Dubai eGovernment Department launches new Dubai Government Websites Guidelines

Dubai eGovernment Department has launched the 2011 edition of the Government Websites Guidelines (GWG) for Dubai Government entities. The 2011 GWG was reformulated after rigorous international benchmarking, regional and local government customization; feedback from key stakeholders in Dubai Government and also builds upon the success of previous Dubai Government websites guidelines and evaluations.

Commenting on the launch of the 2011 GWG, H.E Ahmed Bin Humaidan, Director- General of Dubai eGovernment Department said: “It is very encouraging to see that our government partners in Dubai have responded positively to previous editions of the Government Websites Guidelines. As a result of such a comprehensive GWG standard, the overall Dubai Government websites evaluation results increased from an overall average of 61% in 2006 to 86% in 2010.

However, taking the cue from His Highness Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President & Prime Minister & Ruler of Dubai who advised us that the path of excellence and distinction does not stop at a certain stage; we have decided to raise the bar even further and have therefore reformulated the GWG to ensure that we remained customer-focused, and abreast with technology and latest website trends.”

Further commenting on the release of the 2011 GWG, Bin Humaidan said: “The new model and the related guidelines for Dubai Government websites will set a new target and benchmark for Dubai Government entities in the continuous journey to excellence. We sincerely believe that compliance with the new guidelines will enhance the customer experience in our governmental websites leading to increased customer satisfaction and higher usage”.

Dubai eGovernment Department has been evaluating Dubai government websites since 2006 after providing the required guidelines and standards to ensure a certain level of uniformity and compliance among Government Websites. The 2011 GWG guidelines are part of this quality initiative and were established after a rigorous international benchmarking exercise including compliance with recommendations laid out by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), as well as taking into account the particularities of Dubai Government. The formulated draft standards and guidelines went through an extensive consultation process whereby Dubai Government stakeholders’ inputs and suggestions were incorporated into the final version of the GWG. 

The newly formulated GWG is based on a strategic ‘Government Websites Excellence Model’ (GWEM) which was developed internally by Dubai eGovernment Department. GWEM is built around a customer-focused concept and consists of 46 guidelines around accessibility, usability & design, content and policies. As a result of this strategic customer-focused foundation, GWEM ensures that government websites are developed, managed and enhanced for achieving the two main objectives of high levels of customer satisfaction and high levels of website usage.

Dubai eGovernment Department will conduct biennial (every two years) evaluations of Dubai Government websites for compliance with the new GWG standards.