quality as a process

15. When quality is viewed as a process, two key points are ensured. First is that stakeholders’ aims are clear. Second is that users’ needs are met and their use of the site fulfils their aims.
16. Quality as process results in the continual improvement of government websites.
17. The main body of this Framework draws on the current standards for human centred design: ISO 13407 - Human-centred design processes for interactive systems and ISO TR 18529 – Ergonomics of human system interaction (see Appendix C for details). In particular it outlines the relevance of these standards in their application to public sector websites.
18. Section 2 of this document, Human Centred Design, contains a step-by-step guide to HCD for web managers to follow in order to achieve their goals.

Imagemaps: Core guidance - if used in website

Checklist

* Always use a client-side map
* The ‘usemap’ attribute must be added to your imagemap graphic
* An ‘alt’ attribute and value reflecting its contents must be added to each button
* The text alternative to the imagemap should be visible beside or underneath the imagemap graphic
* Any text within the imagemap graphic must be clearly legible against its background colour

Summary

Navigation to pages can be achieved by using one large graphic.

Areas within this graphic can then be designated as live by using the ‘map’ tag and x and y co-ordinates.

These imagemaps can be appealing on a web page but are next to useless if the user is visually impaired. This does not mean they shouldn’t be used, it just means alternatives should be offered.

Implementation

However visually appealing this method of navigation may look; it should only be used sparingly in the website.

There are basically two forms of imagemap, both of which have names that describe how they work, server-side and client-side. The client-side imagemap is the more flexible and therefore the version that must be used.

Server-side imagemaps

Server-side imagemaps are the older variety that will only work if the browser is connected to the Internet at the time the hot spot is selected. Each click on the image will result in a transaction between the user’s browser and the
content provider’s website. This is relatively inflexible and has been overtaken by client-side imagemaps.

Client-side imagemapes

These were developed by Netscape in 1996 and do not require any interaction between the page and the originator’s website once the page has been loaded to the user’s browser. They can be used offline because all of the co-ordinates
are contained within the HTML page.

HTML authors should be aware that some early browsers do not support client-side imagemaps and may wish to include server-side imagemaps as well to cater for them. Browsers that can use client-side imagemaps will use them in preference to server-side ones if both are provided.

When an imagemap is used, a text alternative should be supplied alongside the graphic in question. This text must be formatted using Cascading Style Sheets and must be clearly legible against the page’s background colour.

It is essential that each designated area within the client-side imagemap be given an ‘alt’ attribute with a value that describes the link. This is useful to all users. There is an accessibility requirement to provide a text alternative.

Graphic navigation: Core guidance - if used in website

Checklist

* Graphic buttons must reflect the textual navigation that appears at the top of each page
* An ‘alt’ attribute and value reflecting its contents must be added to each button
* The value of the ‘alt’ attribute should be no more than 100 characters
* The text within the graphic button must be clearly legible against its background colour
* Each graphic button must use the same ‘accesskey’ values as those assigned within the top navigation area

Summary

Navigation to pages can be achieved by using pictorial buttons saved in either GIF or JPEG format.

It should be remembered that PNG format is not yet widely supported by web browsers.

The effect of graphic buttons can be appealing when designing a web page but can be an annoying hindrance to users if implemented inappropriately.

Implementation

Any page on a website can benefit from appropriately used graphics. They can be used to illustrate a point, label a document as a department’s property or give a more visually rich navigation environment.

When navigation of the website uses graphical buttons the site must always be as easy to use when these graphics cannot be viewed. There must always be a descriptive value to the ‘alt’ attribute given to every navigationally important graphic.

Important:

Turn off the automatic graphics download in your browser to give an indication of what your page is like when you cannot see the graphic buttons. Is it still easily usable?

When graphic buttons are used, specific values to both the ‘width’ and ‘height’ attributes within the image tag must be set. This helps the browser to render the page on screen with the minimum number of screen redraws.

It is important that graphic navigation buttons are not too large, so that the largest area possible is given over to displaying the document whilst also ensuring that the graphic file sizes are as small as possible.

When graphic buttons are relatively small on screen and a small text font is used, it is important that this text is large enough to be legible for everyone and not anti-aliased.

Implementation of Web page navigation

To ensure that the most important element of the page is loaded first and is accessible to all, it is imperative that all UK public sector websites offer text navigation, containing each of the important links, at the very top of each
page.

The text elements within this top navigation bar should be separated by spare + vertical bar (|) character + space which is not part of the link. This avoids the problem with the access technology reading all the links as one.

This text navigation should also use the hotkey capabilities referred to in the WAI guidelines (see section 2.4). This allows authors to assign keyboard actions to hyperlinks. As well as being a useful tool for getting around a website, its primary role is to aid users with motor disabilities who find controlling a pointing device difficult.

This keyboard access is part of the HTML 4 recommendation for all browsers, although this facility can only be used by the Microsoft Internet Explorer browser at present.

Important:

It is essential that once the order of the text navigation is decided on, it is adhered to throughout each page on the website. This allows users to quickly become accustomed to your website structure.

The text elements of the top navigation bar are best formatted using a CSS, ensuring that the text is legible against the background colour and easily displayed by browsers that are unable to interpret CSS.

A sighted person will scan a page and ignore repeating items. A user with a visual impairment cannot do this and they have to tab through each link every time. To assist these users, the first link on the top text navigation bar should offer a jump to bypass the repeating elements. This link should be an internal link to the beginning of the document text itself.

Web page navigation

Navigation around a web page can be achieved in a number of ways. Text, graphic buttons, imagemaps and keyboard shortcuts can all be used in any number of combinations.

Each of these tools may be implemented within a website as long as measures are put in place to ensure that every user can gain access to every page.

Use each checklist to ensure that your web pages comply with these guidelines

Checklist and summary: Core guidance

Checklist

* An HTML text navigation bar is best placed at the top of every page
* The ‘accesskey’ attribute should be used for each link
* Text should be formatted by Cascading Style Sheets
* Text must be legible without the use of Cascading Style Sheets
* Text must be easily distinguishable against a clear background colour
* A ‘skip navigation’ option should be the first element in the list
* There must be no dead-end links

Summary

Not all users choose to view websites using graphics, and many are unable, because of impaired vision, to use images at all. These users may be using small-screen browsers that only display text, or may be visually impaired users using access technology.

It is for this reason that text is the simplest and most powerful tool available to construct a navigational aid for users.

HTML frames - Frameset

This HTML tag establishes a frames environment. It specifies the dimensions of each of the frames to be set-up with either percentage or fixed pixel values. A frameset element may specify that the users’ display window is to be divided up either row-wise or column-wise. Frameset elements may be nested in order to divide the display window both row- and column-wise.

The attributes used with this element are all marked up in the standard HTML way (ie, attribute=”value”, with each attribute and value pair separated by one or more spaces).

rows=”30%,20%,*”

In this example three frame windows are established in percentages of the viewable screen area. The first window is given 30 per cent, the second 20 per cent and the third set to the asterisk character which means it is to fill whatever is left of the display window after the specified frame sizes have been set up.

cols=”200,100,*”

In this example three frame windows are established in columns of fixed pixel values. The first window is given 200 pixels, the second 100. The size of the third column is set to the asterisk character, which specifies that it is to fill whatever is left of the display window after the specified frame sizes have been set up.

HTML frames - Implementation

Not all browsers can display frames, some because they were released before were invented and others, such as screen readers and digital TV, because they just do not work with them. For this reason, a noframes version of the website must always be provided for users.

The first document of the website, (the one usually called index.htm or default.htm) establishes the frames environment. This page is not actually displayed to the user: it just sets the frame structure used by the rest of the website. It is this page that places the website’s title in the browser’s window title bar and divides the screen up into the frames with in which subsequent HTML pages are displayed.

The following is a basic introduction to the HTML attributes that should always be used in a frames environment.

HTML frames - Background information

Netscape introduced frames to the web in 1995 and they have since become part of the HTML standard maintained by W3C.

They give the author the ability to break up a single browser window into multiple sections, referred to as ‘frames’, each displaying a different HTML page. Each of these pages can be manipulated separately by the user, and hyperlinks in each separate frame can target another frame.

The development of frames made it easier for Web managers to incorporate a corporate look and feel into websites. On a standard webpage an organisation’s logos and navigational areas will usually be displayed at the very top. This is fine until a user has to scroll down a page to retrieve some information. When the page scrolls down, the logo and navigational area will disappear from the browser screen.

view screenshots showing the use of frames

Using frames, the designer can ensure that both of these elements remain visible, when the user scrolls down the page displayed in the main content frame.

The main content pages within the website need only contain the substantive data because all the organisation and navigation information is contained within the non-scrolling frame(s). The following illustration shows how a departmental name and logo will always be displayed within a browser, even when the page has been scrolled downwards:

Using frames to build websites in this way has been popular. It has eliminated the need to repeat section within pages and helped browsers avoid repetitive rendering of graphics. However, there are potential problems with this approach:

* The frames would only be set up if the user came through the homepage. Users entering through search facilities or links from other websites would not get the frames set up and therefore may not be able to navigate further through the website.
* The time taken for a browser to display the initial set-up of a website using frames would be longer because there would be multiple HTML files to fetch from the server and render rather than just one.
* Bookmarking pages of interest is more difficult for users as only the page establishing the frames would normally be recorded.
* Printing documents is more complex, as the browser would not necessarily know which frame or frames are to be printed.
* Individual page titles are lost as because only the title element of the page that sets up the frameset is displayed.
* Badly managed links can result in frames being rendered within parent frames.
* Differing user monitor sizes can result in large proportions of the screen being used by the frames containing logos, navigation and whatever, leaving very little screen space for the substantive data.

Many of these issues, such as bookmarking and printing, have become easier with the development of more advanced browsers. Use of the right-hand mouse button allows particular pages to be specified for both functions.

Scripting techniques can also be used to improve the usability of websites that use frames. For example, it is possible to have a script in each page that detects whether it is being displayed outside of the intended frames set-up and, if so, re-establishes the required frameset. This technique can be used to resolve the problem of user’s bookmarking or following links to individual HTML pages that would otherwise be displayed out of the frames context.

HTML frames - Checklist

* Any website constructed using frames must include a noframes alternative
* Any website constructed using frames must be usable on a browser that cannot render frames
* Each frame must be named
* Frames should not be multiply nested within frames
* Do not rely on the frames environment for website navigation
* Navigational elements should be included on each individual web document
* All links outside the website should be loaded into the top-level window: avoid displaying other websites framed by yours

Summary

The use of frames in a website is a source of some contention. Some Web managers have been under the impression that they should not be used at all. Others have employed them without proper consideration for their implication for their whole user community.Frames are part of the HTML4.01 specification and the WAI, which means that they can be used by most browsers and users.

If frames are implemented correctly they can be a useful technique for designing the user interface. If used incorrectly, they can make a website incomprehensible and very difficult to navigate around.

HTML frames

HTML frames allow the web author to split the browsing window into a number of different sub-windows, each of which can be used to display the content of a separate HTML file.

HTML frames need to be used carefully if they are to enhance, rather than detract from, users’ experience of a website.

Web Collaboration Conferencing

The Department of Information Services (DIS) now offers a new web collaboration conferencing service that allows groups to hold conferences without traveling, an important service at a time when budget constraints inhibit travel.

Our state-of-the-art technology combines voice conferencing and web collaboration into a single user-friendly package. It allows attendees to view materials from their desktop while participating in a voice conference.

Benefits

Web collaboration gives a conference moderator or presenter a powerful set of tools to produce effective presentations.

DIS customers have the option of self-scheduling conferences or holding conferences that are fully scheduled and managed by the state operators. Self-scheduling is accomplished via a subscribed, secure web portal, while scheduling by state operators is organized through a simple phone call.

Features

* A slideshow screen for PowerPoint and JPEG presentations
* A whiteboard for free-form drawing, annotation of documents and slides (complete with highlighting tools)
* The ability to share opened applications and/or the full desktop
* A chat session option for private sidebar conversations
* Web collaboration provides the moderator with a visual list of attendees along with the ability to mute or remove any or all of the attendees
* The Mute All function (very useful during lectures)
* Dialing *0 during conference connects to state operator for immediate assistance.

HTML tables

Table formatting is used in the layout of websites for a variety of reasons. Displaying data in tabular format is only one use, and designers often use it to physically structure the layout of a page.

To ensure that pages remain usable for all, it is important to use tables correctly and with restraint.

Use each checklist to ensure that your web pages comply with these guidelines

Checklist and summary: Core guidance

Checklist

* All table markup elements must have closing tags
* All tables should contain summary information
* Background colours within the table must not detract from the legibility of the contents
* Tables should be used sparingly
* Tabular information must always be clearly labelled and easy to follow
* All tabular information should be displayed in a standard way throughout the website
* Consider expressing table and cell widths in percentage terms

Summary

Tables are easy to construct in HTML, but they are also very easy to get wrong. A single mistake in the construction of a table can cause the entire page to fail to render in some web browsers although it may still render as intended in others.

Another aspect to consider is that what may look great in a graphical web browser may be completely unintelligible to a screen reader used by a section of the community.

Implementation

Although tables were initially added to the HTML standard to allow the formatting of regular tabular information, HTML authors quickly found that they could also be used to control the layout of HTML pages.

This ability to use tables to place images and textual information in specific parts of a page is widely employed on the majority of websites and has certainly made web presentation more aesthetically pleasing.

Any HTML mark up that is allowed in the body element can also be contained within in a table cell. This means that tables can be built within tables that are built within tables and so on. These ‘nested tables’ can add flexibility to a website design - for example, they can be used to build a single graphic from multiple images.

The downside of all this is that many users with visual disabilities and special purpose web browsers can have difficulty in separating the information from the layout.

Some special purpose browsers will only read web pages from left to right. The best way to illustrate this is to take a ruler, hold it to the screen displaying the page and draw it down the page one line at a time. If the page displays information in a number of columns it can be very confusing when read aloud.An HTML author needs to answer two questions when using tables:

* Is a table required to format this information?
* Will the consequence of the table be that certain users cannot easily access the information?

Cascading Style Sheet language

The descriptive syntax used in CSS has its own language and construction rules, which are different from those of HTML.

In the past, if a Web manager wished to format a line of text in red, make it larger, specify a particular font, embolden and italicise it, the following HTML commands would have to be used on each occasion:

This is very inefficient, particularly if many instances of this formatting are required throughout the document or the website.

In this example the author has reused a required HTML element and applied a class attribute and value to it. This class refers to a line in the CSS section. The browser recognises that the line needs to be styled a particular way and displays the results. In this way all objects can be styled.

If this element of the CSS file is examined it will become obvious how this instruction is formatted correctly:

.redtext { color: #ff0000; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.5em; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic }

Firstly the class is listed, which in this case is ‘redtext’. A full point must precede this listing, as this is the class identifier.

Each class has a series of CSS formatting rules, which are contained within braces (curly brackets) { }.

Each rule has an attribute and a value. The separation of these is slightly different to that used in HTML. An author would normally use the equals symbol and quotation marks to separate the attribute and value in HTML. In CSS specifications, a colon is all that is used. Each set of attribute(s) and value(s) is separated by a semicolon.

In the example above, the ‘font-family’ attribute has a multiple value: it states not only two values for the font family name (Arial and Helvetica) but also the generic typeface name (sans-serif). This is to ensure that if a user’s browser does not contain the required fonts it will still display the information in a style that is acceptable.

The font-size can be specified in a number of different ways. Pixel height, point value and percentage size can all be used. Pixel and point are particularly inflexible and cannot be changed by a user (known as hard coded). It is recommend that text formatting is stated either by ‘ems’ or by using the x-small, small, medium, large or larger technique.

An author should always make the size of text as legible as possible. It is not sufficient to rely on users to change their font size as some will not bother. Start with a font size equivalent to 10 or 12 pixels, which will render acceptably on most web browsers.

Many browsers are still being used that have no understanding of CSS. Although information on an HTML page should always be formatted using this method it is important to ensure that you website is still legible if this facility is disabled.

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) give the author of an HTML page the ability to separate the styling elements from the content of a document. They are of fundamental importance to the usability of a page for everyone. They are simple to implement and extremely powerful. Their use should be controlled centrally by the organisation’s Web manager and should set the formatting standards for the entire organisation.

Use each checklist to ensure that your web pages comply with these guidelines

Core guidance

Checklist

* All documents using CSS for formatting must be usable when CSS is disabled
* Management of CSS formatting should be centralised using an external CSS file
* Care should be taken when using CSS absolute and relative positioning to ensure that content remains presented in the correct order in browsers that do not implement CSS positioning
* All Cascading Style Sheets should be validated by W3C

Summary

Although Cascading Style Sheets use a slightly different language to that of HTML they are quite easy to master. When appropriate, web managers should ensure that the organisation’s website is consistently formatted using this technique.


Introduction

Until a few years ago all HTML documents were a mixture of content plus structural and styling markup elements. When viewed the source code looked complicated and cluttered. This clutter could make it difficult to actually see the data amongst all of the mark up information. These elements not only got in the way when the information was viewed and edited but could also cause many usability issues for non-graphical browsers and screen readers.

With the advent of Cascading Style Sheets the Web manager now has the ability to separate styling instructions from the entire page content and structure.

Any element within an HTML page can be referred to as an object - a word, an image or a style of formatting. Using CSS the Web manager can name these objects and assign a particular style to them. These styling elements can be for the formatting of a page or the font style of all text, but they can also be used to format an individual line or word.

There are three main ways in which CSS can be implemented in an HTML document:

* in-line styles;
* style sheet at the top of each document; or
* an external style file.

Each of these works in exactly the same way and all use the same syntax.

Simple introduction to HTML

HTML is a markup language for expressing the structure of documents published on the World Wide Web. The display arrangements were originally under the control of the browsers’ implicit built-in style sheet. Subsequent versions of HTML started incorporating display instructions into the markup languages but these have now been taken back out of HTML and more appropriately put into Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). What started off as a very simple, efficient markup language has now become a rich, multimedia publishing language.

However, the fundamentals of HTML are still very simple and can be understood by anyone after an hour or two. It is also this simplicity which has led to the incorrectly marked-up HTML documents that are found on many websites.

Below is a simple HTML page. The document structure shows a collection of markup tags each contained within angle brackets (< >). Anything inside these brackets is an instruction to the browser that reads and interprets them, but does not display them on screen.

HTML markup tags are usually combined in pairs, for example that indicate the start and end of an HTML element, the document title element in the case of this example. Note, however, that some elements do not enclose text and do not have a closing counterpart tag.

An HTML page should always contain correctly nested html, head, title and body elements. The start and end of each element is indicated in the markup by the opening and closing tags. The example below shows the structure that should be used in all pages. The opening html tag is the first to appear and is consequently the last to be closed. Everything included within this element is recognised as HTML.

In this example, the head element serves only to contain the title element. The content of the title element will be displayed in the Web browser’s window title bar.

The opening tag is next. Whatever is contained within the body element will appear in the user’s web browser window. If any of these fundamental elements are placed in the wrong order, or not used at all, an author cannot guarantee that the page will render correctly.

In this example, the word ‘hello’ has been emboldened by using the strong markup element. This is another example of an element that has opening and closing tags. The element is closed by repeating the opening tag name prefaced with a forward slash, ie Hello.

Web server performance techonologies and tools

Active Server Pages (ASP)

ASP is a scripting platform and is a part of Microsoft’s Internet Information Server. In particular, it provides interfaces to other Microsoft products and technologies such as SQL Server, COM and .NET. For the scripting language, ASP uses VBScript (which is similar to Microsoft Visual Basic) or JScript (which is Microsoft’s server-side version of JavaScript).
A third-party implementation, Sun’s ChiliSoft ASP, will run ASP on a range of non-Microsoft platforms and servers.

CGI

CGI (Common Gateway Interface) is a basic standard for web servers to interact with programmed content. All web servers support CGI.

CGI programs can be written in any programming language. The most common being Perl. CGIs are usually less flexible than scripted web pages, but are easier to install and run.

ColdFusion

Cold Fusion is a complete authoring system made by Macromedia (formerly Allaire). Scripting instructions are usually embedded in pages using CFML, with the help of the Cold Fusion Studio programming environment.

It has a wide range of third party libraries available and runs on a variety of operating systems.

Java Server Pages (JSP) / J2EE

Java Server Pages are written using Sun’s cross-platform programming language, Java. However, they work on a very similar basis to other scripting languages, and can be served by any one of a number of ‘Servlet containers’, the most popular of which is the free Open Source Tomcat server (now part of the Apache Foundation).

J2EE is a more ambitious specification for building entire “web applications.” It is used in very large enterprise-scale projects. JBoss, is an open source J2EE server.

Lotus Notes and Domino

Lotus uses the Domino name to refer to a set of Notes server applications specifically designed for web usage. Notes itself refers to the overall product.

A Domino server can effectively be configured to serve an Intranet-style GroupWare solution implemented in Notes, on the Internet.

It is a solution for projects where integration with an existing Notes network is required.

Mediasurface

MediaSurface is another example of a product that enables the development of complete dynamically published websites and the collateral content management systems. It also uses the Oracle RDBMS as the repository for the website data. It has its own built-in web server.

Perl

Perl is one of the first all-purpose scripting languages. It excels at fast text processing, and is widely used. An important feature is the enormous range of third party libraries available. It can be used to create dynamic pages both using CGI scripts, or special server modules like mod_perl for Apache.

PHP Hypertext Pre-processor

PHP is also a scripting system. It runs on most web servers and operating system platforms. It is Open Source software, and therefore free.Its main features are speed at runtime and fast development speed. It has a large library of third party components, and can interface with COM, CORBA, MySQL, etc.

Vignette Storyserver

Vignette Story server is an example of a product that enables the development of complete dynamically published websites and the collateral content management systems. It uses a version of the TCL scripting language and the Oracle RDBMS as the repository for the website data.

Zope

Zope serves pages written using the cross-platform scripting language, Python. It can use its internal database or external databases for storing content. It also comes with a number of basic content management needs provided for ‘out of the box’.

Web server performance and resource considerations

Since each dynamically published Web page is created on- the-fly, the web server must work harder to produce results. This will typically have a performance overhead that may be substantial.

Most dynamic publishing implementation systems try to deal with this problem in different ways. Often a reverse-proxy server such as Squid can address performance problems. Other solutions involve the periodic bulk generation of static HTML pages from the dynamic publishing system that can then be served to the Internet as if the site were a traditional static one. However, the latter approach will reduce the extent to which the website can deliver personalised responses to user requests. It is entirely possible to employ different server resource conservation techniques on different sections of a single website.

These issues should be considered when developing the specification for a dynamic publishing website project.

Content Management simplifies Web publishing

What is Content Management?

TeamSite, by Interwoven delivers enterprise web page management you can put to work right away.

Organize your web sites to more effectively carry out your agency’s mission.

* Consolidate numerous Web properties into a single managed environment to drive down operational expenses.
* Streamline your content development by reusing your materials.
* Empower your web master to manage your content for faster changes with greater accuracy.
* Web pages can be written by anyone in your agency; content contributions can be controlled through permissions.
* Maintain web governance standards by archiving auditable copies of all websites, while improving the transparency of your organizational processes.
* Effectively manage system security, fault tolerance and disaster recovery.

Bolster workforce productivity and accelerate time-to-value.

TeamSite content management system from DIS enables agencies to manage content across all internally and externally facing Web-based applications, such as enterprise portals, intranets, self-service applications, public-facing Web Sites, and extranets. Your agency can reduce your web site development and maintenance costs and the time-to-Web risk associated with all online initiatives.

* Ensure your agency’s brand consistency across all Web and application touch points.
* Empower content owners to manage their own content for faster changes with less process overhead.
* Reuse content across business applications and sites to drive consistency and lower publishing costs.
* Web content creation and publishing processes can be set up to suit your unique agency.
* Version control assures consistent content integrity.
* Share resources and collaborate with other agencies using TeamSite.
* Customer and technical support available 24x7.

Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)

Newspapers and television are now starting to carry adverts for the new WAP-enabled mobile phones. The companies' promises are a little exaggerated, and the ability to surf the web effectively on the phone is still some way off.

The WAP application strategy involves taking existing services that are at present supplied through a fixed-line environment and tailoring them to be user friendly and useful in a mobile wireless environment.

The WAP specifications define a set of protocols for applications, transactions, security and transport. They also define a Wireless Application Environment (WAE), which enables operators and manufacturers to develop applications such as microbrowsers, email and web-to-mobile messaging facilities.

If a device is said to be WAP capable it means that it has a microbrowser loaded into it which allows it to communicate, understand and handle all entities specified in the WML 1.1 DTD.

Many of the protocols are based around existing Internet standards such as HTTP but have been optimised for the unique constraints of the wireless environment, such as low bandwidth and connection instability.

Although this is a collection of new standards, these are all based on the use of XML. Every document and all output are in XML. In fact, there is very little within WAP that is new. The diagram below illustrates how a mobile device requests and receives data using this service.

A ‘GET’ request from a user is transmitted as a URL from the mobile phone to a WAP gateway, from where it is sent via standard HTTP to the Internet content provider. The request is handled by the server, which then transmits the requested data back across the same network.

Standard XHTML data could not be sent to mobile phones because of the size and complexity of content in the pages, the requirement to continually link to other pages within the server and the small screen size of the device. So another mark up language was needed to serve this environment.

WAP documents are written in Wireless Mark up Language (WML), which is a subset of XML. A WML document is known as a deck, and a single interaction by a user agent (ie the microbrowser) is called a card. A deck may consist of several cards. This simple architecture means that WAP sessions can cope with intermittent coverage and loss of server connection by downloading multiple screens to the client in one transaction.

The reduced processing power of the mobile devices concerned has the result that decks cannot contain too much information. This limitation means that multiple cards will have to be split into multiple decks to complete a complicated transaction.

Below is a link to a very simple example of a WML deck as defined by everything contained within the tag being turned on and off. It actually looks very similar to an HTML page, using similar tags, but it is actually an XML document. As stated in the earlier section, there is an XML statement at the top of the document, and there is a DTD statement. This deck containing three cards allows the user to select different options and then return to the front page.

The user can navigate from the front page (card 1), by either selecting the email address or phone number option. The secondary screens (defined by card 2 and card 3) give simple information and a link back to the first screen (card 1 again).

This example has only a limited amount of client interaction as there are only three cards in the deck and the only navigation is backwards and forwards.

As well as this basic display there are many features which allow client transactions to be completed. Variables within WML provide a mechanism for carrying selected data from one card to another. WMLScript, a slimmed-down version JavaScript, can deal with more complex elements.

It is obvious from this section that a standard HTML website will not deliver data across this medium. Further information on the structuring of documents, server architecture and delivery protocols can be seen at the following website.

Personal digital assistants (PDAs)

This is really a generic name given to small computing devices that offer more facilities than a mobile phone. Many different varieties are available on the market.

Some run very simple operating systems which are designed to allow the user to store memos, read and write emails, keep phone details and have calculator functions. The Palm Pilot and current Psion ranges are good examples of this type of product. The new versions of the Psion range now contain the Opera web browser application.

The other more versatile, and therefore more expensive, option is the miniature PC which runs the Microsoft CE operating system. These machines have very few differences to the average desktop PC. They have lower levels of RAM and smaller hard disks but run many of the common software programs used by Microsoft operating systems. They have versions of Microsoft Word, Outlook and Internet Explorer as well as many others and can therefore handle CSS, cookies, etc.

When hooked up to a modem these pocket PCs can browse the web as well as any other PC. They have a smaller viewable area and limited capabilities to run plug-ins, but other than that they are very good at what they do.

There are no special considerations for these machines as they either have no online capabilities, they use a CE version of the Microsoft Internet Explore, which deals with data in the same way as any other browser, or they use the WAP communication protocol. This is covered in the next section.

Information on best practice issues with PDAs

Other digital communication media

In the past few years a number of other methods have been made available to users to view information on websites. Different devices, both mobile and static in nature, are beginning to transform the Internet.

Information can be accessed from home via a computer or games console. The same data can be retrieved on the move using mobile phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs).

In an ideal world, one website could be multi-purposed to allow all of these channels to see the same thing, but unfortunately, this may not always be possible.

This section is aimed at familiarising the web manager with the available media and how best to deal with them. See section 5.2 Your website on television.

Use each checklist to ensure that your web pages comply with these guidelines.

Checklist and summary

Checklist

* Test all pages on as many platforms as possible
* Make content displayable within 544 horizontal pixels
* Avoid the use of small text
* Only use supported code and file formats
* Keep page titles short and descriptive
* Write concise text
* Avoid complex tables and frames
* Only use simple forms
* Do not use server-side or irregular imagemaps
* All pages should be smaller than 250kb

Summary

Web managers should be aware that many of these new browsing modes would cause severe disruption to the end-view of their websites.

Games consoles and browsers on PDAs allow only a small viewable area at any one time and users can find it difficult to scroll up and down.

WAP is a completely different protocol and will not interact with a standard HTML website.

If all these browser modes were to be supported, it would not be unrealistic to suggest that a number of versions of a website will have to be maintained. Content Management Systems and multisource DTDs, XSL-T and XML may well be the saving grace in this field, but much of the technology is quite new and untested by public sector organisations.

Range of browsing devices

The world is now a very different place to that of seven years ago. Then, the web was new and all browsing of websites was based on a relatively small monitor, connected to a relatively large computer.

Now users can access an organisation’s website on a wide range of browsing devices ranging from televisions to mobile phones. These all have very different ways of interpreting and rendering data within very different screen sizes.

Three basic questions that a content provider is faced with today are:

* What will the client use to access our information?
* How will we deal with this request?
* How will we manage the data?

The following sections cover some of the more common ways in which data will be accessed and also what Web managers can do to ensure that their information is displayed correctly on them.

On-line transactions

The functionality of websites is increasing as the Internet and technology mature. Previously, websites were seen solely as communicators of information, but this view is changing as more sites are built that are capable of transacting with users.

Encryption of user’s personal data and authentication of their identity are key issues in the e-Economy. These have security implications are a likely to be dealt with by a Departmental Security Officer and an IT Security Officer.

The acceptance of orders and payments and their fulfillment electronically will require a change to your business practices and systems.

Introduction

The concept of electronic business was around before the Internet became popular. An example of this is Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). However, e-business would not be possible on such a large scale without the Internet. This provides the environment for suppliers to conduct dealings with their customers through computer and communications networks. The development of networks and electronic transference of funds have contributed to the growth of operational websites. These sites allow users to conduct transactions electronically on a large scale, making the business process more accessible and more efficient.

There are many issues with electronic business, most prominently information security. Additionally government business transactions need to have record capturing mechanisms appropriate to their nature. This is to record what has taken place robustly for the benefit of both parties. In addition public business needs to be accountable. A variety of approaches to this are outlined in guidance from the Public Record Office at:

Information security

Confidentiality and trust

Confidentiality and trust are implemented through the use of cryptography. Encryption makes sure that if information is intercepted or sent to the wrong person, it cannot be read. Only the recipient has the knowledge to decrypt it. This knowledge is called the key. Traditional encryption involved both sender and user sharing the same key. In order to make encryption more generally available, e-commerce usually relies on two completely separate keys, one to encrypt and another to decrypt. The public key is openly available to anyone wanting to encrypt data. The private key needed to decrypt the data is held only by authorised recipients. Those sending the information can trust that only those with the private key can read the information.

Data protection and privacy is a sensitive issue for Internet users and modern web browsers now support encryption. Many Internet services also offer Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) which combines encryption with authentication.

Authentication

Authentication is a means of checking a user’s identity. This is usually done through a user ID and a password. Websites requiring authentication will not allow a user entry into the site unless the authorised ID and password details have been entered.

Traditionally, a person’s signature is recognised as authentication of an individual. However, it is impossible to sign in pen and ink when undertaking an online transaction. An alternative was needed and a security mechanism known as a digital signature was initiated. Documents can be digitally signed which then allows verification of who signed it and whether or not the document was changed during transmission.

Legal issues

For a contract to be made, under English law, a number of factors have to be in place. An ‘offer’ has to be made and accepted, a ‘consideration’ has to be given by each side, eg, usually in the form of goods or services exchanged for cash, and the parties have to have the intention of making a contract. When setting up an e-Commerce website it is recommended that it be structured so that the user (customer) makes the offer to you - which you either accept or decline - and not the other way round. If you get this the wrong way round it can lead to contracts being concluded by the user (customer) accepting an offer on the website - which you may not be able to fulfil.

Digital signatures are the basis for a legally binding agreement, just as a hand written signature would be on a paper-based contract. Their legal status is confirmed in the Electronic Communications Act 2000.

Explanation of e-commerce terms

Electronic means of identifying and verifying legitimate application users and devices.

Digital signature

A security mechanism that includes a user’s private and public keys, which the browser uses to validate from the user.

Encryption

The conversion or transformation of readable data into an unreadable steam of data using a reversible coding processes.

SHTTP (Secure HTTP)

A protocol that provides server authentication, digital signatures and encrypted sessions for web traffic.

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer)

A technology from Netscape for encrypting data sent between client and server.

Extensible Markup Language (XML)

XML provides a universal, standardised and well-supported mechanism for marking up data, for use on the web and in other applications. Unlike HTML, which is a language based around displaying data in a web browser, XML puts no constraints on the purpose for which the data will be used, but merely describes the structure of the data. XML can therefore be used (and is used) for applications that involve the transfer of data across the Internet either for display or computational purposes.

It is important to understand that XML does not, on its own, constitute a presentation markup language - it is a markup metalanguage. That is, a syntax within which we can define other languages. The Wireless Markup Language used by WAP phones and XHTML, which provides HTML functionality in XML syntax and is intended to supersede HTML, are two aimed at displaying information. The Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) is an example of a language developed for transferring data for processing by computer. A major strength of XML is that the same data can be used directly by a computer and displayed for human users.

XML has many supporting standards. The Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) is used to display XML directly in a web browser or other client software. XML Schema is used to define XML languages for specific uses. XLink and XPointer provide powerful linking facilities between and within XML documents and the Document Object Model (DOM) provides a standard programming interface.

XML was developed and is maintained by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), which also maintains the HTML standards. It is widely supported by industry and has good commercial tool support.

Within the UK Government, the e-GIF mandates the use of XML for both display and data transfer applications. Use of XML is supported by the UK GovTalkTM initiative and the web site at http://www.govtalk.gov.uk.

Summary

XML has three major uses within the UK public sector.

1. XML languages are being used for transferring information between citizens and government, between businesses and government and across government. Examples are the submission of personal and business tax returns.
2. XML is increasingly being used in web site development. For example, where information is drawn from a database, using XML as an intermediate format between the database and the display code speeds development and eases maintenance.
3. XML can be used for archiving data. Rather than storing archive data in proprietary database formats that could make reading old archives hard in the future, careful design of an XML language allows data to be self-describing. Coupling this with the text-based nature of XML ensures that data can be retrieved and understood easily in the future.

Web sites can use XML both to provide and consume services. For example, both public and private sector web sites can provide a change of residence service that submits an XML message to multiple public sector organisations that store the information in their databases. While holding a dialogue with the citizen, this service might itself send XML messages to the National Land and Property Gazetteer to ensure that the addresses provided are both unambiguous and valid.

What is XML?

The concept of XML is very different to that of HTML. HTML is an application of Standard Generalised Mark up Language (SGML), that is to say the various revisions of the HTML mark-up language are each defined using SGML as a SGML ‘document type’ - XML is a simplified, and more powerful version of SGML itself.

The following quote is from the W3C XML WG (Working Group):

“XML is primarily intended to meet the requirements of large-scale web content providers for industry-specific mark up, vendor-neutral data exchange, media-independent publishing, one-on-one marketing, workflow management in collaborative authoring environments, and the processing of web documents by intelligent clients. It is also expected to find use in certain metadata applications. XML is fully internationalised for both European and Asian languages, with all conforming processors required to support the Unicode character set in both its UTF-8 and UTF-16 encodings. The language is designed for the quickest possible client-side processing consistent with its primary purpose as an electronic publishing and data interchange format.

The key to how it works is descriptive mark-up. This allows you to tag data not by its structure in the document or how it will be displayed, but by what kind of data it is. For example, this means it can break an address down into individual descriptive elements such as street, street number, town, and postcode. This is very useful if the address has to be used by different databases each of which records addresses in different ways.”

In order for different databases or systems to use this markup, a XML schema has to be developed to establish what the descriptive mark-up will be for different purposes.

For example, as part of developing a cross-departmental schema that included a representation of people’s names, the participating Departments would need to agree the names and meaning of the XML elements to be used. In the case of this example, it might be agreed that the XML element to represent a person’s first name would be , as opposed to anything else, such as, , or whatever.

WebTV website

The Bush Internet TV allows Internet access via a modem that connects to a telephone line and normal television viewing via a standard coaxial aerial connection. The user interface is via a remote control that contains a mouse controller and a QWERTY keyboard.

Screen resolution is quite good and the automatic text resizing carried out by the internal ANT Fresco browser assists legibility. Cascading Style Sheets are disabled but graphic rendering is standard.

Service provision is via Virgin.net and cannot be changed. Users may bookmark and go back to previously accessed pages in a very similar fashion to standard computer browser applications.

UK online interactive

In April 2002, the Office of the e-Envoy (OeE) released a 75 screen pilot service on the Sky (and ITV Digital) platforms with the intention to be on NTL and Telewest shortly. The service includes a database of UK online centres, a questionnaire, an email feedback functionality and content on current events and campaigns. OeE is now looking into the introduction of personalisation, regionalisation, transactions and forms to the service. UK online have negotiated commercial arrangements with platform providers, where there are benefits to using the UK online ‘front door’ as an access point to your iDTV service.

Using the UK online portal provides benefits of a Partnership with UK online: Shared knowledge providing best practice, best price and best partnering advice. Create continuity of navigation and design to increase the user experience. Single entry point to Government information - on the Sky service they have secured a position on page 1 of the main interactive menu. UK online holds the Government’s Independent Television Commission (ITC) broadcasting license, which is essential if you wish to be on the Sky platform. You get to use an effective advertising medium at a percentage of the normal cost for advertising campaigns. For further information email sally.meecham@e-envoy.gsi.gov.uk.

WebTV

WebTV was formed in 1995 and was acquired by Microsoft in 1997. It is popular in the USA and Japan. Although there are some special considerations in publishing data on this system, it basically works and renders in the same way as standard web browsers on a computer and can handle CSS, JavaScript and common audio and video formats.

Screen

One of the biggest controlling issues is the displayable screen size. This is only 420 x 560 pixels, smaller than the old standard 640 x 480 VGA resolution. When this is coupled with the requirement for larger font and graphic sizes, it becomes clear that web managers must carefully control and limit document contents.

The browser window is quite different from that usually seen on a PC screen. It is quite restricted and can render pages in a suprising way, for example, will crush a page it to make it fit.

Navigation

Internal hyperlinking navigation now becomes essential in order to reduce the amount of scrolling that any user must undertake.

Text

Only 12 characters of a page’s title will be stored in the ‘recent’ panel, but 25 characters will be stored in the bookmark section. All titling must therefore be very specific and meaningful.

Colours

The colour palette available on a television is not as large as that on a full-colour PC so images must be designed carefully. This is especially important when text is used within the graphic. The system does support all standard graphic formats such as GIF, JPEG and PNG.

Frames

A website that is organised around a frames environment will not render well on a WebTV system. All frames are automatically converted into tables, which can result in very unfriendly sites.

Version of HTML

WebTV supports the use of HTML 4.

Downloadable files

The user cannot download files when using this system. Because there is no hard disk, there is nowhere to store files such as images or PDFs.

There is a WebTV browser emulator available for computers. Using this allows a web manager to see what pages will look like when they are displayed on WebTV. The emulator can be downloaded from the WebTV website.

Your website on television

Although the number of computers in households is growing at a phenomenal rate, they are still complex and expensive pieces of equipment that can be difficult for the average user to get to grips with. Virtually all families in the UK own a television and it is the main source of information and entertainment in the household. Interactive Digital Television (iDTV) is undoubtedly going to become a popular way of viewing information contained on websites.

In principle it is easy for broadcasting companies to tie in information presented on screen to further, more detailed data within a website. Pressing a button on the remote control could access this data. Television, including digital TV, is regulated by the ITC, making these guidelines an additional source of guidance for the developers of websites.

Access to interactive pages via a television is achieved using either an in-built modem or a ‘set-top box’ (STB) attached to a cable television network. These relay any requests for pages through their system and out onto security systems via the Internet.At present there is no clear standard for producing and formatting information for this medium. Navigation through a website on the TV is done through either a television remote control or a keyboard. Be aware that a website designed
for accessing via a PC may not work on a television set or be available on a particular platform.

General

As many as two in three television viewer’s users may not have surfed the web previously using a computer. Therefore keep everything simple and clear. Don’t think of them as web pages; think instead of the way TV graphics look and feel.

This is what users expect. Phrases like ‘click here to…’ are not appropriate in a mouse-less environment. Where possible, refer to a ‘service’ rather than a ‘site’. Although the contents are built using Internet technologies and may be re-purposed from a website, viewers who have not experienced the Internet may be confused by the use of Internet terminology.

This example of a screenshot from the UK online Interactive service illustrates the power of simplicity.

Three main TV-friendly principles

Three main principles are the key to making TV-friendly websites.

Readability

The size of the fonts used by set-top boxes to render text on the TV needs to be larger than those rendered by web browsers, simply because people are watching TV from a lot further away than they are when viewing their computer monitors.

The user can enlarge the size of the text displayed by some set-top boxes (to improve readability on small TV sets), but the user cannot of course change the size of the window used for the general display (PC browser windows can be resized manually).

Simplicity

Human-factors research has shown that for most computing tasks the threshold of frustration is around 10 seconds. Web page designs employing complex layouts and ‘pretty’ graphics just will not work. Whilst some iDTV services use high-speed access to the Internet, phone line connections represent the only option for many users. Therefore, it is recommended that HTML pages should not exceed 50kB in size. They cannot include dozens of links where this can be avoided. Kiosk-like navigation (with large on-screen buttons) is recommended, being more intuitive than computer menus.

Television users do not have a mouse so imagine what it is like navigating around the page using only arrow keys. Frames and complex tables are not possible.

Avoid writing long pages: remember that the normal user will saturate their cognitive capacity if they have more than seven things to look at. Viewers are not used to scrolling, so it is entirely possible that items below the viewable area will be completely missed. If you cannot say it in 40 words - then do not use DTV.

Entertaining content

Televisions are far less business-like than computers. Users expect to be entertained as well as educated or informed. Boredom thresholds can be quite high, and this is typified by the viewing culture of channel hopping at the press of a single button. This is likely to be the fate of dry content that does not capture the imagination or encourage the viewer to read on. Keep detail to a minimum - if you cannot say it in 40 words - then this may not be the right medium - remembering to provide back buttons to return the viewer to the page they have just left.

Design

Design guidelines can be summarised in ten rules that can be applied to any of the three TV-friendly principles:

* Your site should look good on small screens.
* Beware of certain colour combinations - use TV safe colours.
* Use large sans serif fonts - TV safe fonts.
* Scrolling is not possible on some platforms.
* Simple navigation.
* Facilitate navigation with a remote control keypad.
* Avoid data entry, or limit to simple SMS
* Limit text to 40 words per page (screen).
* Be short, be simple, and be entertaining!
* Make use of video where the bandwidth permits.

Screen sizes

Scrolling is not simple or even possible for TV viewers. Most TV browsers will not support horizontal scrolling so pages that exceed the display window width may need to be reformatted to fit in. This can have unexpected effects on page layouts and may even result in parts of the page not being displayed at all.

Vertical scrolling is supported on most TV browsers, but viewers may miss items below the viewable area if they are not expecting them to be there. Examples of actual screen sizes are as follows:

* Telewest Active Digital - The width of a page is 640 pixels while the length is 400 pixels, excluding the title bar. If the page size exceeds this then the transcoder may either reduce the scale or add scroll bars.
* KIT (Kingston Interactive TV) - The actual screen size is 720 x 576 pixels. Not all of this is visible because of Overscan. This requires a ‘safe area’ which will appear on all TV sets. Important screen elements and all HTML have to be 600 x 480 to fit.

Colours

Colours for TV need to be PAL safe. This means developers should avoid using RGB values including 0-16 and 236-256. This can be done in, for example, Adobe Photoshop using the Levels function. Using 90 per cent of the true colour will reduce colour bleed and distortion.

Colours displayed on TV look a lot brighter and more saturated than they do on a computer monitor, and certain colours when placed in close proximity to each other can cause effects on neighbouring elements such as jittering (visible movement), chroma crawl (colour smearing) and interference. Try and use web safe colours for Liberate platforms.

Always check the colours on a TV before committing to a whole series of pages. Keep small items such as icons greyscale or mono as colour tends to bleed and distort on the TV. Some transcoders attempt to adjust colours on the fly to ensure that they are broadcast safe, but some combinations may still cause problems and different platforms may behave differently.

Overly bright colours may be limited by transmitter technology, resulting in grey, patchy colours.

Text

It is harder to read text on a TV screen. It takes a lot more concentration and can take up to 25% longer to read. The optimum common text font is a sans serif font of size 12pt. Where the platform has a transcoder (Liberate and Netgem) this will be automatically increased by 50 per cent to 18pt. Fonts are limited to those few available in the set top box (STB) so keep text clear and concise.

* Avoid the use of too many fonts.
* Lower case is easier to read for body text on screen.
* Italics can also be hard to read.
* There is only one embedded typeface for Liberate. This is Tiresias, which was developed in conjunction with the Royal National Institute for the Blind to ensure legibility for the partially sighted and also to remain legible when stretched to 16:9 wide-screen formats.
* Above all, keep it simple, avoid too many on-screen elements and try to focus attention on one area of the screen at anyone time. Work to a maximum of 40 words on a page.

Graphics

Authors should always present all images in either GIF or JPEG format.

All images are converted by the Liberate transcoder to a 15-bit palette, and dithered accordingly, but to optimize the quality to transfer delay ratio, images should be stored with a 256-colour palette (8-bit format).

Although TV browsers generally support imagemaps, they make the cursor very small and are almost impossible to navigate without a mouse.

Plug-ins

* RealVideo and RealAudio plug-ins are not supported.
* Flash and Shockwave plug-ins are not supported.
* AVI and MOV video formats are not generally supported. Those that are supported have limitations on the size of the clip owing to the lack of a hard drive and the relatively small amount of available RAM.
* MPEG 1 or 2 is the only video format commonly supported across set-top boxes. MPEG video has to conform to defined sizes and bit-rates and must also be stored on a special video server at the head end, so video clips cannot be played over the Internet or from external video servers.

Audio

* Some boxes play WAV and MIDI files.
* Liberate does not support sound.
* The best rate is generally 22kbps 16-bit mono.

Size is also an issue: limit file sizes to between 500kB and 1MB. They can be clicked on to play or they can play automatically in the background of a page. Both the standard embed and bgsound HTML elements function as normal.

Animation

Animated GIFs work well. They should have a plain background or one that matches the background of the HTML page. Keep the file size down, as large animations slow down the loading of the page.

Copyright

Copyright is a type of intellectual property rights (IPR), but unlike all other forms of IPR, copyright is not something that the creator needs to register or declare. In the UK copyright protection automatically arises when an original work is fixed in a tangible medium or expression. Copyright does not protect ideas or facts. It only protects the manner in which an idea or fact is recorded, whether in writing, placed on your website or in any other tangible way.

Who owns the Copyright?

The general rule is that the author is the first owner of copyright in any literary, artistic, dramatic or musical work. The main exception is where such a work is made in the course of employment, in which case the employer owns the copyright.

Government departments and agencies commission a wide range of works by individuals and non-Crown organisations. Unless specific provision is made in the commissioning contract for the copyright in such commissioned works to be assigned or transferred to the Crown, the copyright will continue to rest with the author. Like physical property, it cannot usually be used without the owner’s permission.

Implications

Commissioning a work does not automatically confer copyright ownership. Indeed it does not even give the commissioning department an automatic right to reproduce or publish the work itself, unless such use is specifically agreed under the terms of the commissioning contract.

Any copyright owner is able to exercise full rights and control the ways in which the work may be exploited. This includes the right to publish, disseminate and copy. Only the copyright owner can transfer or sell (assign) or authorise (licence) its use.

Electronic rights

If you are commissioning material to publish electronically, eg on your website, it is advisable to own the copyright and you must have all world rights or alternatively specifically all digital rights.

Infringement of copyright

Anyone one who violates any of the ‘restricted acts’ of a copyright owner has infringed copyright law. Copyright owners have both civil and criminal remedies to protect their rights. They can recover damages from an infringement and obtain orders (injunctions) to prevent or restrain infringements.

In principle, anything, which is an infringement of copyright, if done in a non-electronic manner, or by non-electronic means, is also an infringement if done by electronic means. The electronic storage, retrieval, duplication, transmission and performance of a copyright-protection work are all potential infringements, however, transient they are. For example, such simple acts as the display of a work on a computer screen may involve infringing action.

Moral rights

Under UK law an author or creator (except an employee) of certain copyright material has additional rights:

* the right of paternity - an author’s right to be acknowledge as the author or creator,
* the right of integrity - not to have their work subject to derogatory treatment,
* the rights to privacy of photographs and films, and
* the right to object to their name being attributed to material they did not create.

Moral rights are not automatic, unlike copyright, they have to be asserted in writing by the author. However, they do transcend economic rights and can not be assigned. They can be waived in a commissioning contract.

Working in the electronic environment

In the absence of a copyright notice or statement to the contrary, it is recommended that web managers assume that all material (textural, graphical, audio and video) on the Internet is copyright. Be aware of statements that do permit use but place conditions on that use. The omission of a copyright notice does not imply that you have unrestricted us of the material.

In the e-environment it is extremely easy when down loading material to omit an author’s name or to cut and paste material in a manner that could be considered derogatory. It may be legal to do something from a copyright point-of-view but that action may well infringe Moral Rights. For example:

* Inserting a number of hyperlinks into the text to link to other relevant articles - the author may well consider such links as derogatory.
* Cutting and pasting in a short extract from a text or graphic may not infringe copyright or you have permission to make the copy. You could, however, be infringing Moral Rights by failing to acknowledge the author/creator or because the short extract may be considered derogatory.

There are several situations in which these rights do not apply:

* Computer programs.
* Where material is used in newspapers or magazines.

Reference works, such as, encyclopaedias and dictionaries.

Database right (sui generis)

The database right is very similar to copyright, for example, it is an automatic right and commences as soon as the material exists in a recorded form. There are some differences between database right and copyright:

* The terms of protection is for 15 years from making but, if published during this time, then the term is 15 years from publication.
* The activities that a right holder can control and which are, infringed, if undertaken without the right holder’s permission, are different. The rights concern control over the extraction and re-use of the content of the database.
* Activities that a user can undertake without the permission of the right holder that do not infringe the right does not, in particular, extend to fair dealing for the purpose of research or private study for a commercial purpose.

For copyright protection to apply to a database it must have originality in the selection or arrangement of the content.

Data Protection Principle

1st Data Protection Principle

‘Personal data shall be processed fairly and lawfully and, in particular, shall not be processed unless

* at least one of the conditions in Schedule 2 is met, and
* In the case of sensitive personal data, at least one of the conditions in Schedule 3 is also met.’

‘Processing’ includes the collection of information. In order to collect information fairly the data subject should be informed of the identity of the data controller and of the purposes of processing (unless they already have the information) together with ‘any further information that is necessary ... to enable the processing ... to be fair’. Among the other information that it may be necessary to provide may be details of any disclosures of data, rights to object to particular uses of data, and information as to which information requested on an electronic form is mandatory and which optional.

If personal data gathered by one department is to be passed to another, the fact that there is an intention to disclose should be made clear before the disclosure takes place, and any necessary consent for the disclosure should be obtained at that point. There may well be individuals who are willing to provide certain information to one department but not to another. Departments disclosing information to another department should be mindful of issues such as duties of confidentiality owed to the data subject, purpose limitation, further disclosure, etc, i.e. the discloser should make it clear to the ‘disclosee’ why the disclosure is taking place and how the disclosed personal data may be processed. It should be remembered that how personal data obtained by one organisation may be subsequently processed by another essentially depends on how the data was obtained originally.

Controllers should not assume that those from whom they are seeking information would under understand how personal data is used. Fair obtaining notices should be designed with the intended audience in mind. For example, a website aimed specifically at members of a particular ethnic group should be intelligible to that group through the use of the appropriate language or terminology. Special safeguards should be introduced when requesting information from a child or a person who is not mentally competent, eg, request the intervention of a parent/guardian of carer. It is always worthwhile piloting a fair obtaining notice with a group of typical users.

Where there is a link to another site operated by another data controller, people should be clearly advised as to who may be collecting any information they provide on electronic forms.

Care should be taken to ensure that information is not collected of which the subject is unaware, for instance through use of cookies or the capture of ‘clickstream’ data. In particular, contracts should specify that ISPs/hosting services are not permitted to collect or make independent use of such data.

When people are invited to leave their email addresses the uses that will be made of these should be explained if there is any room for doubt. It should be a condition of membership of a chat room that members do not make use of others' email addresses for unrelated purposes. Consideration should be given as to whether it is necessary to monitor compliance with this condition, for instance through ‘seeding’ email address lists.

Fair obtaining notices should be clearly worded and positioned. While it is acceptable for privacy statements or codes of practice to be accessed via a link, fair obtaining notices should have sufficient prominence on the relevant forms.

Web managers should be mindful of the restriction that the Data Protection Act 1998 places on the processing of sensitive personal data. In some cases, this means that the individual’s explicit consent for the processing may need to be obtained.

The Office of the Information Commissioner is of the view that when there is an intention to develop a chat room the system should be designed in such a way that participation may take place anonymously. Alternatively in a manner where individuals are given a clear choice as to whether their email addresses will be made available to other participants or to observers of the chat room.

2nd Data Protection Principle

'Personal data shall be obtained only for one or more specified and lawful purposes, and shall not be further processed in any manner incompatible with that purpose or those purposes.'

The effect of this principle is to reinforce the first principle by restricting the further processing of personal data, including processing by any recipient of that data, to purposes which are compatible with those for which the data was first obtained.

3rd Data Protection Principle

'Personal data shall be adequate, relevant and not excessive in relation to the purpose or purposes for which they are processed.'

Forms should be designed so that only the necessary amount of information is collected. Care should be taken not to seek information, for instance dates of birth, where there is no operational need for this information. At the same time it is important to collect sufficient information. It should be possible to design forms that have a mandatory area into which certain information must be entered and a clearly marked voluntary area into which other information can be entered. When individuals are being asked to provide information for reasons other than operational necessity, it should be explained to them what the extra information will be used for, eg, research, profiling.

4th Data Protection Principle

‘Personal data shall be accurate and, where necessary, kept up-to-date.’

Controllers can normally assume that the information provided by data subjects is accurate. Some sites, however, may attract ‘nuisance’ visitors who leave information relating to other people. If controllers become aware of such problems then they may have to take steps to verify the identity of visitors and to validate the accuracy of data. In some cases the most appropriate course of action might be to delete the problematic data and to request that other do the same in cases where this data have been disclosed.

5th Data Protection Principle

‘Personal data processed for any purpose or purposes shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose or those purposes.’

The Act does not specify particular retention periods. Data collected on electronic forms should be retained for the same period as similar data collected by traditional means. Web managers are encouraged to keep information that is in a personally identifiable form for as short a period as is operationally necessary. For example, personal data that is collected in the course of the visit to a site, for instance temporary chat rooms, should be deleted once the session has ended.

6th Data Protection Principle

‘Personal data shall be processed in accordance with the rights of data subjects under this Act.’

The rights of data subjects are:

* to request a copy of personal data (subject access);
* to prevent processing likely to cause substantial damage or distress;
* to prevent processing for direct marketing purposes;
* not to be subject to automated decision taking.

Subject access requests must be made in writing. Before responding, controllers should be satisfied as to the identity of the person making the request. Responses should not be made to requests made via email unless the controller is able to verify identity, for instance through an electronic signature.

Data subjects have an absolute right to request that their data is not used for direct marketing purposes. There is unlikely to be any issue with advertisements that are displayed to all visitors to a site. It has been suggested that it may be possible to make use of a user profile in order to decide which advertisement to display to which visitor. Use of such techniques should be described to data subjects (1st principle) and there must be a mechanism to suppress the display of advertisements on request.

The Office of the Information Commissioner is of the view that in the future web developers should be able to build features that allow individuals to gain subject access online. This would enable individuals to call up records relating to themselves, without having to make a formal subject access request. Such online subject access will certainly be advantageous to both individuals and data controllers. However, this must be subject to the appropriate security and identify verification procedures.

7th Data Protection Principle

‘Appropriate technical and organisational measures shall be taken against unauthorised or unlawful processing of personal data and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, personal data.’

The Act directs controllers to adopt a risk-based approach to security matters. The need to use encryption, electronic signatures and other security features thus increases with the sensitivity of the data that it is proposed to transmit electronically.

Reasonable steps should be taken to monitor the use of any personal data which may be downloaded from websites, for instance by ‘seeding lists of email addressed and checking for instances of use for unauthorised purposes.

8th Data Protection Principle

‘Personal data shall not be transferred to a country or territory outside the European Economic Area unless that country or territory ensures an adequate level of protection for the rights and freedoms of data subjects in relation to the processing of personal data.’

The recording of personal data on a website or its publication on a site is tantamount to allowing the worldwide transfer of data. Although the principle suggests that data may never be transferred to countries without an adequate level of protection, in fact there are exceptions, which are set out in Schedule 4 of the Act. In many cases the issue will be whether or not it is necessary to have the consent of the data subject to transfer their data outside the European Economic Area. As a general rule, if the personal data in question would in any event be placed in the public domain, for instance data relating to Ministers or senior civil servants, then it would be hard to argue that there was an increased risk to the privacy of those individuals by placing their details on a website. In other cases, it may be appropriate to seek consent.

Introduction to the Act

The purpose of the Data Protection Act is to ‘make provision for the regulation of the processing of information relating to individuals, including the obtaining, holding, use or disclosure of such information’. Information relating to individuals that is either published on websites or is collected from individuals who visit those sites thus falls within the scope of the Act.

The key features of the Act are:

* the system of notification (replacing registration under the 1984 Act);
* the data protection principles;
* the creation of rights for individuals, including the right to obtain copies of personal data held about them;
* independent enforcement by the Information Commissioner.

The principles and individuals’ rights are probably the most significant parts of the Act. Data controllers should be mindful of the right of individuals to seek compensation through the courts for any damage and associated distress suffered as a result of breaches of the Act.

Do you need a domain name strategy?

Any organisation with or planning to have an Internet presence should adopt and exercise a centralised approach on planning the acquisition, management and use of appropriate domain names.

A domain name is intellectual property and accordingly may have both financial and strategic value.

The registration of a .gov.uk domain is undertaken within clearly detailed guidelines. An individual department or agency may wish, as part of a defensive strategy, to consider acquiring other, closely related host names, for example, in the .org, info, .com Top Level Domains. This may reduce the risk of similar domain names being registered by third parties, thereby leading to confusion amongst Web users. This also reduces the genuine risk of third parties acquiring names for vexatious purposes.

When registering any name you should be aware of the need to avoid infringing existing trademarks and third party business names. If you wish to consider registering a domain name as a trademark, refer to the Patents Office website at www.patent.gov.uk/about/ippd/issues/domain.htm . Company names can be checked online using the Company Names Index from Companies House at http://ws2info.companieshouse.gov.uk/info/ .

Web managers also should be aware of ‘cybersquatting’, ‘typosquatting’ and ‘cyber smearing’. Cybersquatting is seen as a practice of buying up domain names that reflect the names of existing organisations with the intention of selling the names back to you or for using them for ‘bad faith’ purposes, such as, passing off. Typosquatting is a name infringement that relies upon the common misspelling of your domain name. Cyber smearing is where anonymous authors set up websites that spread alternative, false or disparaging information that dilutes your own Web identity. This particular practice has seen a remarkable increase over the past few years.

Managing your namespace

A small number of three and four letter acronyms may be considered as ‘household names’, for example, BBC, HSE, ITV, OFTEL, No10. However, to the broad majority of users acronyms are meaningless. Web managers should encourage a ‘user focused’ approach and register accordingly. For example, host names like education.gov.uk, environment.gov.uk and defence.gov.uk may be considered intuitive and unambiguous to a general user.

The use of different levels of directories and sub-directories in the construction of the website will result in the URL becoming longer or shorter. For example, if there were a sub-directory within ‘webguidelines’ called ‘frames’ the URL would look like this:

www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/webguidelines/frames/index.htm

The naming of directories should therefore be carefully considered. For example, your top-level directories may reflect organisational brands, projects or the editorial focus of the website. They should also be unambiguous when spoken and easy to type. As with domain names be aware of the need to avoid infringing trademarks and third party business names. Using the names of well-known people may also present difficulties.

The Welsh Language Board advise that Departments required to provide a service to the public in Wales should, where there is a difference between their English and Wales names, consider registering Welsh language domain names.

How to apply for a .gov.uk name?

Your application for a domain name must be submitted through an approved Internet Service Provider (ISP), (see paragraph 1.9.3.3) who will act as your registration agent with Janet Customer Services at UKERNA, using the appropriate templates. These are available online at:

http://www.ja.net/services/connections/domain/registering-gov/gov-procedure.html [External link]

Accuracy is important - you need to give your ISP sufficient information - a number of applications are being initially rejected with advice because the applicant has not read the rules, used the wrong template, or supplied misleading or inadequate information.

Entries in the ‘to represent’ field must reflect the organisation or project that the requested name will represent and not the domain owner or sponsoring organisation or project if this is different. This should be included in the ‘domain owner’ field.

Entries for Admin-c - must be name/address of the person or contact point designated to receive communications from the Registrar/Naming and Approvals Committee related to the administration of the domain name. This person can be with the ISP or with the proposed domain name owner.

Entries for Tech-c - must be name/address of the person or contact point designated to handle technical issues associated with the domain name.Entries for Reg-c - must be the name/address of public sector employee (or elected representative) of the
domain owner (Registrant) designated to handle communications related to the ownership of the domain name.

Your application must describe your organisation

If the information requested in a, b and c below is not provided the application will automatically be rejected.

a. To be considered for a UK government domain name you must clearly describe how the status of your organisation (as domain owner) and the purpose of the domain name you are applying for.

Include:

* the status of your organisation (for example, central government, executive agency, borough council, parish council);
* the role and objective of your organisation;
* the status of your staff (for example. civil servants, local government officials or employees)
* the source of your funding (for example, central taxation, CMF, council tax);
* to whom your organisation is accountable (for example, Secretary of State for..).


b. Purpose of the domain name -- you must outline the primary purpose and planned content of your proposed domain name, for example, for:

* an information website (see section 1.1 of the Guidelines for UK Government websites)
* a transactional website (see section 1.1 of the Guidelines for UK Government websites)
* a campaign website (or discussion group) (see sections 1.1 and 1.6 of the Guidelines for UK Government websites)
* an educational website, eg, aimed at children/schools
* a redirect page, or a name being used for ‘defensive’ or ‘typosquatting’ and being redirect to; you must included the address to which the redirect is going
* for email purposes only.

c. Who is the audience for your website? You must identify to us what is seen as your primary audience eg, educationalist, pensioners, general public, your council tax payers, etc

d. Using abbreviations within your application. Not everyone on the Naming and Approvals Committee may know what your abbreviations stand for. Spell them out when you first use them within your application.

e. The Naming and Approvals Committee reserves the right to check the details you provide and to contact named individuals about any individual application.

Appealing against rejection of your application

If your application is rejected it will be with advice explaining why the Naming and Approvals Committee has taken this decision.

You have the right to appeal against the decision. Your appeal should include new information on why you feel you should have the name you originally requested. Simply repeating your original application is inadequate.Failure to secure an approved domain name prior to, for example, printing publicity and similar material, is not a ground for an appeal (see paragraph 1.9.2.4 Use of unapproved names).

Many applications are rejected because they are made on the wrong template, or inadequate information is supplied. In these cases an appropriate resubmission is required not an appeal.

Background to the Domain Name Sysytem

What is a Domain Name?

A domain name is the user-friendly form of an Internet address. They are commonly used to find websites, for example, www.cabinet-office.gov.uk is used to find the Cabinet Office website. A domain name also forms the basis of other methods or applications on the Internet, for example, email addresses (naming@cabinet-office.x.gsi.gov.uk), and for file transfer – ftp addresses.

The Domain Name System

The Domain Name System (DNS) comes from the early days of the Internet when it was a small network for defence and academic research purposes. The DNS system that we use today was introduced in 1984. The system is essentially a global addressing system. It is the way that domain names are distributed, located and translated into Internet Protocol (IP) addresses and vice versa; a process known as ‘resolution’.

A domain name is a unique alias for an IP address (a number for example, IP 212.24.85.85), which is an actual physical point on the Internet. For example, your PC if you have an internet connection.

The DNS forms a hierarchy with Top Level Domains (TLDs), Second Level Domains (SLDs), Third Level Domains (3LDs) and so forth. The Top Level Domains (TLDs) are administered internationally by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) which is also the overall body for providing the Uniform Domain
Resolution Policy.

Country Code Top Level Domain Names (ccTLDs)

There are over 250 Top Level Domain names organised on a country-by-country basis and based upon ISO 3166-1.

For example:

.au (Australia) .ca (Canada)

.de (Germany) .uk (United Kingdom)

Some countries allow anyone to register a domain name in that country; others require a local connection, or if there is no such connection, that the domain name matches trademark registration within that country.

The design of the naming structure under a country code rests with the country manager (Registry). Some ccTLDs are only available with a second level domain (SLD) attached. For example, under the rules of the United Kingdom’s country code manager it is not routinely possible to register [sample].uk; we are more familiar with our domain names divided into three levels

top-level (ccTLD) -- .uk .uk

second-level (SLD) -- .gov.uk .co.uk

third-level (3rdLD) -- electronic.gov.uk electronic.co.uk

United Kingdom Second Level Domains (SLDs)

The following are examples of available Second Level Domains:

.co.uk - for commercial use
.org.uk - for non-commercial use
.plc.uk - for public companies under the Companies Acts
.ltd.uk - for limited companies under the Companies Acts
.net.uk - for networks and ISPs etc
.ac.uk - for academic organisations
.sch.uk - for schools

See www.nominet.uk.org.uk for further details on second level domains.

For information on the UK public sector SLDs see paragraphs 1.9.2 for .gov.uk and 1.9.2.5 for other public service SLDs.

Example of a PICS metatag

The following is an example of the standard PICS metatag generated from the ICRA site. The URL in bold will need to reflect the page in which the metatag is to be inserted, not the example department URL as is illustrated here.

In this example, the rating (defined in the parentheses) is ‘none of the above’ in all categories - the website contains neither sex nor violence, etc. The tag includes elements for backward compatibility with ICRA’s forerunner - RSACi.

Once this rating has been achieved the website can display the ICRA logo on the homepage to illustrate that the procedure has been completed. This is optional and a range of different colours is available.

More complex example to show flexibility

This metatag does not specify the page or site to which it applies. Such a PICS label will be applied only to the page it is on. Furthermore, note that the lz 1 term (which is ICRA code for “none of the above” in the language category) has been set to lz 0. This means that the label does not make a positive declaration that there is no potentially offensive material on this page. Such a label might be useful, for example, for pages which carry quoted speech including swear words but which most readers would not deem “offensive” in the context given. You can make analogous changes in other categories.

Labels may be edited at will -- but watch the syntax! ICRA does not need to be informed about every change made and has other tools available that may be useful.

The e-Government Interoperability Framework can be found at:

* Internet Content Rating Assocation [External link]
* Digital watermarking of image {External link]

Platform for Internet Content Selection

The W3C Platform for Internet Content Selection (PICS) specification allows web managers to set a certification rating for the content of their sites. This is very similar to the ratings system that exists for films shown
in cinemas.

A filter configured to use the PICS ratings system will read the classification contained within the data and displays the page only if it meets the user-defined specifications.

Use each checklist to ensure that your web pages comply with these guidelines

Checklist and summary: Core guidance

Checklist

* Web managers should register their website with at least the ICRA PICS service
* Metatags covering your whole site should be placed in the head element of the default page, eg, index.htm or default.htm
* Check that all web pages meet the defined rating. Additional metatags can be placed in the home page of directories to rate pages within that directory, and where necessary can be applied to individual web pages.

Summary

The ICRA system allows the author of a page or site, through the use of a specific metatag, to identify content

of the website or document in each of the following categories:

* Nudity and Sexual material
* Violence
* Language
* Other topics (ie. tobacco or gambling advertising)
* Chat

The rating system uses a neutral binary system. A particular element within each category, such as, ‘mild expletives’ in the language section is either present or absent from the website.

Implementation

There are a number of varieties of PICS ratings systems on the Internet but the most commonly used is the ICRA system managed by the Internet Content Rating Association. Microsoft Internet Explorer and a growing number of filtering products support this.

Important - A rating can be chosen to cover the entire site, which can be added to the site’s homepage. If desired, each individual page can be separately certified. The usual practice is to certify only the site as a whole.

It would be expected that the majority of UK public sector web information sites would have a none of the above rating for each of the categories in the ICRA system.
There are two basic steps to using this system. First, the content manager will obtain a rating label (a metatag) for the site and will then add that to the source data of the default page in the domain. This is usually called index.htm and may be a frameset. Second, the user’s web browser or filter can be configured to
read that PICS certification.

Once turned on, the PICS rating and filtering system can be a very strong tool in restricting the websites that are accessible. If a page has a higher rating than that set by the owner of the browser, the user is requested to insert a password. Only the correct password will allow the page to be downloaded and displayed.

Getting your site listed on search engines and directories

The burgeoning number of Internet search engines and directories adopt a range of approaches for establishing their entries for the websites they catalogue. This may involve their using software (often referred to as crawlers or spiders) to scan either the text or the metadata (or both) contained within the pages of the site. It may involve having a human visit the site to catalogue it manually. Or it may involve both automated and human processes.

It is well worth consulting the Search Engine Report website to find out what criteria are used by the most widely used Internet search systems to create catalogue entries for the websites on which they hold information. It is sometimes the case that rearranging page content or restructuring your HTML markup will make a difference to a website’s search engine rankings.

Almost every Internet search engine and directory has a web page on which web managers can submit their website’s URL for inclusion in that search system’s catalogue. Some search and directory systems have a facility for the web manager to provide information about their site as a part of the submission process. The latter effectively constitutes another source of metadata (although only for the specific search or directory system to which the site URL is being submitted) and so the same care should be taken with the precision of any information entered in this way as with the creation of Dublin Core metadata.

Search engine and directory registration (or submission) can be done in one of two ways:

* The organisation undertakes the registering process.
* The organisation’s web design company/agency undertakes the registering process.

There are many different search facilities on the web and registering can be laborious and repetitive, so it is often advisable to have an external organisation to take responsibility for this task.

It can take anything up to several months from the time of submitting your website’s URL to a search engine or directory and the site appearing in that system’s catalogue.

Care should be taken with the use of automated services that offer to submit website URLs to multiple search engines. The operators of some search engines decline to accept registrations from such services. Some other purported such services are just an out-and-out scam.

Remember that not everyone uses the same search facility. The more services that the organisation is registered with, the better the chances are of reaching the largest audience. For websites containing content aimed at a specialist audience, it is often worth searching for directory services designed to serve the specialism at issue and registering your content with them.

If your organisation changes its operating name, website URL or its structure, it will be necessary to repeat the entire registration process again. Otherwise, it is likely the result of a search will be a broken link.

Customer relationship management (CRM and eCRM)

At the simplest level, customer relationship management (CRM) means the attraction and retention of visitors by operating a user-focused strategy.

Audience attraction

Audience attraction involves offering the information and services on your website that your user base requires. To do that there must be an understanding of your audiences and their needs if you are to understand what information and services to offer. You will also need to decide if that offering will be identical for each audience segment or whether you will differentiate (making the right offering to the right customer segment).

Audience retention

Audience retention involves acquiring and continuously updating knowledge about visitor needs, motivation and behaviour. Applying this knowledge through a process of learning from your successes and failures will ensure that your website is better managed around the user. The aim is to understand, anticipate and manage the needs of current and potential visitors in terms of what is offered and how it is offered.

Relationship management looks at a continuing series of transactions, rather than an individual transaction. This includes supporting your users online and offline, and satisfying them by responding to their requests for information and assistance as soon as possible.

The user-centric strategy allows the integration of people, processes, and technology systems to support the delivery of user requirements. The organisation’s whole team will need to be in the business of building customer relationships, both online and offline.

Electronic CRM

With the ‘all-electronic’ version of CRM, customer relationships become more dynamic and interactive. The creation of a channel and product strategy will define how your organisation delivers its products and services effectively, making sure the right message gets out at the right time and through the right channel. Relevant information can be collected more easily, uploaded automatically and used more effectively.

For example, your department might build a database about its users that described relationships in sufficient detail so that those providing the service can match user needs with products, remind them of the available services and information, and even know what other online and offline transactions a visitor had used. This would provide a web manager with the information necessary to know their users, understand their needs, and effectively build relationships with them.

However, web-based CRM can mean that huge volumes of user information are retrieved, stored, processed and delivered electronically. The IT platforms used must be flexible, adaptive, and scalable. They must also be completely dependable and secure to provide the credibility that will encourage the use of online transactions and resources.

Technical aspects of marketing

In general government sites aim at a broader audience than commercial sites. We must ensure that the disabled can use our online information. Our audiences also include as a matter of policy the socially excluded. Our audience includes people on especially secure systems (such as the rest of government and some businesses). We tend to have more professionals or policy experts interested in our information -- and so end up publishing far more long detailed documents than many commercial sites.

This means that the technical aspects of government sites will differ from the typical audience for many commercial websites. Government users may sit behind firewalls that strip out scripting. Corporate and business users probably work on networks whose system administrators do not allow them to download software… so there is no point offering them free downloads of plug-ins. Socially excluded users may be accessing on older equipment. Some of our audiences are international, and for them speed of access (as well as other content issues) may be a priority.

This means that to reach these audiences effectively, the technical aspects of the site must match the needs of our audiences. Mandatory compliance with the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative recommendations will help ensure this. Here are some other considerations.

* What standard of modem speed is the target audience likely to have?
* What standard of colour display will the user’s computer have?
* What are the issues of compatibility with older browsers?
* Are graphic files small or will they add to the download time for the site?
* Are graphic links really necessary for the site?
* Will the audience require any plug-ins to download information? Do you offer alternatives so that the site will work without them? Remember many users cannot download free plug-ins.

Although the main part of any website will be constructed using HTML, the target audience for the website will help decide the format that should be chosen for storing subsidiary documents. There is no reason why several formats could not be employed at the same time to ensure maximum usability. In particular our professional or policy audiences may want documents provided primarily to be printed out.

Focusing on user needs

When initiating a website project there are some basic questions that need to be addressed, all of which will affect its usability. Technology that would be seen as suitable for one sector of the marketplace will not be ideal for another.

The language used within the document, the format of the document itself and the style of presentation will all have a direct effect on the users of your website.

Marketplace

It is vital to know who your target audiences are and how they will access your information. This information will determine how you design and prepare the electronic publication.

However, targeting information on a website is very different from the targeting of conventional publicity and information.

Conventional marketing is effective at getting the information to the intended audiences. Leaflets are sent only to mailing lists of the target audience, or displayed in places they are likely to visit. Advertising is placed in magazines or in TV programs that appeal to the target audience.

This leaves design and text in conventional publicity free to concentrate on the task of communication with particular kinds of people.Anyone with access to the Web can show up at your website, whether your information is for them or not. Websites have to do their own targeting by directing users to the information or services that are for them.

Some industry experts suggest that the different levels of a website should have different aims.

Information on the upper levels of a website will be targeted at a very broad general audience. The aim is to help users swiftly find what is relevant to them… or move on. Design should aim to be professional and sufficiently engaging for a broad audience. In this context Government sites should aim to:

* Make immediately plain that this is a government site.
* Make clear what the owning organisation does.
* Make clear the kind of content and services on the site.
* Build trust in the authority, accuracy and currency of the information.
* Build trust in the security and effectiveness of the transactions on offer.
* Direct regular users to content that is new on that particular site.
* Offer access to the rest of government sites.
* Send different kinds of interested users to content that is aimed at them.

Middle layers of the site can be for people with some interest in content or services. This level of the site should aim to:

* summarise information or available transactions.
* provide enough details or facts to satisfy mild interest.
* provide enough details for people with strong interest to select the detailed information that is for them or who wish to apply for the service.

Middle levels of the site can also be a good place for key messages aimed at the general public. Writing and design can in this case be more clearly targeted at the target audience.

Lower levels of the site will tend to provide the detailed information that government sites so often make available. Here the aim is to:

* secure the interested user’s agreement to read the information.
* and offer users the choice of reading onscreen or different file formats to download.

An exception to this approach is likely to be a website that works as part of a publicity campaign. As advertising is likely to be driving an interested audience to the site, there can be a greater degree of targeting.

The aim of the site should be to add value to the campaign by such means as:

* providing more detailed information than the advertising could carry.
* reporting on progress towards the goals of the campaign.
* providing a transaction that facilitates users’ response to the call to action for the campaign.

An important aim of design will be to make it plain that the site ties in with the look and feel of the campaign. Users should be in no doubt they have come to the campaign’s site. The content and transactions on the site must reinforce the value of the brand.

Campaign sites should be revised as the campaign changes or be taken down once the campaign ends.

Not the full picture!

You should be aware that there are limitations to the information that can be discovered from the analysis of Web server log files .The principal issues are:

* Most ISPs use dynamic IP addressing. This means they maintain a pool of IP addresses from which an IP number is ‘loaned out’ to each dial-up call for the duration of the call. A particular IP number will therefore be used by many different users and a particular user may appear at your website with many different IP numbers. The firewalls used at the interface between the Internet and corporate networks typically use a process named Network Address Translation (NAT) which has a similar effect. Firewalls also often use a process named Port Address Translation (PAT). With PAT, many users behind the firewall ‘share’ a single Internet IP number. The result of all this is that a specific IP number only rarely corresponds to a specific user and it is inappropriate to attempt to base estimates of the number of visitors to your website on a count of the different IP numbers found in server log files alone.
* Caches - almost all ISPs and many corporate users deploy ‘perimeter caches’ to conserve their Internet connection bandwidth and improve the speed with which web pages can be served to their users. These are often set up to work ‘transparently’ regardless of whether users have configured their browser’s cache settings. . Perimeter caches work by storing a copy of pages fetched by the client systems on whose behalf they are deployed. Subsequent requests for pages from other users behind a cache will be served from the cache if it already has a copy of the page. This may be done without any further reference to the origin server. Therefore web pages may be served to users without the creation of any record being captured in the origin server’s log file. (See section 1.4.6 Downstream caching and pixel tagging).
* Dynamic proxies - dynamic IP addressing and perimeter cacheing make the identification of page requests from specific users uncertain. This uncertainty is further compounded by the fact that some organisations assign proxy devices such as perimeter caches dynamically during the course of a user’s Internet session. The result is that a sequence of page requests that is in fact from a single user may appear to come from several users even during the course of a single visit or session. AOL is an example of an organisation that uses dynamic proxying.
* Cookie manipulation - users can delete, or otherwise manipulate cookies stored by their browsers. Browsers can convert persistent cookies to session cookies. Cookies cannot therefore be relied upon as the basis for accurately measuring the number of users of a website or for identifying users that revisit a website (‘repeat users’).
* Browsers - some browsers are known to incorrectly identify the referring URL by indicating the previous page that the client was viewing even if the user recalled a bookmarked URL or typed a URL in to their browser’ as opposed to following a link on the displayed page.
* Anonymisers - some clients use ‘anonymisers’ which deliberately send false browser and referrer data, see section 1.4.5.1 User agent masquerading.

All of these issues mean that there have to be reservations concerning the reliability of estimates derived from standard web server logs of the number of users of a website or of their browsing behaviour when they visit a website. The Internet advertising industry develops and promotes standard website traffic metrics and methodologies for calculating them. It is recognised that the measurements are flawed for the reasons outlined above, however, it is believed that the metrics provide the basis for comparing one website’s usage with another on the basis that these issues will affect all websites to broadly the same extent. There is, however, no sound basis for this belief.

The Joint Industry Committee for Web Standards in the UK and Ireland

JICWEBS is the body created by the UK and Ireland media industry whose aim is to ensure independent development and ownership of standards for measuring use and effectiveness of advertising on electronic media.

The International Federation of Audit Bureaux of Circulations

The IFABC Web Standards Committee promotes similar aims on a worldwide basis.

* www.jicwebs.org
* www.ifabc.org

User agent masquerading

The term ‘user agent masquerading’ refers to browsers that transmit an incorrect browser identification string in the requests that they send to servers. Some browsers just do not properly identify themselves and are therefore not being identified in server log file records. Deliberate masquerading is also used for a number of reasons:

* Some websites alter the content they serve based on the browser identification string, so masquerading can be used to work-around this.
* Some websites reject requests from browsers that they are not intended to work with, so masquerading can be used to work-around this.
* Some users simply wish to remain as anonymous as possible.

Understanding the terminology

browser - is the web browser (also known as ‘user agent’) used by a visitor (client) to access your website.

bytes transferred - the number of bytes transferred to the client’s browser as a result of the request.

entry resource - the first web page viewed as part of a visit to your website.

exit resource - the last web page viewed as part of a visit to your website.

hit (or request) - a browser request for any one web resource (page element), for example a web page or a graphic. A web page containing two graphics will take three hits to display that web page in a client’s browser.

hits per visit - the number of hits occurring in a given visit to your website.

page impressions - a file or a combination of files sent to a user as a result of that user’s request being received by the server. For example, one web page that contains three frames and 2 graphic files will generate one page view but 5 hits. Also known as ‘page requests ’, ‘page views’ or ‘page accesses’. Where service providers, search engines or other organisations cache content, page impressions served from these caches may not be recorded on the originating website.

page view per visit - the number of page accesses occurring in a given visit to your website.

platform - the operating system used by the visitor to your website, eg, Windows ME

session - [industry-standard definition] A series of page impressions served in an unbroken sequence from within the website to the same user. A session begins when a user connects to a website, continues while page impressions are served in a continuous sequence from within the website, and ends when the user leaves the website.

user - this is defined as the combination of an IP address and an ‘heuristic’. The user agent string is usually employed as the ‘heuristic’. Because of the use of dynamic IP number assignment, NAT, PAT, perimeter cacheing and dynamic proxying this definition may overstate or understate the real number of users visiting a website. Alternatively, websites may use cookies and/or registration Ids as the basis for identifying user numbers. Often also referred to as ‘unique user’.

unique user duration - [industry-standard definition] The total time in seconds for all visits of two or more page impressions, divided by the number of unique users making such visits. In order to measure user duration, a first and last page impression record must exist for each visit. Therefore, users making visits of only one page are excluded, since no interval can be established. This metric is sometimes referred to as ‘website stickiness’.

user agent - the browser and platform used by a visitor when accessing your website.

visit - [industry-standard definition] a series of one or more page impressions served to one user, which ends when there is a gap of 30 minutes or more between successive page impressions for that user.

visit duration - [industry-standard definition] the total time in seconds for all visits of two or more page impressions divided by the total number of visits of two or more page impressions.

Downstream caching and pixel tagging

Copies of Web pages served to browsers are often 'captured' by content caching systems. 'Downstream' caching systems are typically operated by third parties such as the ISPs and other organisations through whose networks the pages travel on their route to users' computers. These caching systems are able to serve pages of which they hold copies in response to subsequent requests for them without reference to the origin server.

From an Internet-wide perspective caching content downstream close to the browsers is a good thing: serving content to topologically nearby browsers is quicker and consumes less network resource than transmitting it from the origin servers. It also reduces the load on the origin servers.

In order to have a website inter-operate properly with downstream caches (for example, to avoid out-of-date pages being served to users), it is important that appropriate cache control directives are included in the HTTP headers of the content that it serves. Getting this right normally involves having your server administrator configure the web server software appropriately. Note that it is not appropriate to attempt to control downstream caches by using meta http-equiv ... HTML mark up elements because the special purpose appliances typically used for caching only act upon HTTP directives in the content headers.

There is an important consideration with regard to website traffic measurement arising from the increasing deployment of downstream caches on the Internet. Typically, there will be no record of pages served from downstream caches in your traffic log. As downstream caches are increasingly deployed on the Internet, standard origin web server logs tend to underestimate the number of your pages that have actually been viewed by users.


The pixel tag approach

One way of achieving a more accurate page view counts in origin web server logs is to ensure that every page contains a content element whose HTTP headers mark it as non-cacheable. This can be achieved by including a tiny transparent image referred to as a pixel tag in each HTML page. This pixel tag is typically served from a directory the contents of which the web server has been configured to serve out with HTTP headers marking the content as non-cacheable.In a pixel-tagging regime, page impressions served (including those served from downstream caches) can be estimated by counting the number of pixel tags served. If more detailed information is required about which pages have been served, then all or a part of the page's own URL can be included as a query string on the end of the pixel tag.

Examples of pixel tagging

A basic pixel tag could be generated by including the following image element in HTML pages

Advanced techniques

Log files can be further analysed through advanced techniques. For example:

* Sessions and visits - the identification of sequences of page requests from individual users.
* Session and visit duration the measurement of the length of time that individual users spend viewing a website.
* Categorisation - a process whereby similar items, eg URLs, browsers, platforms, a specific directory, are grouped together for pattern matching.
* Aggregation - a process by which all combinations of entities and their resulting measurements are combined.

Other website server software may also keep logs that can provide useful insights to the way visitors use your website. For example, it may be possible to configure search facility software to record the search terms that visitors have used when they are attempting find information on your website. This information can be useful when considering whether there are areas of the site that are not easy to find and can help with organising navigation. It also may indicate what other information users are expecting to be on the website, which would be of use when considering whether additional content should be included on your website.