What's changed from Web Guidelines 2.1?
Development Process
The Web Standards and Recommendations v1.0 have been formed from a review completed by the New Zealand Web Standards Working and Advisory Groups in 2006. These groups consisted of representatives from the Public Sector, Usability and Disabled Persons communities and the IT industry. They were also subject to public consultation.
The fundamental differences between this NZ Government Web Standards and Recommendations v1.0 and previous versions of the NZ Government Web Guidelines are:
- The publication of “standards and recommendations” instead of requirements of “must”, “should” and “may”;
- Each standard and recommendation includes a rationale to explain the necessity for the standard or recommendation, and where possible a description of the impact on users if the standard or recommendation is not implemented;
- A new section that will contain good practice examples for each standard and recommendation. This will evolve during 2007, as examples are provided.
Note: In many cases, there is not a direct correlation between an old v2.1 guideline item and a v1.0 Standards and Recommendations item and where there is, it may only be partial. In a number of cases, a v1.0 Standards and Recommendations item can contain more than one v2.1 guideline item. However, one or more of the v2.1 guideline items may only be partially contained.
| v1.0 Stds/Recs Ref | Short Name | v2.1 Guidelines Ref |
| 1.1 | Text equivalent for every non-text element | WCAG WAI 1.1, 6.4.6k-l |
| 1.2 | Client side image maps preferred over server side image maps | WCAG WAI 1.2 & 1.5 |
| 1.3 | Text description of visual track of a multimedia presentation | WCAG WAI 1.3 & 1.4 |
| 2.1 | Conveyance with colour available without colour | WCAG WAI 2.1, 6.4.5n |
| 2.2 | Contrast between foreground and background colours | WCAG WAI 2.2, 6.4.7b |
| 3.1 | Documents validate to published formal grammars | WCAG WAI 3.2, 6.3.3a-c, 6.3.3e, 6.4.3a-c |
| 3.2 | Use elements to convey document structure and mark up lists properly | WCAG WAI 3.5 & 3.6 |
| 3.3 | Do not use deprecated features of W3C technologies | WCAG WAI 1.2, 6.3.3d |
| 3.4 | Relative rather than absolute units | WCAG WAI 3.4, 6.4.5j-k |
| 4.1 | Document size and type with document links | 6.4.1d |
| 4.2 | Publish documents in most accessible format possible | 6.4.2h |
| 4.3 | Usage of PDF documents | 6.4.2h-i |
| 4.4 | Web site documents for specialist audiences identified as such | 6.4.2b |
| 4.5 | Web site special-purpose documents identified as such | |
| 5.1 | Identify changes in natural language of document text | WCAG WAI 4.1 |
| 5.2 | Identify the primary natural language of a document | WCAG WAI 4.3 |
| 5.3 | Expansion of abbreviations and acronyms in a document | WCAG WAI 4.2 |
| 5.4 | Substituting umlauted vowels for macronised vowels | 6.3.8a |
| 5.5 | Height and width attributes are specified in the IMG element | 6.4.6s |
| 5.6 | Underlining is not used for any items making up text or headings | 6.4.5r |
| 5.7 | Provide metadata to pages and sites | WCAG WAI 3.2 |
| 6.1 | Agency sites provide publicly available reports | 5.4.2e |
| 6.2 | Agency sites provide consultation documents | 5.4.2f |
| 6.3 | Agency sites provide press notices from the agency | 5.4.2g |
| 6.4 | Agency sites provide mandatory email addresses | 5.4.3 |
| 6.5 | Superseded material is marked as superseded | 5.4.2b |
| 6.6 | Paid advertising not hosted on a site | 5.4.6, 6.4.3l |
| 7.1 | Associate labels explicitly with their controls | WCAG WAI 10.2 & 12.4 |
| 7.2 | Create a logical tab order through links | WCAG WAI 9.4 |
| 7.3 | Include non-link, printable characters between adjacent links | WCAG WAI 10.5 |
| 7.4 | Web pages are able to be printed in whole | 6.4.8e |
| 8.1 | Identify the target of each link | |
| 8.2 | External and internal links are valid | 5.4.5b |
| 8.3 | Compulsory links on every web page | 6.4.4c |
| 8.4 | Navigation Access keys | 6.4.4k-q |
| 9.1 | Organise documents so they may be read without style sheets | WCAG WAI 6.1, 6.3.4a |
| 9.2 | Use style sheets to control layout and presentation of page and elements | WCAG WAI 3.3, 6.3.4b-c |
| 10.1 | Ensuring dynamic content is accessible | WCAG WAI 6.2 & 6.5 |
| 10.2 | No blinking or scrolling text and flashing objects | WCAG WAI 7.1 & 7.2, 6.4.5o, 6.4.6b |
| 11.1 | Table row and column headers | WCAG WAI 5.1 |
| 11.2 | Mark-up for data and header cells in tables | WCAG WAI 5.2 |
| 11.3 | Tables for layout | WCAG WAI 5.3 |
| 11.4 | Provide summaries for tables | WCAG WAI 5.5 |
| 12.1 | Frames are not to be used | WCAG WAI 12.2, 6.4.4e |
| 13.1 | Pages usable when scripts, applets and other programmatic objects turned off | WCAG WAI 6.3, 6.3.5a |
| 13.2 | Alternative event handlers & device dependence | WCAG WAI 6.4 & 9.3 |
| 14.1 | Periodical page auto-refreshing | WCAG WAI 7.4 |
| 14.2 | Page auto-redirecting | WCAG WAI 7.5 |
| 15.1 | Pop-ups and other windows appearing | WCAG WAI 10.1 |
| 15.2 | Unique interfacing and device-independence | WCAG WAI 8.1 & 9.2 |
| 15.3 | Keyboard shortcuts | WCAG WAI 9.5 |
| 15.4 | Skipping over long lists of unwanted links | WCAG WAI 13.6 |
| 16.1 | Links to homepage of Main agency web site | 5.4.1a |
| 16.2 | Minimum content of homepages | 5.4.1 |
| 16.3 | Minimum content within About this Site | 5.4.1 |
| 16.4 | Minimum content within Main agency web site | 5.4.2a |
| 16.5 | Crown Copyright | 5.2.2 |
| 16.6 | Copyright of third parties | 5.2.3 |
| 16.7 | Privacy Statement | 7.3.1a |
| 17.1 | Archiving preserving the context of documents | 5.2.1b |
| 18.1 | Minimum web browsers and their respective versions for sites to work in | 6.5f |
| 19.1 | Data tracking able to be disabled | 7.5.1, 7.5a, 6.4.6t |
| 19.2 | Rules governing storage of tracking data | 7.5.1, 7.5a, 6.4.6t |
| 19.3 | Client side personally identifiable data storage | 7.5.1, 7.5a, 6.4.6t |
| 19.4 | Encryption of personal information in tracking data | |
| 20.1 | Requesting users to authenticate themselves | 7.3.2a |
| 21.1 | Security requirements for internet exchange of personal information | 7.3.3a |
| 22.1 | FIELDSET element grouping related form elements | 7.4.2b |
| 22.2 | Descriptive labels tagged as <label> | 7.4.2a |
| 22.3 | Confirmation of information submitted online | 7.4.3b |
| 23.1 | GETS notified of tenders on or over the government procurement threshold | 8.2a |
| 23.2 | Specifying compliance with web standards and recommendations | 8.5.1a |
| 23.3 | Data re-use by third party hosts | 8.6.9a |
| 3.1.1 | Use appropriate mark-up language when it exists | WCAG WAI 3.1 |
| 3.1.2 | Use W3C technologies when available | WCAG WAI 11.1 |
| 3.1.3 | Provide abbreviations for header labels | WCAG WAI 5.6 |
| 4.1.1 | Information for users to select their documents to their preference | |
| 4.1.2 | Versions and other aspects of a document | 6.4.1e |
| 4.1.3 | Compression of large files or collections of small files | 6.4.2f |
| 4.1.4 | Create documents primarily in the valid formal grammars | |
| 5.1.1 | Use the clearest and simplest language appropriate for a site's content | WCAG WAI 14.1 |
| 5.1.2 | Supplement text with graphic or auditory presentations | WCAG WAI 14.2 |
| 5.1.3 | The alt text ends with a full point and a space | 6.4.6n |
| 6.1.3 | Agency sites provide contact details for specific policy or services | 5.4.2i |
| 6.1.5 | Avoid the usage of underscores in URLs | 6.3.6g |
| 6.1.6 | Discovery level URLs are descriptive and less than 50 characters long | 6.3.6h |
| 6.1.7 | Plan in place to ensure material on the web site is accurate and up-to-date | 5.3.1a |
| 6.1.8 | Disclaiming content | 5.2.4c |
| 6.1.9 | Media releases and consultation documents available as an RSS feed | |
| 8.1.1 | Use navigation mechanisms in a consistent manner | WCAG WAI 13.4 |
| 8.1.2 | Differing searches for skill levels if searching provided | WCAG WAI 13.7 |
| 8.1.3 | Non-government links not an endorsement | 5.4.5d |
| 10.1.1 | Minimise movement in pages | WCAG WAI 7.3 |
| 16.1.1 | Divide large blocks of information into manageable groups | WCAG WAI 12.3 |
| 16.1.2 | Provide information about the general layout of a site | WCAG WAI 13.3 |
| 16.1.3 | Placement of distinguishing information | WCAG WAI 13.8 |
| 16.1.4 | Provide information about document collections | WCAG WAI 13.9 |
| 16.1.5 | Create a style of presentation that is consistent across pages | WCAG WAI 14.3 |
| 16.1.6 | A homepage has a link to Search or a Search box. | 5.4.1h |
| 18.1.1 | Operating Systems and Device types for sites to work on | 6.5g |
| 19.1.1 | Scope of collecting tracking data | |
| 19.1.2 | Server side session state | |
| 20.1.1 | Standards to comply with if requesting user authentication | |
| 30.1.1 | Alternative accessible pages if necessary | WCAG WAI 11.4 |
| 31.1.1 | A comprehensive disaster recovery plan | 6.6.2a |
| 31.1.2 | Accommodating any discussion forum(s) | 5.2.5, 7.6.2a-b, 7.6.3 |
| 32.1.1 | Agency incorporating the E-government Policy Framework into its web strategy | |
| 32.1.2 | Agency incorporating the Disability Strategy into its web strategy | 4.2.5a |
| 32.1.3 | Agency incorporating the Maori Language Strategy into its web strategy | 4.2.6a |
| 32.1.4 | Agency having a record keeping strategy |
