John Bruton
Ceist:33 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Taoiseach the number of copies of the document, Implementing the Information Society in Ireland - An Action Plan, distributed by his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7290/00]
Written Answers. - Government Websites.
John Bruton
Ceist:34 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Taoiseach when he will introduce a programme to promote user friendly and design for all websites in accordance with the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness. [7994/00]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 33 and 34 together.
The print run for the action plan on implementing the information society amounted to 7,000 copies. Some copies were sent to other Departments and agencies for distribution. For this reason I cannot say exactly how many copies of the action plan have been distributed, but I understand most of the print run has been circulated by now. The action plan is also available from my Department's website. While data are retained on the overall number of hits to the site, the information cannot be broken down to the level of individual publications. As a result, it is not possible to identify the number of hits to the action plan. A progress report on the implementation of the action plan was published on the website last July. Another progress report will be published within the next few weeks.
To increase the visibility of initiatives being undertaken under the auspices of the action plan, a dedicated "e-Ireland" web page has been set up on the website. This page provides background information on the implementation of the action plan and reports progress on key initiatives and related issues.
Regarding design principles for Government websites, the action plan provided for the adoption of Civil Service-wide guidelines on the content, format and presentation of websites and for an interdepartmental group to be established to deal with these issues. On foot of this action point, an interdepartmental web publications Group was established to progress this. The group started work in June last and the guidelines were ready in October. I launched the guidelines last November at a seminar for webmasters in the Civil Service. The guiding principle, set out in the guidelines, is that websites should be customer friendly and designed with the needs of users in mind. Information should be up to date, relevant, and easy to find. Other topics covered in the guidelines include content, presentation of websites, promotion of user friendliness, accessibility guidelines and Irish language and bilingualism.
The guidelines are available on my Department's website.