From E-Parliament Wiki
Websites have become one of the most important windows for citizens to view the work of their legislatures. They offer a proactive way in which parliaments can communicate with the public to enhance understanding of the legislature’s role and responsibilities. In countries where the Internet is widely available, they have become a primary means for people to learn what their members have said and done, as well as what laws the legislature has passed or rejected. As access to high speed telecommunications continues to grow on a global basis, this will become true for nearly all countries with legislative bodies.
Parliamentary websites are also important tools for the members, committees, leaders, and officials of the legislature itself. They are often the fastest and most reliable method for obtaining copies of draft bills, receiving agendas, getting summaries of committee actions and the text of committee documents, and learning what other members have said and how they have voted. They have become essential for enabling members to carry out their own legislative and oversight work.
In the year 2000, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (the IPU) published a very important document on Guidelines for the Content and Structure of Parliamentary Websites. This was one of the first attempts to make recommendations to guide the development of websites and to foster good practices in the creation of a communication tool that was becoming increasingly important to legislatures.
The IPU Guidelines have served parliaments well for a number of years, but the authors of those guidelines themselves recognized that they would eventually need to be updated. As they wrote in the introduction to the guidelines “Internet technology is constantly evolving. It [will be] necessary to review and update the Guidelines in the light of future developments.” That time has now come. With the advances in technology during the past 10 years, it is important to update the guidelines to reflect the best current and emerging practices in today’s websites.
The Global Centre, therefore, in consultation with the IPU has undertaken a project to update the guidelines. An advisory group of 15 parliamentary experts from around the world has been formed to consult in this effort. The group is currently discussing a number of ideas contained in an initial draft and intends to make its final recommendations by the end of January 2009.
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