Policy Reference

Category Application Design and Development
Approval Date  
Scope All Personnel

Purpose

This policy ensures a professional City of Lee's Summit web presence that meets current conventions in government website management.

Policy

  1. Any and all official City of Lee's Summit websites shall be developed around the needs of the audience.   This user-friendly approach shall be applied to as large an audience as possible, thereby making the City of Lee's Summit websites as accessible to as many people as possible.
  2. The City's official public websites shall have web content, navigation, and design developed from a citizen-driven perspective.
  3. The City's official employee website shall have web content, navigation, and design developed from an employee-driven perspective.
  4. Standards published pursuant to this policy govern the design, format, content, site and document structure, and usability of City websites, and shall be followed in all circumstances unless exception is granted by the Information Services  Committee.

Rationale

  1. Current government website conventions and user testing demonstrate that users are subject and task oriented and are often unfamiliar with the structure of local government.   Often times the citizen doesn't know which service is provided by the City, by the  State, by the County, by Lee's Summit Public Schools, etc.   Therefore it is essential that the City website be developed around the needs of the user, not the hierarchy of the organization.
  2. Additionally, government  information online should  be accessible to as many people as possible.
  3. Web design decisions can limit the availability/usability of the site to a smaller  audience (i.e. 30% of the public which may have a particular browser plug-in or 20% of the audience who may be accessing information via a  cell phone or low speed  connection).   This policy acknowledges that municipal websites attract citizens and visitors of all ages, abilities, and income levels.   Additionally, some portions of Lee's Summit users may not have access to a computer at home or work.   Therefore, design and development should always be sensitive to a diverse audience and welcoming to a new computer user.

Compliance

  1. Identifies the city, state, federal or other rules, contractual obligations, laws and reasons for having this policy.   List them each, with reference to specifics and links if possible.
  2. Regulation 2