Web Guidelines

The Web Guidelines are a model for the build quality of web interfaces. They were developed for the Netherlands’ government in 2004, as part of the ‘transfiguring government’ action plan, in order to improve the procurement of government organizations. A website that is built according to the Web Guidelines is characterized by strict separation of content and style, standards compliance, semantic markup, accessibility and the use of progressive enhancement techniques, such as unobtrusive JavaScript.

Because of the nature of the Web Guidelines, it’s understandable that they are seen as an instrument for people involved in web interface development. Their primary use is to be a reference in the formal agreement between website owners and a web developers. During the development process and after delivery, the Web Guidelines serve as the measuring stick. An automated validation instrument, in which the results of a manual inspection can easily be integrated, is available to support the evaluation process.

For website owners, the Web Guidelines are a powerful tool to ensure that they actually get the quality they expect (and pay for). And for web developers, the Web Guidelines provides proof that they truly master the trade of web development.

A normative document for all Web Guidelines is currently under development.