KAMİS
Corporate Communications
Access to Information
Principle
Public websites must provide links or access points for citizens to apply for information in accordance with the "Right to Information Act."
Description
In accordance with the Right to Information Act (No. 4982), citizens have the right to request information or documents from public institutions and organizations on issues directly related to them, regardless of whether the information pertains to professional secrets or personal data. Public institutions and organizations are obliged to take the necessary administrative and technical measures to efficiently, quickly, and accurately process information requests made by citizens.
The Right to Information Act allows information requests to be made electronically while safeguarding the identity of the applicant.
Guidelines
- Users must be informed about the Right to Information Act and how and to what extent they can benefit from it.
- A dynamic application form should be prepared for users who wish to exercise their right to information.
- It is recommended to store the user's identity and access information, as well as the date, time, and IP address of the application.
- An email message confirming receipt of the application should be sent to the user.
- An internal email confirming the application should be sent to the person responsible for the process.
References
- ISO 9241-151 / 6.11 – Identifying the website and its owner
Useful Resources
- –
Significance Level
★★★★★ 4/5
Example
In the example site, a link to access information processes is provided on the homepage. Clicking the "Access to Information" link takes users to a page with an explanation of the Right to Information Act, legal information, and a form to submit their request.
Helpline
Principle
Public websites must provide information for citizens to contact a relevant department by phone in case of questions or issues.
Description
The purpose of public websites is to offer public services to citizens electronically. However, it is also necessary to provide users with the option to access institution services via telephone.
Guidelines
- Phone numbers for citizens who wish to contact the institution by phone should be provided.
- Institutional phone information with names such as "Helpline" or "Information Service" should be easily accessible from the homepage for users.
- When viewed from a mobile device browser, phone numbers should be callable. The prefix 0 or +90 should be added to the title, and the numbers should be segmented in the format 3-3-4 (e.g., 0 212 556 4572, 0 (212) 556-4572, or 0-212-556-4572, 444-6566).
- The hours during which helplines are operational should be specified.
References
- ISO 9241-151 / 6.11 – Identifying the website and its owner
- ISO 9241-151 / 7.2.7 – Accepting online user feedback
Useful Resources
Significance Level
★★★★★ 5/5
Example
In the example site, phone numbers for users to contact, grouped by functions, are provided.
Announcements
Principle
Considering the services provided by the institution, the website should feature current announcements.
Description
Some users visit public institution websites solely to read or follow announcements. In this regard, it is crucial for institutions to address their target audience.
Guidelines
- The display of announcements in long lists or separate tabs and the use of text that makes reading difficult should be avoided.
- Care should be taken to ensure that all announcements within the site are used consistently.
- The date of publication of the announcements should also be displayed to the users.
- Announcements should be up-to-date and announcements before a certain date should be removed.
- It will be useful for users to access previously published announcements through the archive.
- The text and content of announcements should be consistent with the existing navigation components and content on the page. Relevant site components should be updated when placing an announcement.
- Over-emphasising and exaggerated images should not be used in the display of announcements unless there is a very serious reason to the contrary.
- Automatic scrolling or progressive announcement display should not be used.
References
- ISO 9241-151 / 7.2.4 – Keeping content up to date
Useful Resources
- –
Significance Level
★★★★★ 5/5
Example
In the example site, announcements are listed by their dates, and there is an "Archive" link in the upper right corner for older announcements.
Email Addresses
Principle
Internet websites should be mindful of the nomenclature of institutional email addresses and make them easily accessible to users.
Description
Institutional email addresses serve as a communication channel between the institution and users. Some errors in the use of institutional email addresses on websites can damage the institution's image.
Guidelines
- The email address or addresses through which users can contact the institution should be clearly specified.
- Personal addresses should not be used on any page within the site, e-mail addresses belonging to the institution should be preferred.
- Email addresses should include the institution's domain names, and the use of addresses obtained from special email service providers such as Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo should be avoided.
- Even if they have institutional extensions, email addresses that violate general official etiquette should not be used.
- When defining email addresses, clear and understandable structures should be used, and addresses should be named in accordance with their purposes.
- If multiple institutional email addresses are defined, they should be named and classified according to the units or topics they are related to (e.g., info@institutionname.gov.tr or complaints@institutionname.gov.tr, etc.).
- For security reasons, if people want to protect their email addresses from robots, methods such as showing the "@" symbol as an image or as "[at]" should be used, and the "mailto" link structure should not be used.
- The management and control of numerous general email addresses should not be made difficult for personnel, and the quality of service should not be negatively affected.
References
- ISO 9241-151 / 6.11 – Identifying the website and its owner
- ISO 9241-151 / 7.2.6 – Enabling communication with website owner
Useful Resources
- –
Significance Level
★★★★★ 4/5
Example
In the example site, email addresses for user communication with the institution are provided, grouped by their purposes.
Corporate Information
Principle
Internet websites should include pages that provide corporate information.
Description
Government websites serve as platforms to provide information related to the services and activities of the institution. They are often visited for the purpose of acquiring information as well as accessing the services themselves. Providing fundamental corporate information through the institution's website is crucial for completing the institution's presence on the internet and ensuring that users have a correct conceptual model of the institution. Users form expectations based on the information they gather from these pages and use the institution's services. Many erroneous interactions occur when users cannot perceive the fundamental structure of the institution.
Guidelines
- Government websites should include pages that provide corporate information.
- Pages with corporate information should be accessed from the main page.
- When creating a corporate identity, the social activities of the institution's administrators, announcements, etc., temporary content, and photos should not compete with the real content.
- When preparing corporate information, if an existing brochure or written document is to be transferred, readability should be enhanced using abbreviation and bullet point techniques.
- A limited number of high-quality photos should be used, and visual content should not overshadow written content.
- The name of the institution and passive sentence structures should be preferred over the first person plural when using the institution's point of view. For example, "our chairman" should be replaced with "Chairman of XYZ" or "the chairman."
- If the institution is affiliated with higher or lower institutions, all information should not be copied verbatim. Instead, relevant links to the original pages of the respective institutions should be provided.
- The following information should be included in the pages that provide corporate information:
– History
– Legislation
– Mission and Vision
– Organization Chart
– Duties and Authorities
– Media and Logo
References
- ISO 9241-151 / 6.2 – Determining the purpose of a Web application
Useful Resources
Significance Level
★★★★★ 5/5
Example
In the sample site, a menu containing corporate information was designed, and information such as the Purpose of Establishment, Mission and Vision were made more easily accessible to users.
Satisfaction Survey
Principle
Satisfaction surveys can be periodically conducted on internet websites to gather feedback from users.
Description
To gain insights into the quality of services and user satisfaction on internet websites, it can be beneficial to collect feedback from users. Short surveys consisting of a small number of questions or applications that allow users to rate the quality of services related to the content of the pages they have viewed or the actions they have taken can be used for this purpose.
Guidelines
- Surveys should be designed so that they can be optionally answered by users.
- Satisfaction surveys should be repeated at regular intervals.
- Data obtained from satisfaction surveys should be stored and used in the development phase of the website.
References
- –
Useful Resources
Significance Level
★★★★★ 3/5
Example
On the sample website, a satisfaction survey regarding the provided service has been prepared. For users who do not wish to complete the survey, a "Return to Service List" button is provided.
Recommendations and Complaints Submission
Principle
Internet websites should provide users with the opportunity to report their requests, suggestions, or complaints.
Description
Feedback collected from users through internet websites can be extremely valuable for improving services or providing more useful services. For a citizen-centric website, the feedback collected from users is of great importance. Institutions with a quality management system should also have a recommendation and complaint feedback system.
Guidelines
- Areas where users can write and send their requests, complaints and suggestions should be designed.
- Classifications such as requests, complaints, and suggestions should be made for easy tracking of feedback submitted by users.
- Users must be provided with feedback on the requests, complaints, or suggestions they have submitted, and they should be informed about the process.
- The defined data entry fields should not be small boxes, but should be in a structure that covers a significant part of the page width and visually allows long text typing, and the presence of scrolling within the box should not be sufficient.
- The "Clear" button should not be used as it may be pressed accidentally.
- An unnecessary number of mandatory information requests should be avoided.
- Anonymous data entry should be allowed as long as the institution's policy permits.
- Human verification methods (e.g., Captcha, etc.) should be used to prevent security vulnerabilities and possible machine attacks.
- Upon the completion of the submission process, a successful result screen should be displayed, and a reminder email should be sent to the sender and the process owner.
- If technically feasible, a tracking number should be generated and communicated to the user.
References
- ISO 9241-151 / 6.11 – Identifying the website and its owner
- ISO 9241-151 / 7.2.7 – Accepting online user feedback
Useful Resources
Significance Level
★★★★★ 4/5
Example
On the sample website, under the "Our Services" menu, a link named "Question, Suggestion, Complaint, Thanks" is provided, allowing users to submit their requests and complaints to the relevant institution.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Principle
Internet websites should prepare an "Frequently Asked Questions" page by listing the frequently asked questions in order of priority, such as those commonly communicated via phone, email, etc.
Description
Creating an "Frequently Asked Questions" page can help prevent continuous inquiries about the same questions, and it can also make it easier for users to access information about common issues they might face.
Guidelines
- A page containing frequently asked questions by users and answers to these questions should be prepared.
- While preparing the "Frequently Asked Questions" page, the questions should be categorised according to their importance and frequency of being asked; the questions with high importance and the most frequently asked questions should be positioned at the top of the page.
- The "Frequently Asked Questions" page should be updated frequently based on feedback received from users.
- If the institution provides services in different categories, and if frequently asked questions can be categorized, answers to these questions should be provided under category headings.
- Instead of having to click one by one, questions can be presented in the form of question-answer pairs, and multiple pages can be provided if the page becomes too long.
- If links to all questions are given at the top of the page, the links should be designed to be clearly visible in terms of color and design, and clicking on them should scroll to the answer of the question. There should be a link in the answer section to go back up to the questions.
- Questions should be designed to be more prominent compared to answers in terms of font size, color, and thickness so they can be clearly distinguished.
- It is also recommended to support frequently asked questions with a search engine.
References
- ISO 9241-151 / 7.2.7 – Accepting online user feedback
- ISO 9241-151 / 10.2 – Providing help
Useful Resources
Significance Level
★★★★★ 4/5
Example
On the sample website, frequently asked questions have been grouped by topic, providing information about common issues users may encounter.
Discussion Groups and Forums
Principle
If discussion groups or forum pages are used on websites, it should be ensured that these pages are up to date and under institutional control.
Description
Institutions use discussion forums on their websites as a means of communication and interaction with users. The purpose of these forums is to have questions answered by institutional staff, for users to interact with each other by sharing experiences and solutions, and for users to contribute. Forums are also effective tools to keep site visits consistent and increase the time spent on the site. Forums that are open to search engines also improve the visibility and search engine ranking of websites. However, there are some important considerations for public internet websites with forums. It should be remembered that an uncontrolled forum environment can be more harmful than beneficial.
Guidelines
- Users should be required to be registered users in order to send messages to the forum.
- Membership information given during registration should be reviewed before approving user registration.
- Permissions, such as registered users being able to start new discussion topics and comment on existing discussions, should be determined in accordance with institutional policies.
- The forum administrator should frequently review the messages received, remove inappropriate content, and cancel the memberships of those responsible.
- For a higher level of control, messages sent to the forum can be approved by the forum administrator before being published. In this case, it should be noted that the functionality of the forum will be limited, and the workload will increase for frequently used forums. However, this method can be suitable for forums with more of a question-answer type of content.
- If forum software is used, all security updates for this software should be applied.
- Users' visibility should be established with their real names as much as possible. This improves the quality of perceptual communication between users and the choice of words used.
- A warning message should be provided for compliance with writing rules.
References
- ISO 9241-151 / 7.2.7 – Accepting online user feedback
Useful Resources
Significance Level
★★★★★ 2/5
Example
On the sample website, users are required to log in with a username and password to send a message to the forum.
Transportation Information
Principle
The open address and transportation information of the institution should be provided on websites.
Description
It is important that people who want to visit or need to visit the institution can easily access the open address of the institution. When providing contact information, the general perception and expectations of website users should be taken into account.
Guidelines
- Clear and understandable addresses of institutions should be provided on websites.
- Official addresses and descriptive words that contain directions should not be mixed up.
- If there are alternative ways to reach the institution, this information should be stated on the relevant page.
- A simple sketch or map explaining how users can reach the institution by private vehicle or public transportation can be preferred.
- On mobile websites, when the address information is clicked, the location should be shown on the map.
- Transportation information of the institution can be accessed through menus, and if columns are used on web pages, the address can be placed at the bottom of this section.
- If possible, an exterior image of the institution should be provided.
- If applicable, working hours and transportation hours should be provided.
- If specific services of the institution are provided in different physical locations, this must be clearly indicated.
- The locations of the institution must be accurately and error-free marked on widely used map applications. It should be ensured that the location information page of the application is accessible, and the accuracy of the mark in the application should be regularly checked.
References
- ISO 9241-151 / 6.11 – Identifying the website and its owner
- ISO 9241-151 / 7.2.6 – Enabling communication with website owner
- ISO 9241-151 / 10.1.2 – Showing relevant location information
Useful Resources
Significance Level
★★★★★ 5/5
Example
On the sample website, the institution's open address, map information, and an exterior image of the institution are provided.