Proposal for New Standard: Web Site Standards

[TotallyInformation]

Proposed name/title

Standards for Websites

Purpose and description

Why would this standard be useful? What might be its scope? Who and what systems/services might be impacted by it?
Details the basic requirements for any website owned and operated by or on-behlaf of NHS England, or NHS Improvement.

Any team or organisation setting up or running websites for or on-behalf of NHSE&I must use these standards as a minimum.

Information domain this standard would relate to

Web development, corporate system development, infrastructure design, IT procurement, IT operations, service management, cyber security.

Existing related standards?

• IDAM

References to related external standards

NHS, NCSC and NIST standards for web sites.

[TotallyInformation]

What do we need to include in the standard?

• References to external standards and recommendations
• Reference to NCSC Webcheck
• Requirements for Pen Testing
• http->https redirect, no http.
• TLS configuration requirements
• WAI-AA+ accessibility requirements
• Approvals requirements (IT approvals and GDS approvals)
• Colour/design standards (NHS Design Manual, GDS Design Manual)
• Recommended libraries (e.g. REACT)
• Identity Management requirements (where IDAM is needed)

[simplybenuk]

I think there are a few things in the NHS Service Standard we should follow
Main things that popping out at me that we should be incorporating are

• Accessibility building on your WAI-AA+ point this needs to include how we write content, design inclusive forms etc
• Respect and protect users’ confidentiality and privacy
• Choose the right tools and technology - HTML5 by default
• Use and contribute to open standards, common components and patterns
• Make your service interoperable

Do we want to define some SEO standards in here too. Especially if we're creating websites that need to be found via Search. Too many times this is overlooked. Half the battle is getting people to know about your site and this can help here