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e-GIF Management Committee Summary 15 December 2005

The objective of this meeting was to consider exemption requests to the Web Guidelines from the New Zealand Army and Ministry of Justice.

The Committee:

Noted the Force9 website is a web-based interactive game designed to be used as a recruiting tool for the New Zealand Army; it does not contain any information or services. A link to the New Zealand Army’s main site is provided for the user to access information and services.
Noted that this website is considered a specialist audience website as the Force9 website was developed for a target audience of 15-24 year olds and is based on the New Zealand Army recruiting advertising policy.
Noted the Force9 website has a disclaimer advising the user that it is not compliant with the Web Guidelines and may not be suitable for all browsers and people with visual impairments.
Noted that people with visual impairments would not be eligible for employment within the New Zealand Army under the exemptions the New Zealand Defence Force has in relation to employment under the Human Rights Act 1993
Noted State Services Commission has requested the font be increased so that it may be read more clearly, and the NZ Army Web Master has agreed to this.
Noted that this website has an intended life until December 2009. If an exemption is required beyond this timeframe, a new exemption request will be required.
Approved Force9 website exemption from complying with the Web Guidelines as it is considered to be targeted to a Specialist audience.

This approval is subject to the following caveats being implemented:

The disclaimer font on the Force9 site is increased in size to make it more visual to a user.

The Committee:

Noted that the Ministry’s Information Systems Strategic Plan (ISSP) is expected to be completed by the end of March 2006.
Noted the Ministry would not commence any large-scale revision redevelopment of its websites prior to the overall strategic direction set by the ISSP and Enterprise Architect Plan.
Noted that the Ministry has had processes in place since July 2004 to ensure that all current and future content under its control is World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) compliant and, where possible, Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) compliant.
Noted that while the Ministry is subject to the Cabinet directive, the Judiciary is not. Noted that the approach by the Ministry to date, to good effect, has been to communicate the benefits of compliance to the Judiciary.
Noted that the Ministry has a process and plan in place to identify priorities and deliverables.
Noted that the Ministry will seek to achieve full compliance by June 2008.
Noted that the State Services Commission supports the “best practice” approach the Ministry has taken to outline the priorities and deliverables based on alignment to the ISSP and Enterprise Architect planning.
Agreed that from the documentation presented the Ministry has demonstrated they are committed to meeting Web Guidelines compliance be it beyond 1 January 2006
Approved the exemption timeframe until 30 June 2008.

This approval is subject to the following caveats being implemented:

In September 2006 and September 2007 provide the e-GIF Management Committee with a status report on progress and an action plan for the remaining tasks.
The Ministry will implement the alternative access measures outlined in the umbrella exemption (refer appendix I attached).

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