OMB prepares a guide for agencies’ Web content and design

Federal Web sites could soon have a similar look. The Office of Management and Budget is writing its recommendations for standards for site content management.OMB’s Brooke Dickson, who is working on the guidance, said the office has not decided the scope of the directive, but it will create a policy to address how agencies manage the lifecycle of Web content. Dickson was a panelist on a Web content seminar at the Interagency Resources Management Council conference in Hershey, Pa.“We will take into consideration creation and collection aspects,” said Dickson, a policy analyst with OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. “Most government business processes are dependent upon this information that is either created for a purpose or collected from the public for business purposes.”Dickson said good government resource management requires a strategy for managing information, content and data so anyone can access the data when they need it.Topics that could be included in the guidance are: Kim Nelson, CIO of the Environmental Protection Agency, said the guidance is the only way to have a single face for all agencies.“We recently redid EPA’s Web site, and it provided credibility and cost savings,” Nelson told the panel’s audience. “OMB is doing the right thing.”Dickson said the guidance will take into account a number of laws and policies, including the Freedom of Information Act, Government Paperwork Reduction Act and OMB Circular A-130.Dickson said the guidance will issued in the next several months.