Standards Development

Scope

This document defines system engineering and management requirements for the life cycle of websites including strategy, design, engineering, testing and validation, and management and sustainment for Intranet and Extranet environments. This document applies to those using web technology to present information and communications technology (ICT) information, such as information for users of systems and services, plans and reports for systems and software engineering projects, and documentation of policies, plans, and procedures for IT service management. This document provides requirements for website owners and website providers, managers responsible for establishing guidelines for website development and operations, for software developers and operations and maintenance staff who may be external or internal to the website owner's organization. It applies to websites for public access and for limited access, such as for users, customers, and subscribers seeking information on IT products and services.

The goal of this document is to improve the usability of informational websites and ease of maintenance of managed Web operations in terms of:

a) locating relevant and timely information,

b) applying information security management,

c) facilitating ease of use,

d) providing for consistent and efficient development and maintenance practices.

This document is not primarily for websites used primarily for marketing or sales, or to deliver instructional material, or to provide Graphical User Interfaces (GUI) for business or consumer transactional application processing. However, this document may provide useful insights for managing such sites.

This document focuses on vendor- and product-independent considerations. It does not include specifications for application development tools, programming languages used for archiving site content or for presentation of content on the web, metadata tags, or protocols for web page design based on World Wide Web Consortium (W3C®) and related industry guidelines. It does not address tools or systems used for management or storage of information content (data, documents) that may be presented on websites.

This document does not address the design and architecture of software supporting the Internet.

Purpose

Continuing improvements in internet capabilities for technical communication, and the accelerating development of new technical protocols, products, and services, for website development and hosting, have both simplified and complicated the engineering and management of websites. This document is being revised to account for new capabilities, approaches, and interests in using websites to communicate technical information.

To a large extent, use of digital communications, particularly those accessible through the Internet or intranets, has supplanted printed publications for conveying technical information. This trend applies to information for users, systems documentation as well as to service management and operational plans, policies, and procedures. Other factors have also affected the design and operation of websites. The increasing sophistication of information security threats to technical enterprises and their information, as well as concerns for the privacy of Internet users, have markedly complicated the process of delivering ICT information over the Web. This revision of ISO/IEC/IEEE 23026 therefore has increased emphasis on information security and privacy concerns.

The diversity of websites for commercial marketing and social networking purposes reflects different interests and media choices from those websites that deliver ICT reference information. This revision of ISO/IEC 23026 applies primarily to websites whose purpose is to deliver information about ICT systems, software, and services. It includes increased emphasis on the human factors concerns for making information easily retrievable and usable for the intended audience. It recommends practices for websites based on World Wide Web Consortium (W3C(R)) and related industry guidelines, which have changed significantly since the original version of this standard. It continues to address the entire life cycle of website strategy, design, and ongoing sustainment that are the responsibility of the website owner