In the last decade or so, India has metaphorically witnessed a lot of water surge & not just meekly flow under the bridge. Technology has played an increasingly prominent role as enabler and leveller. Enabler: Technology continues to bring a flood of opportunities to lead lives very differently from how we’ve lived in the past. Even those who currently exist in the margins of society are being empowered to lift the quality of life. Leveler: the growing reach of technology inundates so overwhelmingly that it can submerge into insignificance all factors that were once deemed to be insurmountable constraints, for example differences in economic ability, physical ability, access to devices, and bandwidth.
Technology keeps bringing to the surface unprecedented opportunities, and simultaneously wiping out obstacles that may hold India back from effective e-Governance, Government departments are empowered to ensure their websites become and remain User-Centric, User-friendly, and Universally Accessible.
To make the most of technology that can uplift all & drown disparities, Government of India has devised Guidelines for Indian Government Websites (GIGW). Compliance with GIGW helps government departments to harness its machinery to benefit not only the governed but also those who govern. GIGW guidelines are technology neutral, so can be adhered to by websites built using any technology. These guidelines deal with not only the entire lifecycle of websites, but also backend processes such as the policies & workflows that should be in place for smooth operations.
Here’s a recipe of how GIGW compliance may be achieved:
A. Each Government department designates a Web Information Manager (WIM) to meet a desired objective - the (re)design & continual operations of its websites that must offer citizen-centric services on a non-discriminatory basis
B. Lead by the WIM, department identifies constraints that may be preventing or delaying success in achieving its priority objective stated above
C. Department mobilizes resources to eliminate or overcome any constraints
NIC being Indian Government’s premier Information Technology agency offers following services under the ambit of SUGAM Web initiative whose objective is to facilitate Sustainable User-centric Governance through Accessible & Managed Websites.
I. WORKSHOPS To sensitize audience from government departments, 3 types of sessions are offered:– a. Leadership: Members of top management attend. Duration is half day. Objective is to understand overview and be sensitized to GIGW b. Intermediate: Middle management or team leads are the target attendees. Duration can be up to one day. Focus in addition to understanding the basics of GIGW, is to understand elements of effective website design and development c. Execution: Implementation teams, including technical managers & developers attend. Duration is two days. Aim is to create awareness for implementing teams about design, development, promotion, management, and specific compliance inputs along with hands-on training on use of testing tools etc
II. HELPDESK To help departments with queries about website design, development, certification for compliance with GIGW etc. Available Monday to Friday (working days) 10 am to 5 pm IST through phone - 01124305374, email – webguidelines@nic.in, and website – www.guidelines.gov.in.
III. PRE-ASSESSMENT CHECKS To help identify issues that may be affecting a department website. 38 key checkpoints are manually checked for the Home page and select pages, and a report is shared with the department. These checkpoints cover all aspects of GIGW compliance and any issues found in the select pages may actually be representative of similar issues with the rest of the website. This service helps departments to fix any issues before submitting the website to STQC for compliance certification
IV. COMPLIANCE & CERTIFICATION HANDBOOK To serve as compact overview of the need to adopt standards, along with ready policy templates and focused tips for enabling successful completion of the certification process of GIGW compliance. The handbook augments the GIGW manual available at www.guidelines.gov.in and serves as a ready reference of all relevant information in one place, for all government stakeholders
V. COMMUNITY To serve as a platform for professionals who are engaged in the mission of empowering citizens through effective eGovernance. SUGAM Web helps each department gear itself up to overcome constraints and ride the technology waves to deliver effective eGovernance, thus serving as an equal opportunity leveler.
Monthly editions of SUGAM Web news letter share with the community of professionals the opportunities and challenges in the Government webspace and how to make the most of them
To accomplish the task of effective website design and development in compliance with GIGW, departments can engage the services of 9 vendors empanelled in three tiers, based on the scope of work handled. A list of the NICSI empanelled vendors can be found on www.guidelines.gov.in