Best Practices

Task-driven

Use a task-driven perspective to identify the website’s top so that CMS’s stakeholders can accomplish their work easily and quickly. For a road map to perform task-driven mission identification, please refer to https://www.digitalgov.gov.

Current Content

Keeping the website content up to date is critical for providing accurate information. By establishing a content review process, using date stamps, managing links, and following records management requirements, out-of-date information can be minimized.

Employee Information on Public Website

Focus public-facing websites on information designed for the public. Use only intranets or extranets to provide information for your employees.

“Contact Us” Page

Provide a page called “Contact Us" or “Contact CMS.” The public expects to see this link on every page of your website, usually in the header or footer. This allows the public to ask questions, get additional information, or report problems. If that is not feasible, at least provide a link from your homepage and every major entry point.

“About Us” Page

The page should be placed at the top navigation bar or banner area of the website. At a minimum, include the following pieces of information:

• Full name of CMS
• Name of CMS head and other key staff, as appropriate
• Contact information
• Basic information about the parent and subsidiary organizations and regional and field offices, as appropriate
• A description of CMS’s mission, including statutory authority
• Strategic plan
• Organizational structure (such as an organizational chart)

“Frequently Asked Questions” Page

People do not always recognize the acronym “FAQ.” “Frequently Asked Questions,” spelled out, is the most common terminology. Consider the following pieces of information as clues to creating a FAQ page:

• Look at email, phone calls, and letters from the public
• Review top search terms
• Talk to the people who answer phones and mail
• Look at statistics
• Look at information requested under the Freedom of Information Act

Site Map

Have a site map or A-Z subject index to serve as a “table of contents.” This can give visitors a quick and easy way to find what they need.

Forms and Publications

Offer ease of access to online forms and other publications by identifying most commonly requested and commonly used forms and publications. Also link to federal portals such as Search for government forms on USA.gov, Publications.USA.gov, and https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys to help visitors find other related materials.

Job and Employment Information

Job seekers and curious citizens want to know basic information such as what jobs are available, how to apply, and what it is like to work at CMS. Include these types of information on CMS’s website. Also link to USA Jobs so visitors can find information about jobs available across the federal government.

Grant and Contract Information

When appropriate, CMS should provide grants information or contracting on its website and link to federal portals such as grants.gov.

External Linking

Notify visitors when they are leaving CMS websites for any non-federal government websites. Preferred methods for notifying visitors include:

• Placing an icon next to the link
• Identifying the destination website in the link text or description itself
• Inserting an intercepting page that displays the notification, after the user selects the link
• Displaying all non-federal links in a separate listing from federal links

Cross-agency Portals

Links to cross-agency websites (portals) can supplement or eliminate the need to create (or recreate) information. These links to other government sites can guide visitors to additional resources they might not otherwise find. This is especially important for federal public websites because many visitors do not know the organizational structure of CMS and may need help finding information and services. Such links might also help visitors get to the most authoritative, current source for information.

USA.gov

Linking to USA.gov is a requirement of Section 204 of the E-Government Act of 2002. Visitors to the CMS website may become frustrated if they are looking for government information and services that are provided by another agency. Linking to USA.gov will help visitors who need information from different agencies or who need a "starting point" to find government information. Such linking also promotes seamless government by allowing visitors to access the vast amount of information from across government without having to know which agency sponsors the information. The following guidance will accomplish this linking:

• Text links should say “USA.gov”.
• For Spanish, use “GobiernoUSA.gov”.

Logos and linking instructions can be found at https://www.usa.gov/link-to-us

• Use the following text for link descriptions and alt text:
  • English: “USA.gov: The U.S. Government's Official Web Portal”
  • Spanish: “GobiernoUSA.gov, el portal official del Gobierno de los Estados Unidos”

Metadata

At a minimum, use these six metadata elements on the homepage and all major entry points:

• dc.title
• dc.description
• dc.creator (the content owner; this should be the name of the organization)
• dc.date.created (original creation date)
• dc.date.reviewed
• dc.language

These six suggested metadata elements are based on internationally recognized Dublin Core standards.