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CH 01 INTRODUCTION

1.2
Scope & Objective

This document recommends policies and guidelines for Indian Government websites and
Portals, at any organisational level and belonging to both Central Government as well as
State/UT Governments (including District Administrations to Village Panchayats) for
making Indian Government websites citizen centric and visitor friendly. Compliance to
these guidelines will ensure a high degree of consistency and uniformity in the content
coverage and presentation and further promote excellence in Indian Government Web
space.

These guidelines address common policy issues and practical challenges that Government
Departments face during development and management of their websites. The guidelines
aim to assist the Departments in ensuring that their website conform to a consistently
high standard. This is expected to enhance the trust level of the citizens while accessing
Government information and availing services online.

1.3
Definitions & Conventions

Visitors:
Throughout this document, the broad term ‘visitors’ encompasses all those who visit
and use the Indian Government websites for their needs with regards to government
information and services.

Departments:
All Government entities owning a website, including Ministries, Departments,
Administrations, Organisations, Corporations et.al. shall be commonly addressed as
‘Departments’ or ‘Entities’ in this document for the purpose of simplicity.

1.4
Compliance to Guidelines

These Guidelines have been framed with an objective to make the Indian Government
Websites conform to the essential prerequisites of UUU trilogy i.e. Usable, User-Centric
and Universally Accessible. They also form the basis for obtaining Website Quality
Certification from STQC (Standardisation Testing Quality Certification), an organisation
of Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India.

These Guidelines are based on International Standards including ISO 23026, W3C’s
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0) Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Act 2016 as well as Information Technology Act of India. Further, the long standing

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