part11-4

This section outlines policies and standards for the establishment,
design, and posting of content to IRS intranet sites. The officials normally
responsible for an intranet site are its executive owner, content manager,
and web administrator.

Other intranet-related policies, standards, and guidelines include:

All IRS intranet sites and servers must be registered with C&L and
MITS. A sites content manager is normally the official who completes the
registration. As part of the registration process, the sites executive owner
must certify that the site meets a business purpose, contains only authorized
content, and complies with mandatory system controls for web services. As
site characteristics or ownership change, site owners must update their registration
records. Refer to IRM 2.25, Web Services. Frequently Asked Questions and a
Registration Users Guide can be found at http://ws.web.irs.gov/webreg.

Separate registrations for sub-sites may not be necessary if those who
manage a main site have strong centralized control over the sub-sites and
those who manage them, and the central web manager keeps thorough records
about all sub-sites.

Sites or servers that are not properly registered will be removed from
the intranet.

IRweb (http://irweb.irs.gov) is to be the default intranet home page
for all employees. Managers who want their employees to make extensive use
of a different site can have employees set up a “favorite ”
for
that site in their web browser.

Content must be appropriate. Content should focus on business need,
present a professional appearance, and contain nothing that is or could be
interpreted as being inappropriate for a government intranet site. A sites
executive owner is responsible for determining the appropriateness of the
sites content.

The business owner of content is the only one who may post it, and should
post the content in only one place on the intranet. Site officials may never
post or republish to their site any content that is owned by a different business
owner. The correct way to refer to or incorporate another sites content is
by linking to it.

Only IRweb, the IRS intranet home page, may have a search feature with
a scope that covers the entire intranet. The scope of search engines on other
intranet sites or applications must be limited to the content of those particular
sites.

Content must be accurate. After ensuring accuracy when content is first
posted, site officials should periodically review content for accuracy and
update or delete content as needed. In certain cases, outdated content may
remain on a site for reference purposes but only if the old content is clearly
marked as being of “archival”
status. When a site no longer
carries accurate or useful information, it should be removed from the server
and the sites registration record should be revised to indicate that the
site is no longer active.

Copyrighted material may not be published to IRS intranet sites without
permission. This includes, but is not limited to, news stories, articles,
and images.

Include information on content that clearly indicates the office that
owns it, the date it was posted or updated, and contact information about
how to get help or submit feedback.

Arrange content to make it easy to read and use. Lay out pages to suit
how users typically scan a page for relevant and important information. Put
important content at the top and make it easy to find and understand at a
glance. Avoid using text that is too large, too small, or mixes too many varieties
and sizes of fonts. Select an appropriate length for pages based on purpose
and ease of use. Use short page lengths for home pages and other pages that
need to be quickly scanned or read online.

Design text material for easy reading and internal navigation. Use shorter
sentences and paragraphs than typically used in hardcopy documents. For large
documents, break them into sections with headings that help users quickly
scan a page to identify the meaning and relevance of the following text. Include
navigation helpers at appropriate intervals so readers do not have to do extensive
scrolling to move within the document.

Use graphics sparingly. Include graphics to provide information or clarity,
not to amuse. Avoid or reduce the size of images that take a long time to
load to the screen. Include a text equivalent for all images.

Content must be accessible. Information should be arranged in a logical,
hierarchical manner. If content must be published in a format that is not
accessible, provide a text-only version as well. Images, sound, or other non-text
content must be coded to include a text equivalent. Detailed policy and guidance
on accessible intranet content is at IRM 2.25.5, Accessibility Guidelines
for the Web.

Sites should use a design and navigation scheme that is easy to understand
and is consistently repeated throughout the site. Elements that typically
should be repeated throughout a site include site branding, navigation, and
contact information. Navigation tools should be designed and grouped so they
are easy to identify and use. Navigation tools should normally appear at the
top of a page and/or down the left side.

Align page elements to improve ease of identification and use. Groups
of navigation or similar page elements normally should be aligned flush left
when arranged vertically. Text should always be arranged flush left.

Show hyperlinks clearly. Format hyperlinks within standard text to appear
underlined and blue. The reverse is true: do not underline text that does
not include a hyperlink since such text could mislead users about what is
or is not a link. A text phrase that is used as a hyperlink should be worded
so as to have a meaning of its own apart from its surrounding text. Navigation
links do not have to follow the blue underlined requirement if those links
are grouped so as to clearly indicate that they represent a menu of hyperlinks.

Links to sites outside the IRS intranet should be focused on business
need and should include an intermediate notification about privacy. (See IRM
11.2.1.5, Intranet Web Site Privacy Notices and Data Collection.)

Code pages and documents with informative page titles and other meta
data. Page titles should briefly state the name or purpose of the page. Include “description”
and “keyword”
meta data that
identify the goals and elements of the site so that the IRweb search engine
can properly prioritize and list that content in search results. Guidance
on how to code pages in this manner is at http://cl.no.irs.gov/intranet/policies/Search.htm#improvesearch.

Avoid links that open new windows, including those known as ”
pop-ups”
and “pop-unders. ”
Links should take the
user to a different web page within the same browser window. In rare cases,
the opening of a new window may be suitable, such as for small help screens
in a training application.

Use frames sparingly. Do not build pages that use a frames design unless
other design solutions cannot meet your requirements.

For questions about this policy or to request an exception, please contact
C&L Intranet Management Staff by sending an e-mail to *CL Technology.