Website Planning Guide

Website Governance Framework

Website Planning Guide Introduction

WA Public Sector agencies are required to complete a business plan (website planning document) for new and redeveloped websites to ensure website objectives are met, and designed to meet the needs of citizens in an effective and efficient manner.

The Website Planning Guide forms part of the Website Governance Framework (WGF) and is designed to assist agencies plan their requirements and adopt best practice when developing or redeveloping a website.

The Guide has been designed to ensure that agencies fully consider issues relevant to website initiatives. The Guide will assist agencies to:

ensure strategic alignment to government and agency policies, standards, guidelines or other related initiatives

ensure business owners and agency executives understand the objectives and requirements of the website and their roles and responsibilities

define the project scope and how it will be managed and maintained.

The Guide is set out as a criteria checklist for agencies to assess if the information documented as part of their own planning processes meets that WGF website planning requirements. Agencies are therefore required to ensure their website planning document (website business plan) addresses the criteria listed in this Website Planning Guide.

Section 1 of the business planning guide is a tool for obtaining approval and funding from agency executives. Appendix A provides further information and explanation in some key areas.

Instructions

The website business plan must be completed before the commencement of any website development work.

Agencies should develop the website business plan during the planning and analysis stage of the project.

Agencies are required to ensure their website business plan addresses ALL the criteria identified in this Guide.

There is no requirement for WA Public Sector agencies to submit their website business plan to the Department of Finance for review or approval.

The Department of Finance can provide clarification or assistance in the completion of the Website Business Plan and assistance with determining a new domain name where one is required. For assistance email websitegovframework@finance.wa.gov.au

Contact Details

Email: websitegovframework@finance.wa.gov.auWeb: http://www.finance.wa.gov.auTable of Contents

1Website Planning Guide

2Website Planning Guide Introduction

2Instructions

2Contact Details

4Website Planning Guide

4Section 1 Project Concept and Objectives

5Section 2 Project Scope

7Section 3 Website Implementation and Management

8Appendix A Further Information

8Content Management

8Cost

8Identifying risk and developing a risk management plan

9Scope

9Usability

9Website Monitoring and Evaluation

10Appendix B - Risk Management Plan

12Other useful resource on Risk Management:

12Further Information

Website Planning Guide

Section 1 Project Concept and Objectives

This section identifies how the website initiative fits within the organisations goals, functions and existing business strategies. It should clearly demonstrate the value and achievability of the initiative against existing and future needs of the organisation. It is important to identify the total cost required for the life of the project. Key risks and mitigation strategies associated with the project should also be documented. This section should be used as a tool for obtaining approval and funding from agency executives.

1.Strategic Alignment

State the roles and deliverables of the agency

What type of website is being proposed (e.g. primary agency website, program / initiative website, event website)

How will the proposed website assist in the agencys role and deliverables?

2. Business Objectives and Benefits

What are the key business objectives expected to be achieved by the proposed website (or which the website will contribute towards)? Each objective should be explicit, specific and measurable.

Describe the benefits the website is intended to deliver.

Describe what effect the proposed website will have on existing services or communication channels within the agency or across Government. 3. Governance and Accountability

Have stakeholders committed to the project?

Has a project governance framework been considered for the development project and ongoing management of the website?

Document the accountability mechanisms and processes planned and/or established to ensure that what was originally proposed and funded is achieved for this project.

4. Rationale

What prompted the initiation of the website project? Include where applicable, any internal, external or whole-of-government initiatives or priorities the proposed website is intended to contribute toward.

Is the website needed at all? Has a wide range of options been explored including the use of existing websites, systems or facilities to meet the needs and demands required?

Have you explored opportunities for collaboration with other agencies with similar interests or to deliver a more complete view of the information and services available for a particular service / topic area?

5. Risk Identify potential risks associated with the proposed option.

Define strategies to mitigate the identified risk.

6. Cost

Identify the total funding requirements, for both development and ongoing maintenance, including IT and business personnel (e.g.: website development, content development), technology and marketing.

Identify sources of funding to be used.

Section 2 Project Scope

This section explores the business and technical requirements for the website. Clearly identify what the website intends to deliver as this will define the project boundaries. Security, privacy and technical aspects of the website should be identified to ensure your agency is capable of delivering the services and achieving objectives identified in Section 1 Project Concept and Objectives. All procurement must comply with Government purchasing and tendering requirements.

7. Mandatory Requirements

The proposed website must comply with the following mandatory requirements:

Website Policies for the Western Australian Public Sector

Domain Name Policy for the Western Australian Public Sector agencies are required to apply to the Department of Finance for all new domain names by completing the Domain Name Application Form.

Website Standards as per Public Sector Commissioners Circular 2009-02 Website Governance Framework

Web Accessibility requirements as per Public Sector Commissioners Circular 2011-03 Website Accessibility and associated Website Accessibility Policy

Common Website Elements (CWE) requirements as specified in the CWE standard. 8. Scope

State the scope of the proposed website.

9. Procurement

Identify if any procurement is required for this web project.

Show that any procurement process is in compliance with Government purchasing and tendering requirements, and other relevant policies and procedures.

10. Security

Is the proposed website residing on infrastructure that is adequately protected against intruder activity and other security-related problems?

Detail what measures have been taken to ensure that the public can have confidence in the security and authentication processes of any electronic transactions they have with the government.

11. Privacy

Will the proposed website handle any personal information provided by its customer base?

If so what measures have been taken to ensure that the website effectively manages the handling of personal information provided by its customer base.

12. Technical Environment

Does the proposed website comply with your agencys technical standards?

Will the proposed website include any technology or functionality not previously used by the agency?

Does the agency have the skill sets and resources required to manage the website for the duration of its lifespan?

Identify the planned hosting approach for the proposed website, including any required service levels.

13. Risk Management

What are the major business, website and procurement risks? Develop a risk management plan including mitigation strategies or a contingency plan.

14. Project Plan

Define realistic timeframe for all aspects of project implementation.

Define key milestones and due dates, major dependencies and key roles with resources assigned to it.

Section 3 Website Implementation and Management

This section describes the implementation phase of the website development project, as well as the ongoing management of the website after its launch. Agencies need to consider the website policies established by the WA Government. These standards and guidelines based on best practice will improve on website quality and usability, and generate a more consistent user experience for users of public sector websites.

15. Website Usability

Identify how the website will be designed to meet user expectation. Areas to consider include but are not limited to:

page layout (consistency across the website)

navigation (information architecture)

web content (content structure and how it is written)

search (include different search formats)

Identify how the website will be tested for usability

16. Content Management

Identify how the website will be designed to ensure users can find information and services easily. Areas to consider include:

effective information architecture

correct content

search engine optimisation

use of keywords (metadata)

accessibility

17. Website Monitoring and Evaluation

Measure the success of the website. Detail the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to be used to ensure that the business objectives of the website are being achieved. It is important to measure both the effectiveness (web statistics) and performance (measures on achieving business objectives) of the website.

For each objective stated above show one or more measures that will be used to determine if the objective is being met.

Define the measurement methodology how often (e.g.: six monthly, annually) and how it will be conducted (e.g.: online surveys, focus groups, user testing, website statistics).

18. Website Management

Identify the anticipated life of the website.

Describe plans and processes for content update and management over the life of the website including review and approval processes, expiry and archival processes.

Identify how the website will be promoted over its lifetime.

Identify any trigger for the retirement or redevelopment of the website.

Appendix A Further Information

Content Management

Content management plays a critical role in ensuring that the information and services you provide through your website can be easily found, and is meaningful and useful to the user.

Finding Content, Australian Government Department of Finance and Deregulation, http://webguide.gov.au/finding-content/ HowTo.gov Managing Content, US Government, http://www.howto.gov/web-content/manage Search engine optimisation, UK Government Central Office of Information, http://www.coi.gov.uk/guidance.php?page=331Cost

It is important to include all cost associated with the development or redevelopment of the website project, regardless of whether it will be developed internally or externally. Ongoing maintenance cost including staff resources in terms of content updates, website planning and technical support must be included in the budget as well, to ensure there are sufficient funds for ongoing management for the life of the website.

It is recommended that a detailed record of the cost associated with the development and maintenance of the website is kept to enable WGF reporting requirements to be met. WGF reporting requires website costs to be reported for each financial year. Five categories of expenditure are provided to ensure consistency in reporting across agencies. Further information on website cost reporting Website Cost Reporting Worksheet (http://www.publicsector.wa.gov.au/SiteCollectionDocuments/Website%20Cost%20Reporting%20Worksheet.xls)

Identifying risk and developing a risk management plan

A risk can be defined as any internal or external situation or event that has the potential to impact upon an agency, preventing the agency from successfully achieving its objectives, delivering its services or carrying out its projects or events.

Risk management is the practice of systematically identifying and understanding these risks and the controls that are in place to manage them. A risk management plan can be as simple as identifying the risks and mitigation strategies. A more specific plan involving consequence and likelihood ratings may be necessary if your website project is complex.

Appendix B provides a summary of Risk Management derived from Riskcover. It is recommended that you read the Risk Management Guidelines so that you are able to undertake a more comprehensive approach to risk management.

Project Management Fact Sheet: Developing a Risk Management Plan November 2008, Office of e-Government, Tasmanian Government,

Scope

The scope defines what the project will contain or deliver. It provides a common understanding for project stakeholders of what is included and excluded from the project. Identifying what is out of scope can also help to define the project boundaries.

Project Management Guidelines, Office of e-Government Tasmanian Government,

Usability

Usability can be defined by how easy it is for your visitors to use your website. If users cannot find what they want easily and quickly, it will lead to frustration and loss of user trust. Usability covers a range of things including user-centered design, web accessibility, web content and navigation.

Accessibility and Usability, Australian Government Department of Finance and Deregulation,

Usability.gov Your guide for developing usable and useful websites, US Department of Health & Human Services

Usability Toolkit, UK Government Central Office of Information,

Usability and Web Design, Jakob Nielsen,

Website Monitoring and Evaluation

It is important to ascertain whether or not the objectives of the website have been met. Use both quantitative measures and other Key Performance Indicators to measure how the website supports the business of the agency.

Website Usage Monitoring and Evaluation, Australian Government Department of Finance and Deregulation

Web Analytics Toolkit, Victorian Government Web Analytics, US Government,

Appendix B - Risk Management Plan

The following information is derived from Riskcover and is summarised here for your convenience. It is recommended that you read the Risk Management Guidelines so that you are able to undertake a more comprehensive approach to risk management.

a) Introduction

There are a number of steps to follow in implementing a Risk Management Plan for your website project. These are:

establish the context

identification of the risks

analysis and evaluation of the risks

where necessary, treatment of the risksb) Establish the Context

Depending on the nature of the website project, planning a risk management strategy should take into consideration the following:

Agency strategic objectives

Operational plans and objectives at the division or branch level

Overall risk management plan for the agency (if applicable)

Overall risk management plan at the divisional or branch level (if applicable)c) Identify the Risks

Risk is measured in terms of consequence and likelihood. Identifying risks involves looking at what is critical to the success of the website project and then consider what could go wrong. For example:

Key ActivityCritical Success FactorsRisks

Website provides ability for users to complete online forms for electronic submission.Security of systemInsecure system

Website provides up-to-date and accurate informationAccuracy of informationIncomplete or inaccurate information provided to web users.

Hint: Do not mistake risks with the consequences. Breach of online security and reputation damage for example are not risks but consequences of a risk i.e if your risk was to eventuate, it could result in a breach of security and/or reputation damage if the information provided on the website is not accurate.

For each risk, you should identify possible causes of the risk event. Identifying the range of causes will help you to better understand the risk, evaluate the adequacy of existing controls and design effective risk treatments.

d) Assessing Risks

In general, agencies already have a broad range of public sector procedures and systems in place that act as risk controls. As a result, the assessment process used by most State Government agencies takes into account the effectiveness of these existing controls. In this context, risk assessment involves:

Identifying and evaluating any existing controls

Analysing the risk in terms of Consequences and Likelihood

Evaluating the level of risk against a pre-defined acceptance criteriae) Controls

Controls are the measures that are currently in place i.e at the time of risk assessment, that reduce the likelihood and/or consequences of the risk. To determine if your controls are adequate, ask yourself: are you doing what is reasonable under the circumstances to prevent or minimise the impacts of risk?

The recommended rating scale is as follows:

RatingDescription

ExcellentDoing more than what is reasonable under the circumstances

AdequateDoing what is reasonable under the circumstances

InadequateNot doing some or all of the thing that would be reasonable under the circumstances.

f) Risk Analysis

This is the process of considering the consequences and likelihood of a particular risk scenario to determine the level of risk.

Consequence ratingLikelihood RatingLevel of Risk

A risk that eventuates may impact on agency across a number of different areas, to a greater or lesser extent. When analysing the consequences of a risk event, an agency needs to consider the level of impact (1 to 5) in relation to each of the consequence categories defined in the Consequence Table.This describes how likely it is that a risk will eventuate with the defined consequences. Likelihood can be defined in terms of probability or frequency, depending on what is most convenient for the agencys purposes.The Level of Risk, or Risk Rating, is calculated by multiplying the Consequence and Likelihood ratings. For any risk, there may be a number of different likelihood/consequence scenarios across the different risk categories and within each category ranging from likely but not serious to less likely but more serious. It is important to rate the realistic worst-case scenario, which is the worst-case level of risk considering both consequences and likelihood.

Ratings

1 Insignificant2 Minor3 Moderate4 Major5 Catastrophic

Ratings1 Rare

2 Unlikely

3 Moderate

4 Likely

5 Almost certainRatings

1 to 3 Acceptable

4 to 5 Monitor

6 to 9 - Management control required

10 to 14- Urgent management attention

15 to 25 Unacceptable

For more explanation regarding the above ratings, see the Risk Implementation Guidelines at http://www.riskcover.wa.gov.au/riskmanagement.

g) Monitor and Review

Monitoring and review is an ongoing part of risk management that is integral to every step of the web planning process. It is also the part of risk management that is most often given inadequate focus. Monitoring and review ensures that the important information generated by the risk management process is captured, used and maintained.

Other useful resource on Risk Management:

Project Management Fact Sheet: Developing a Risk Management Plan (Tasmanian Government, November 2008).

Further InformationDepartment of Finance

Email: websitegovframework@finance.wa.gov.au WA public sector agencies are required to adhere to the Website Governance Framework as outlined in the HYPERLINK "http://www.publicsector.wa.gov.au/document/public-sector-commissioners-circular-2009-02-website-governance-framework"Public Sector Commissioners Circular 2009-02.

It is good management practice to have a systematic approach to managing risk. A detailed risk management plan should be developed to further expand and develop your risk strategy. Refer Section 2 Project Scope.

Refer to Appendix A for more information on identifying risk and developing a risk management plan.

Refer Appendix A for more information on how to define project cost.

HYPERLINK "http://www.finance.wa.gov.au/cms/section.aspx?id=16122"Website Policy for the WA public sector, Department of Finance,

HYPERLINK "http://www.finance.wa.gov.au/cms/section.aspx?id=16123"Domain Name Policy for the WA Public Sector, Department of Finance 2011,

HYPERLINK "http://www.finance.wa.gov.au/cms/section.aspx?id=16126"Website standards and guidelines, Department of Finance 2011

HYPERLINK "http://www.finance.wa.gov.au/cms/section.aspx?id=16129"Website Accessibility, Department of Finance 2011,

HYPERLINK "http://www.finance.wa.gov.au/cms/uploadedFiles/Government_Procurement/Website_Governance_Framework/wgf_common_website_elements.doc"Common Website Elements, Department of Finance 2009,

Refer Appendix A for more information on how to define the project scope.

HYPERLINK "http://www.riskcover.wa.gov.au/riskmanagement/pdf/rm_guidelines.pdf"WA Risk Management Guidelines, RiskCover, Insurance Commission of WA.

Usability 101: Introduction to Usability, Jakob Nielsens Alertbox (HYPERLINK "http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20030825.html"http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20030825.html)

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