As a staff member involved in site production and/or maintenance and especially if you are a new staff member of a web unit, you should:

• Get to know the Information and Communication Unit of your DG or your institution. Talk to them and ask them to explain what is the unit’s communication policy for the current year and the year to follow.
• If you are working in a Commission DG, read the relevant communication documents in order to familiarise yourself with the ‘aim’ of the Commission’s online communication.
• Start attending the EUROPA Forum meetings as often as possible: it will help you get to know the web teams of Commission DGs and services. Get involved in a group of Internet editors. After you have contacted these two teams they will add your e-mail address to all the relevant distribution lists and you will be informed in any urgent actions needs to be taken or if any information needs to be distributed
• Familiarise yourself with the legal aspects of information published on europa.eu
• Contact IPG team should you have any questions about the guide.

EUROPA provides a vast array of information on European integration concerning the European Union's objectives, policies and institutional set-up. It is designed to be as user-friendly as possible in line with the EU institutions' commitment to openness and one of its main objectives is to make information accessible to the greatest number of people possible. This means not only dealing with the problems posed by all forms of physical handicap or those faced by all the people on the wrong side of the digital divide, but also providing information in as many EU languages as possible. Compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0, level AA is guaranteed, at least for the top level pages. For the same reason multilingualism is a priority for the Commission, and the number of EUROPA official languages is bound to be further increased with the next rounds of enlargement.

The EUROPA site was launched in February 1995 on the occasion of the G7 ministerial meeting on the information society organised by the Commission in Brussels. Although it was originally designed for that particular event, EUROPA expanded rapidly and the Commission decided to turn it into a useful information resource for everyone, specialising in all matters covered by the EU Treaties and the work of the European Institutions. The general public makes great use of EUROPA and statistics show an average of 165 million page viewings per month.

Strictly speaking, EUROPA only refers to the top level institution-independent site http://europa.eu. However, as explained in the previous section, the term EUROPA is often used to refer to all sites managed by the Commission. These include the general public sites with URLs of type xxx.europa.eu and the Commission site http://ec.europa.eu. The Inventory of EUROPA websites offers comprehensive list with detalied information for each website: the URL, the domain, the webmaster, the DG, the type of site, its audience, the theme or topic, the statistics, the technology, the number of pages, etc.

The top level pages of EUROPA are usually the first point of contact a citizen will have with the EU websites. The site user does not necessarily need to know the structure of the EU or who does what. The same holds for the other general public sites which are adressed with a specific name such as xxx.europa.eu because of their particular aim (the section Types of sites provides a detailed description of the sites that are part of the EUROPA family). On the other hand, the Commission pages concern only the European Commission and may require some more specialised knowledge.

The sites of all EU institutions (European Parliament, European Commission, Council, etc.) are part of the EUROPA family and can be accessed through the main EUROPA site, serving as the gateway to these institutions. The appartainance to the family is shown by the URL of the institutional sites which has the form http://institution.europa.eu, such as for example http://europarl.europa.eu. 

This guide describes the rules to which sites managed by the Commission have to comply.

Basic guide to EU and policies

The top level of the EU's website offers basic information on how the EU operates.

The top level pages offer a beginner's guides to EU policies. This section is also under review to respond to user feedback and to make the pages more dynamic (eg including updated news and events in each policy field).

Interinstitutional sites

Sites that have an interinstitutional mission and content or which are not linked to a particular institution or DG can be hosted at EU level.

Examples of sites which have an EU character include:

• Press Releases RAPID is for journalists.
• EU newsroom gathers news from EU institutions.
• Europe Direct is for citizens looking for advice or help in their neighbourhood, or for a local forum promoting dialogue and awareness about EU policies.
• Transparency Register offers a single access to Civil Society to register and contribute to EU policy making.

Sites targeting the general public and providing EU information not related to a single Institution or DG can also have an europa.eu name. For more details see the section on types of sites.

Linking service

The europa.eu site serves as a portal or linking service to EU information online. The site is divided into 6 main topics:

• About the EU
• Policies and activities
• Your Life in the EU
• Take part!
• Publications and documents
• Media centre

There are around 80 pages behind the home page which send visitors to many 1000s of different sources of EU information. Each link is explained briefly to help users in their search. The two most popular sections are About the EU and Publications and documents. The home page also provides quick links to EU institutions and bodies, as well as contact information, news and features.

The design, layout and navigation of the site was tested extensively on users and was designed for accessibility and quick download times.

The different sites that in their entirety compose the Commission site are managed by the individual Directorates-General and services in a decentralised way.
Each site, however, must fit into the overall structure of the Commission's site, which means that they must:

• have a URL under "http://ec.europa.eu/"  (with the exception of policy, audience-related or service-related interistintutional portals);
• offer a minimum amount of standard information;
• comply with the relevant rules and recommendations provided by DG Communication.

Commission sites can be divided into two main categories:

0. 'Generic' sites or portals (which include policy sites, priority sites, audience portals, service sites e.a.)
0. Organisational sites (which include the Commissioner sites, the DG sites and the sites of the Representations).

The Commission pages are easily recognisable by their banner/template. A few examples of Commission templates can be seen at the following sites: European Commission, EuropeAid, Multiannual Financial Framework 2014-2020, and so on.

DG Communication has direct responsibility for the Commission’s home page and for the overall co-ordination of the sites of the Commission’s directorates-general and services. Each directorate or individual service is responsible for the contents of its own site.

Some principles should apply to all categories:

• sites should comply with the common look and feel to contribute to the corporate image of the Commission or the European Union as a whole;
• sites should link to existing central services (e.g. "EUR-Lex", "Rapid", etc.) to prevent duplication, avoid contradictions and simplify maintenance;
• sites should follow the “inverted pyramid” approach: the top-level pages should explain the policies in plain language and general terms for a wider, non-specialist audience. More specialised and detailed information should only be provided at deeper levels, and links to individual files should be properly introduced and explained;
• sites should be as multilingual as possible, especially in the "top-levels", and should always explain their chosen language policy in a dedicated section;
• sites should provide the widest possible access to the information on EUROPA, even when part of that information is actually produced by another DG or Service;
• sites should provide contact details for the authors and/or webmasters, and particularly a "contact" button leading to one or more functional mailboxes belonging to the site itself.

Following a decision of the Secretariat-General(123 KB)  , the web pages of the European institutions are using a common second level domain europa.eu. The use of other second level domain names is not allowed for hosting official EU sites. Nevertheless in order to protect them from abuse by third parties a certain number of second level domain names have been reserved by the EU institutions at the start up of the .eu domain. 

The second level domain europa.eu is managed by the Commission.

The document "Règles et procédures pour l’attribution d’adresses de sites web gérés par les institutions, organes et organismes de l’Union européenne dans le domaine .eu(33 KB)  " issued by the Interinstitutional Editorial Committee for Internet (CEiii) describes the detailed rules for allocation of higher level domain names within the europa.eu domain.

The names of the institutions’ and agencies' sites are composed by adding a third level identification (for example for the Commission ec.europa.eu or the Parliament europarl.europa.eu)

Executive agencies of the Commission can have their own fourth level domain name within the third level domain ec.europa.eu.

Third level names other than institution names can be attributed for special sites, subject to the approval of the CEiii. The creation of such third level names should nevertheless be the exception. Preference must be given to the creation of subsites within the europa.eu or ec.europa.eu domain.

Allocation of site names within the europa.eu or ec.europa.eu domain is governed by the rules explained in the section 'Types of websites' .

Generally speaking the following rules apply:

• Institution independent sites or sites that have an interinstitutional mission and content should use a sub-address of the europa.eu domain. These sites will always target the general public. They must use the Interinstitutional template; no specific institution should claim the 'ownership' of the site, even if the site is exclusively managed by that particular institution or DG.
• Commission sites should use a sub-address in the ec.europa.eu domain and the Commission template. Commission sites will mostly target a more specialised public, but can contain sections that are more oriented towards the general public.

As explained in the section 'Types of sites', it is important to keep a homogeneous approach to the site structure of the Commission sites. Information about a specific topic should be presented in the context of the policy to which it belongs. This can however create naming problems when that topic needs special promotion because of its high importance. The URL of the subsite presenting the topic can be too long to be promoted.

To answer this problem, shorter 'virtual' addresses can be created that will redirect to the real address.

• Example: http://ec.europa.eu/roaming redirecting to http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/roaming/index_en.htm 

Sites must be structured by subject, and not by language. Files are not segregated into separate language-specific directories. Rather, language must be reflected in the name of the web pages themselves. Thus, all the different language versions of any given document must be found together in a single directory.

Filenames for different language versions of the same web document are assigned as follows: The 'base-name' for each version must be exactly the same, and expressed in English.

A suffix is added to the 'base-name', preceded by an underscore character '_', indicating the language of the document, followed by the file extension. The 'standard suffix' uses the ISO abbreviation for the language in question (_bg, _cs, _da, _de, _et, _el, _en, _es, _fr, _ga, _it, _lv, _lt, _hu, _mt, _nl, _pl, _pt, _ro, _sk, _sl, _fi, _sv) (as in index_en.htm, index_bg.htm, index_cs.htm…).

The multilingual index page used as default has to be named without any language suffix.

All names of directories and files must be in lower case to avoid problems of compatibility between platforms which are case-sensitive (e.g. UNIX) and those which are not (e.g. DOS/Windows).

In case a file name or URL contains multiple words, it is necessary to separate these words by preferably hyphen '-' (Correct: multiple-words_en.htm) or underscore '_' (Correct: multiple_words_en.htm). While there is no technical difference between these two options, words separated by hyphens are more intelligible to search engines and webmasters are urged to choose them.

For reasons of clarity and search engine optimization, the use of merged multiple word names is not allowed (Incorrect: multiplewords_en.htm). For the same reasons the file names should be meaningful words or phrases and not series of numbers (Incorrect: 546846321_en.htm).

Do not include unnecessary words such as 'and' and 'the' on the folder and file names.

Websites must be promoted using the following syntax: (ec.)europa.eu/sitename.

URLs must not be printed on promotional material (e.g. posters, leaflets) before the URLs have been approved and set up. The address must be checked in a browser before going to print.

URLs must not be printed in upper case: (EC.)EUROPA.EU/SITENAME is not the same as (ec.)europa.eu/sitename and the upper case examples will not work.

You should follow the procedure described on how to request a web address.

To achieve optimal coordination europa.eu is managed in a very structured way. It is based on 3 basic principles: strategy and planning of overall site policy, day-to-day coordination of websites, and types of roles involved in management of the websites.

The strategy and planning is ensured at committee level. Representatives from DG’s and/or institutions are appointed accordingly, ensuring coordination among the respective entities. The day-to-day work of course takes place at Information and Communication Unit or Web Sector level. Coordination and support is ensured by the EUROPA team in DG COMM with technical backup from your DG’s Information Resources Manager (IRM) who can, if necessary, receive the support of the Directorate-General of Informatics (DIGIT). Depending on the DG’s web team and/or site(s) organisation, many different roles are described in this section. Ideally, one role would correspond to one person, but in practice, one person will assume several roles at various times and at various points in the process.

• Find out your DG’s representative in every committee described in this section. You are most likely one of them!
• Get acquainted with your DG’s IRM team. They are always informed about technological developments and can help with most technical problems.

At the interinstitutional level (europa.eu), it is the Interinstitutional Editorial Committee for Internet (CEiii) that ensures the coordination.

The governance structure for managing sites within the Commission's domain (ec.europa.eu) is defined in its Internet strategy paper "Communicating about Europe via the Internet - Engaging the citizens(338 KB)  ". It foresees the appointment of an EUROPA editor who is the final decision-maker on all daily operations for the content of the top layers of the EUROPA and Commission websites. The editor is assisted by an editorial board composed of permanent members and complemented where necessary and appropriate by Internet editors designated by their DGs. A technical committee steers all technical decisions necessary to offer a modern and powerful Internet platform, based on input from the webmaster community represented through the EUROPA Webmasters Forum.

Interinstitutional Editorial Committee deals with very varied subjects depending on political timeliness, technological development, etc.:

• the creation of permanent services, such as the Eur-Lex online in April 1998 (probably the most outstanding result of this cooperation),
• the development of EUROPA’s inter-institutional pages ("policies ", "institutions", "the EU in brief", "News"),
• the development of general editorial rules,
• databases and systems of common interest (the institutions’ press releases, Who’s who, the official EU directory, presentation of the institutions, "what' s new", etc.),
• the establishment of reliable and systematic links to the institutions’ and OP document databases (the committee is regularly informed of the work of the GIL, which follows all electronic publications of legislative texts),
• setting up reusable common bookshops (icons, geographical maps, etc.),
• standardising disclaimers and copyright notices,
• allocating level 3 addresses on "europa.eu",
• policy and codes of conduct for Internet accessibility,
• sharing experience on tools used,
• coordinating online promotion of important EU events, e.g. launch of the euro, European elections, etc.

The committee does not have either strict decision making authority or responsibility for managing or distributing a budget. It aims mainly to facilitate the exchange of information between institutions and to standardise as much as possible their practices on EUROPA, although these remain their own responsibility.

• Online collaborative space

• List of meetings and documents

• List of members

The ECN, composed of all DGs' Information and Communication Heads of Unit, was created in 2002 and was relaunched with the Action Plan to Improve Communicating Europe by the Commission   (SEC(2005) 985/final, see action 4).

The members of the ECN are the Heads of the DGs Communication Units as described in the Action Plan. However, other representatives of DGs may attend ECN meetings and working groups, if the agenda requires.

Within the context of EUROPA, the ECN has the following mandate:

• Endorse the vision and general orientations proposed by the editor for EUROPA and the Commission's websites.
• Monitor central Internet services provided to line DGs and give feedback on efficiency and added value.
• Propose options/solutions for the structure of sites and wider technological developments and tools.
• Raise and maintain awareness of senior management as to the importance of Internet communication.
• Oversee the provision of training for Internet communication (editorial, technical skills and research).

The ECN meets approximately 5-6 times a year on the basis of established agendas. The meetings of the ECN are organised and chaired by DG COMM.

The ECN has four working groups, in charge of the implementation of the Action Plan:

• Working Group I  : Communications Planning/Planning Ahead (Chaired and managed by COMM)
• Working Group II : Communication Tools (Chaired and managed by COMM)
• Working Group III: Human Resources (Chaired and managed by HR)
• Working Group IV: Networks (Chaired and managed by COMM)

The ECN meets approximately 5-6 times a year on the basis of established agendas. The meetings of the ECN are organised and chaired by DG COMM.

Minutes of meetings 

The EUROPA Forum meetings:

• in 2013
• in 2012
• in 2011
• in 2010
• in 2009
• in 2008
• in 2007
• before 2007

• List of EUROPA Forum members

• Sharepoint for EUROPA Forum

As a formal instance of EUROPA’s management structure as defined in the Communication C(2001)1753, the Forum will:

• Express the needs of the webmasters in terms of infrastructure, tools, training strategy.
• Take part in the updating of the Information Providers Guide (IPG).
• Exchange best practices and organise workshops.
• Participate in the work of the committees of EUROPA's management structure.

The Forum shall appoint a President, or joint Presidents, for a minimum period of six months. It shall decide its work programme and working calendar.

The EUROPA Forum shall nominate its representative(s) in the Technical Committee. The representative(s) in this committee shall report the opinions of the EUROPA Forum.

Meetings of the EUROPA Forum shall be convened by the President(s).

The President(s) shall draw up the draft agenda for the meetings of the EUROPA Forum.

The presidency is responsible of the secretarial aspects of the Forum, with the exception of drafting the minutes which are assumed by the incoming presidency

The President(s) may decide to invite experts to talk on particular matters, at the request of a member or on its own initiative.

The EUROPA Forum may organise practical workshops and may create working parties to examine particular issues. The working parties shall report back to the Forum.

List of upcoming presidents(15 KB)

If deemed necessary by the members of the EUROPA Forum, the Forum will adopt its voting rules in due course.

The EUROPA Forum has its own functional mailbox, so if you wish to contact the presidents, please address your email to EC-EUROPA-FORUM@ec.europa.eu where presidents of the forum will find it.

The Forum was initiated by Benedictus Nieuwenhuis and Giulio Groppi. Since January 1998, the EUROPA Forum has gathered informally every two or three months representatives with web responsibilities from all Commission services.

• 2nd semester 2012: SANTOS Fabricio (HOME) and DELEHAYE Dominique (JRC)
• 1st semester 2012: JONES Linda (JUST) and SNAJDAR Alexandr (INFSO)
• 2nd semester 2011: BORTIN Annika (ESTAT) and AMARO Sergio (EPSO)
• 1st semester 2011: CHIANALE Patrizia (EAC) and SODJA Luka (ELARG)
• 1st semester 2010: KOCH Axel (ECHO) and FERAUX Fabian (EACEA)
• 1st semester 2010: LOCKETT Anthony (EMPL) and CAVALLO Sandra (ENTR)
• 2nd semester 2009: Chris MAXWELL + Michel GERDAY (ECFIN) and Silvia BOMBARDONE + Massimo LUPO (OP)
• 1st semester 2009: Michel VAN KERCKHOVEN (COMP) and Werner VAN OSTA(DGT)
• 2nd semester 2008: Didrik DE SCHAETZEN (AIDCO) and Angeles NOGUEROL (COMM)
• 1st semester 2008 to June 2008: Marinus CHRIST (SJ) and Nathalie COLLIN (BUDG)
• 2nd semester 2007: Anne WEBEL ELLMES (SG) and Paul SPYCKERELLE (AGRI)
• 1st semester 2007: Didier BLOCH (TRADE) and Benedictus NIEUWENHUIS (RELEX)
• 2nd semester 2006: Keitch JOELS (COMM)
• 1st semester 2006: Patrizia CHIANALE (EAC) and Guido WERKERS (SANCO)
• 2nd semester 2005: Robert ANDRECS (TAXUD) and Wolfgang PETZOLD (REGIO)
• 1st semester 2005 to June 2005: Hans CHRISTOFFERSEN (FISH) and Anne DELAUNOIS (MARKT)
• 2nd semester 2004: José ARCOS ORTIZ, DG INFSO and Christian HUWAERT, DG JRC.
• 1st semester 2004: Stephen GOSDEN (RTD) and Carina ARO (ENV)
• 2nd semester 2003: Wilfried SCHOL (AGRI) and Marguerite GAZZE (TREN)
• 1st semester 2003: Terence WHALEY (EMPL) and Linda JONES (COMP)
• 2nd semester 2002: Carina ARO (ENTR) and Robert GANGL (ECFIN)
• In September 2001, the DGs having officially nominated their representatives to the Forum in accordance with the Communication "EUROPA 2nd generation", Brigitte ARNOLD-WÖRTZ and Marinus CHRIST were elected as new co-chairmen for an eight months period.
• In January 2001, Madeleine KIHRLBERG and Gerald MESSIAEN were elected as new co-chairmen.

EUROPA Forum organises training and workshops. Check if any material is useful for you in the Training chapter.

• Define the vision for EUROPA and Commission websites.
• Day-to-day operational management of EUROPA and Commission sites and pages to ensure editorial, linguistic and graphical consistency of corporate sites and pages and projection of a coherent image/identity.
• Strategic and operational planning (short, medium and long term), including identifying the annual resource needs, on the basis of input from DGs and following consultation withDG DIGIT.
• Ensure compliance and quality control with respect to the IPG.
• Communicate and promote internet activities in relation with the development of a European public sphere.
• Mediate and ensure cooperation between DGs.

The EUROPA editor is appointed by the Director-General of DG COMM.

As a formal instance of EUROPA’s management structure as defined in the Communication Communicating about Europe via the Internet   , the Editorial Committee will

• Assist and support the Editor to ensure editorial and graphical consistency on corporate sites and pages.
• Provide line DGs with guidelines on how to effectively present their content on the Internet, including advice on comprehensive multimedia packages.
• Define functional needs for the development/delivery of Internet tools.
• Recommend the level of multilingualism of individual websites and their subsites.

The Editorial Committee is presided by the EUROPA Editor who decides its work programme and working calendar.

The Editorial Committee meets approximately 6 times a year on the basis of established agendas. The meetings are organised and chaired by DG COMM.

Members

• List of Internet editors in the DGs

Meetings

List of meetings, held on: 

• In 2012 all meetings will be jointed with webmasters
• 29.11.2011 (joint with webmasters)
• 22.09.2011 (joint with webmasters)
• 22.06.2011 (joint with webmasters)
• 14.04.2011
• 16.12.2010
• 26.10.2010
• 23.06.2010
• 22.04.2010
• 30.09.2009 (joint with webmasters)
• 23.03.2009
• 19.05.2008
• 07.03.2008

Subgroups

• User experience/usability
• Coordination and planning
• Social media
• Training 

Important documents

• Open letter(25 KB)   from the European Commission's community of Internet editors and webmasters to President Barroso and incoming Commissioners
• Reply of the Vice-President Viviane Reding(141 KB)   to the open letter
• Communicating about Europe via the Internet: Engaging the citizens(338 KB)  
• PowerPoint presentation of the Communication "Communicating about Europe via internet"

Contact

• COMM EUROPA MANAGEMENT 

As a formal instance of EUROPA’s management structure as defined in the communication Communicating about Europe via the Internet  , the Technical Committee will:

• Monitor developments in Internet technology and formulating technical solutions to meet functional needs as defined by the Editorial Committee, including the transition from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 (and other web trends) and the use of Open Source solutions.

• Oversee the delivery of technical solutions by web experts across DGs (coordinated and animated by DIGIT).

• Keep an inventory of all existing and planned web applications and tools developed by web teams in individual DGs that can be re-used by all webmasters.

• Update the technical chapters of the IPG. 

The Technical Committee is presided by DG DIGIT who decides its work programme and working calendar.

You can find more information on its wiki site.

The Technical Committee has a schedule of meetings.

Organisation Chart

The EUROPA team assists departments in planning, creating and managing sites on EUROPA.

It provides support and advice for online communication, including:

• creation, design and maintenance of websites, blogs, forums
• EUTube - a channel on youtube.com for EU video clips
• management of the Flexible Platform for Internet Services - FPFIS
• Corporate Web Content Management System tool and service
• IPG, Information Architecture, Accessibility and Usability Trainings
• Web consulting and advice
• statistics on EUROPA development of Internet tools
• management of access to EUROPA web tools and services
• guidance on use of .eu domain name and allocation of web addresses
• EC home page (in 23 languages) - news articles covering EU policy development, events, etc. and local news from EC Representations offices. Complementary sections: promotion of President's and Commissioners' activities, EU prizes and competitions
• Web network of EC Representations offices
• Promotion on EUROPA home page

For the creation of new sites or subsites, this includes the following:

• discussing the design of the project and its incorporation in the EUROPA structure with the originating department and Internet editors
• drawing the attention of the originating department to the IPG rules to be complied with
• granting a web address or URL
• giving the originating department advice and suggestions on page layout, usability and accessibility, technologies, interactivity, promotion of the site, etc.
• if necessary, ensuring coordination with other departments with a stake in the project

The role of the EUROPA coordinator is to:

• coordinate all the websites managed by the DG and ensure consistency across them
• closely follow developments regarding EUROPA and the rules for publishing on it, and keep the relevant colleagues in their DG informed
• inform the EUROPA team (DG COMM) as soon as the DG plans any new or updated web pages on EUROPA, to check feasibility, compliance with existing rules and how the pages can be suitably integrated into EUROPA
• check the quality of the sites produced by the DG before publication
• act as the sole contact person in their DG for the EUROPA team (DG COMM)

Relationship with the DGs

The Web Translation team offers a project-based service to authoring DGs, to help them produce multilingual web content from start to finish as efficiently as possible, given its own limited resources. The idea is to involve the DGT from the earliest possible stage of web page creation, to ensure the original text sent for translation is fit for purpose in terms of both quantity and quality.

Relationship with DG COMM

Collaboration in ensuring production of web optimised texts

Relationship with DIGIT

Since 2012, a DGT Dashboard application has been developed into the CWCMS to facilitate the workflow for the request of translation of web pages. Everyone can use it after requesting access to the translation functionality. The DGT Dashboard allows tracking the progress of the translation requests done by the user.

To request access to the DGT Dashboard and for more information, please read the page "How to request access to the translation functionality".

Unit mailbox

DGT-D-2-SECRETARIAT@ec.europa.eu

• general enquiries on activities and products provided by the DGT web unit
• requests for web translation or editing

• upstream linguistic advice (before drafting starts)
• editing and linguistic revision at all stages prior to finalisation of the original text
• initial feedback on the usability of the final web pages
• translation/localisation of finalised content
• ongoing maintenance support (updating)
• Translation hotline – fast translation of very short texts (max. 250 characters)

• original text for editing
• original text for translation

• web-friendly original texts
• web-friendly translations

• native-speaker editing and linguistic advice on web writing
• web translation

• DGT Dashboard
  To request access to it, read the page "How to request access to the translation functionality".
• POETRY
  Enter a request for your original web text to be edited for web style or translated.
• IATE (Inter Active Terminology for Europe)
  Search for a foreign-language equivalent in the institutions’ terminology database.
• Translation and drafting resources
  To help you draft your texts and find answers to linguistic queries.
• Hotline request
  Use the form to request rapid translations of very short texts (max. 250 characters).

Tools DGT uses

• Word
• TagEditor
• Translators’ Workbench
• Euramis
• Excel
• dedicated web translation/editing tool, integrated with Documentum

Related roles and resources

• DG COMM
• authoring DGs
• freelance translators

• How DGT web editors can help
• How to write clearly  
• English style guide (DGT)  
• Interinstitutional style guide

The point of contact for infrastructure services provided by Infrastructure Services Provision (DIGIT-C) at the Data Centre is the Account Manager (or Customer Relationship Manager or CRM) of your DG.

The Account Managers per DG are listed in this DIGIT's table.

More information: DIGIT Services - Information System Hosting

The Office is an interinstitutional body, and functions under the auspices of the European Commission. It is governed by a Management Committee, on which each institution is represented by its Secretary-General.

In order to bring information to the citizen, the Publications Office cooperates with the EU institutions, agencies and bodies to further enhance the transparency of the legislative process and of European policies and to facilitate access to European legislation and information published in the L (Legislation), C (Information and Notices) and S (Public procurement) series of the Official Journal and on the related EUR-Lex and TED websites. The citizen has access to European Publications through the EU Bookshop and contact information for EU Officials can be found via EU Whoiswho, the official directory of the European Union.

The Publications Office know–how is available to all who require help and advice with publications projects (electronic and paper). The OP works with framework contracts to produce publications together with external contractors (see IPG section on Subcontracting, Accessibility, Usability and Ergonomics). Directorates-General and institutions can submit a request for a publication which will be produced in-house or with the help of an external contractor. OP advises on technical specifications; helps plan, prepare and manage projects and ensure quality of the finished product; ensures conformity with the rules governing use of framework contracts and house style guides.

The Publications Office has a number of such contracts which can be used to carry out multimedia and print publications projects. See IPG section listing OP framework contracts. Also please refer to OPSERV (services offered by the Publications Office) and the Publications Office intranet for further information.

The Publications Office maintains a representative at the Europa Forum, and has participated in the revision of the Information Providers Guide, offering expertise and keeping colleagues up to date on work of OP and ways in which OP and other DGs can collaborate.

DG COMM has made use of Publications Office framework contracts for carrying out various publications and IT projects.

The Publications Office has permanent contact with DIGIT. DIGIT is hosting most of the website managed by the Publications Office (EUR-Lex, SIMAP, publications.europa.eu …).

• PubliCare (services offered by the Publications Office)

You will find the widest range of services offered by the Publications Office for the production and dissemination of the general publications of the European Union: assignment of identifiers, graphic design, proofreading, production, dissemination, fulfilment and storage.

The role of the webmaster is to:

• Manage the websites run by the DG
• Create HTML pages, in compliance with the IPG
• Carry out systematic technical quality control before publishing each new or updated page
• Provide technical advice within the DG on web issues (in particular compliance with the IPG)

Person who manages a website. Responsible for the HW/SW of the web server. Also publishes web content on the site if content providers do not have access rights.

The tasks of the webmaster are to:

• Ensure site development (HW, technology, etc.)
• Administer the site’s web server
• Ensure the security of the Internet/intranet servers
• Verify the site’s integrity and consistency (broken links …)
• Support accessibility and searches (load balancing, indexation …)
• Improve the site’s audience statistics (search engines)
• Check site statistics
• Technical quality control before publishing each new or updated page
• Advise the DG on web technology matters

Access requests for publishing on EUROPA staging and production server

Webmasters has to have following skills:

• Knowledge of HTML, XML/XSL
• Structure and organisation of the website
• Operating systems (Windows NT, Unix, Linux)
• Networks and Internet protocols
• Plan and manage the back-end infrastructure of a website
• Security systems (Firewalls, Encryption, access control, back-up systems …)
• RDBMS, WWW Technology (ODBC/JDBC …)
• Knowledge of administrative regulations IPG guide

Each DG appoints a EUROPA coordinator and has one (or more) webmasters responsible for the technical aspects of site management.

The role of the EUROPA coordinator is to:

• Coordinate all the websites managed by the DG and ensure consistency across them.
• Closely follow developments regarding EUROPA and the rules for publishing on it and keep the relevant colleagues in their DG informed of this.
• Inform the EUROPA team (DG COMM) as soon as the DG plans any new or updated web pages on EUROPA, to check feasibility, compliance with existing rules and how the pages can be suitably integrated into EUROPA.
• Check the quality of the sites produced by the DG before publication.
• Act as the sole contact person in their DG for the EUROPA team (DG COMM).

The role of the webmaster is to:

• Manage the websites run by the DG
• Create HTML pages, in compliance with the IPG
• Carry out systematic technical quality control before publishing each new or updated page
• Provide technical advice within the DG on web issues (in particular compliance with the IPG)

Each Directorate-General and department shall formally nominate the person(s) responsible for the website of the Directorate-General or department as its representative(s) to the EUROPA Forum.

Please, notify EUROPA Management of any changes to the list.

EUROPA webmasters have regular meetings.

Training materials are available in the Training section.

• Use of text editors
• Writing for the Web.
• Verify the site’s integrity and consistency (broken links …)
• Support web accessibility
• Support search engine optimisation
• Check site statistics

Internet editor needs:

• a good knowledge of the possibilities and limitations of the Internet
• good writing skills for the Internet (or at least editorial experience)
• strategic understanding and communication background
• good knowledge of the corporate rules for site construction as laid down in the IPG
• a well-defined level of "authority" to take decisions on web-related matters.

• Internet basics
• HTML, PDF conversion tools
• WYSIWYG HTML editor
• Documentum Corporate WCM for end users

EUROPA Internet editors have regular meetings and workshops.

• Create/modify simple HTML page content
• Convert documents to HTML format
• Convert documents to PDF format

• Use of text editors
• Writing for the Web

• Internet basics
• HTML, PDF conversion tools
• WYSIWYG HTML editor
• Documentum Corporate WCM for end users
• Writing for the Web (Syslog Formation)

When establishing a contract, make sure to indicate clearly the requirement for conformity with the IPG and with any other guide you want the contractor to respect. This will allow you to request all necessary corrections resulting from any non-conformity, without any possible claim from the contractor for additional payment.

The EUROPA team provides support to the Webmasters in their task of ensuring that the quality of the existing or new site conforms to the defined standards and recommendations. The EUROPA team offers a quality control service to verify the quality of your site. Two types of analysis are carried out for this purpose: in-depth analysis and technical analysis.

• A strong vision of the website’s goals
• Knowledge of server technology and information architecture
• Experience in co-ordinating the web team

• Managing a website and web team
• Project management
• Legal issues
• Internet basics
• Documentum Corporate WCM for webmasters
• Documentum Corporate WCM workflows for webmasters

Should be thoroughly familiar with the organisation and purpose of the service, because he/she designs the structure and content of the Web, in conjunction with the Content Manager.

• Identify the mission and focus of a website; determine who will be using the site, who is building it, key usability principles, technical constraints, and future needs.
• Determine anticipated user paths, construct a structure and method of organisation; organise site content into categories and assist in creating an interface to support those categories.
• Design the organisation, labelling, navigation, and indexing systems to support both browsing and searching to ensure that users can easily find the information they need.
• Develop the metadata dimension from the business requirements together with the content manager.

• Vision and strategy
• Know Internet technologies (data modelling, XML/XSL, HTML, CSS,  etc.)
• Know web usability, Information architecture, WCAG, standards and IPG guide of the website

• Website Design/Construction
• Website management
• Mark-up and scripting
• Ergonomics, WAI, standards and guide IPG of the website
• Documentum Corporate WCM for webmasters
• Documentum Corporate WCM workflows for webmasters
• XSL development with Documentum Corporate WCM

• Entry-level WCM
• FrontPage
• Dreamweaver
• NIX, NTFS file system
• WCM implemented with Documentum and using Documentum Web Publisher as the client interface

• Programming  XSL, scripts, applets, Database applications

• Analysis
• Design
• Programming (HTML,XML, XSL, Java, JavaScript, Coldfusion, etc.)
• Testing
• Database Design, SQL- databases, retrieving and manipulating data

• HTML, XML/XSL and scripting
• Analysis, design, programming and testing Java, JavaScript,  Coldfusion, etc.
• Database design, SQL- databases, retrieving and manipulating data within a website
• Documentum Corporate WCM for webmasters  
• Documentum Corporate WCM workflows for webmasters
• XSL development with Documentum Corporate WCM

• Define the graphical layout of the Site and its “image”
• Create/modify images, icons, logos and navigation buttons
• Design the user interface
• Create the page design, CSS design (templates) to define the presentation style of the site’s page
• Create/modify multimedia for the site

• Creativity
• Graphical ability
• Knowledge of ergonomics, WAI, standards and IPG guide of the website.

• Ergonomics, WAI, standards and IPG guide of the Web site
• HTML and CSS
• Web graphics
• Multimedia
• Documentum Corporate WCM for webmasters
• XSL development with Documentum Corporate WCM

• Should master the languages used in the workplace
• Knowledge of text editors

• Basic Internet skills
• HTML, PDF conversion tools
• WYSIWYG HTML editor
• Documentum Corporate WCM for end users

Required skills are:

• Native speaker editing and linguistic advice on web writing
• Web translation

• Translation experience
• Editing experience
• Web writing/internet communication
• Experience with the following tools:
  • WORD
  • TagEditor
  • Translators’ Workbench (TWB)
  • Euramis
  • Excel

As regards Internet, all people with access to Internet could read the content of those EC websites on the Internet, therefore we can group our Internet website users into two categories:

• EC web users
• External EC web users

• Browsing the Web

• Basics Internet skills

Websites are a key tool to inform citizens and stakeholders about EU policies, legislation, their rights in the internal market, grants, employment opportunities and many other things that affect their daily lives.  Furthermore, the web is a very cost-effective, accessible and efficient means of communication, which is particularly relevant in the current political and financial context where we must account for every euro of taxpayer´s money we spend.

Although over 40 million people visit Commission websites every month, many more would visit, and return to, these sites if they were more coherent and user focused. Research shows that visitors to EUROPA – the Commission's web platform - would benefit from fewer and better sites.

With this in mind, the Commission is rationalising its presence on the web. This project aims to improve the quality of our online information and services. At the same time it will help better meet the needs of our users, whilst cutting cost and content duplication.

On the basis of the results which are expected in autumn 2012, the Commission plans to rethink its web and digital communications to keep pace with the breathtaking evolution of the communication landscape and citizens' expectations.

Read more about websites' rationalisation(136 KB) and its detailed roadmap(13 KB).

Following the decision to adopt a common visual identity to strengthen the corporate image of the European Commission, communicated in the note to the Directors-General (23/11/2011), and announced in the note on the Implementation of the Commission's Visual Identity on the web (12/12/2011), the Commission standard template has been updated to implement this new corporate visual identity on the web.

Depending on the context, DGs may choose to apply the new visual identity within their current environment, or to implement the new template 2012.

The graphical specifications and tools to create the new banner can be found on the standard template page.

Guidelines for implementing the new visual identity using previous versions of the template are available at CWCMS portal.

Communicating about Europe via the Internet - Engaging the citizens(338 KB)   (SEC(2007) 1742). The Commission launches a new Internet strategy embracing the Internet culture and aiming at making full use of the recent online developments in communication. According to this document, the Commission faces a twofold challenge: it needs to overhaul the EUROPA site and stimulate interest in EU affairs on other websites in order to broaden the debate on the European Union. This strategy is a follow-up to the Commission’s recent Communication “Communicating Europe in Partnership”. It is one of many ways of ensuring that the citizen’s right to be informed on EU issues remains a reality and a priority.

Communicating Europe in Partnership (COM(2007) 568 final) have the aim of informing the public more fully on the European Union (EU) and of giving citizens a more prominent voice. EU nationals are entitled to know about proposals made by EU officials, their governments being part of that Union, and also to influence their content. Since this Communication on European affairs was the result of a joint effort, a number of partnerships will be forged between the other institutions and the Member States.

The Commission adopts a strategic framework, aiming to become a first class e-administration and improve its efficiency and transparency through the best use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).

The Commission publishes its proposal on communicating better with the public [214 KB], inviting comments from all sections of society.

After the European constitution is rejected by voters in France and the Netherlands, EU leaders call for a period of reflection. The Commission proposes its plan to stimulate more democracy, dialogue and debate in the EU.

The Commission adopted on 20 July 2005 an action plan   [253 KB] to improve communicating Europe by the Commission. The extract below specifically concerns the Internet:

The EU website, "EUROPA", is the largest public website in the world and a rich source of information and has a key role to play in the Commission’s communication efforts. There is, however, a need to shift the emphasis more towards communication, to facilitate navigation, to strive to ensure that EUROPA pages are fully multilingual at the appropriate level and to operate with state of the art technology, including a powerful search engine.

DG Communication [the new name of DG PRESS] will therefore establish an Editor for EUROPA, with the objective of ensuring a well-structured website and avoiding overlaps of texts.

DG Communication will concentrate its intensified editorial efforts on a news site focusing on EU Communication priorities and current ‘hot’ topics, and on a number of general sites for young people and other key target audiences. Information for the general public will be fed locally by the Representations in their language(s) and tailored to local needs and realities.

Thematic pages addressing a more specialist audience will be managed by the DGs responsible for any given topic, under the authority of the editor and with editorial help if necessary from DG Communication.

Thematic portals should move beyond the Commission's DGs and services so that anyone interested can, with just one click, get an overview of a subject from all the institutions.

On 25 July 2001, the Commission adopted a White Paper on European Governance.

The paragraphs quoted below relate specifically to the development of EUROPA in the short term:

"Democracy depends on people being able to take part in public debate. To do this, they must have access to reliable information on European issues and be able to scrutinise the policy process in its various stages. Major progress has been made in 2001 with the adoption of new rules giving citizens greater access to Community documents. However, the Institutions and Member States also need to communicate more actively with the general public on European issues. The communication policy of the Commission and the other Institutions will promote efforts to deliver information at national and local level, where possible making use of networks, grassroots organisations and national, regional and local authorities. Information should be presented in a way adapted to local needs and concerns, and be available in all official languages if the Union is not to exclude a vast proportion of its population – a challenge which will become more acute in the context of enlargement.

Information and communication technologies have an important role. Accordingly, the EU’s EUROPA Website is set to evolve into an inter-active platform for information, feedback and debate, linking parallel networks across the Union.

Providing more information and more effective communication are a pre-condition for generating a sense of belonging to Europe. The aim should be to create a trans-national "space" where citizens from different countries can discuss what they perceive as being the important challenges for the Union. This should help policy makers to stay in touch with European public opinion, and could guide them in identifying European projects which mobilise public support."

On 6 July 2001, the European Commission published a paper setting out new goals for the development of EUROPA   [95 KB].

This paper specifies the interdepartmental responsibilities of particular Commission departments (particularly DG Press, the Directorate-General for Informatics and the Publications Office of the European Union). It also sets out the intradepartmental responsibilities of all Commission departments in terms of supplying material for EUROPA.

On 8 June 2001, the Commission adopted a paper entitled " Towards the e-Commission: Implementation Strategy 2001-2005 (Actions 7, 8 and 9 of the Reform White Paper)  ".

This paper forms part of the European Union’s "e-Europe" initiative. It defines the three main strands of the "e-Commission" as follows:

• modernisation of the internal administration: better value for money
• more efficient communication with external partners
• better public service to citizens and business

The development of EUROPA is part of the third strand.

• Use the obligatory europa.eu or ec.europa.eu templates . These contain the general legal notice. After identifying what types of content will appear on the website, choose any specific legal notices/disclaimers that need to be inserted.
• Think about who will manage requests from third parties to reproduce content/pages from your site. If there is no one available in your local team or DG, provide a mechanism to forward all such requests to COMM-COPYRIGHT@ec.europa.eu.
• If you want to publish content that your Unit/DG has not produced itself, check its copyright status first. If the content was produced outside the European institutions, check that it is free of copyright before using it, otherwise acquire copyright clearance.
• If linking to external sites, include a specific disclaimer for content not provided directly by EUROPA.

• SEC(1999)1410 (PDF - Word)
  Sets out the specifications for the first two standard clauses and other specific clauses.
• Annex to SEC(1999)1410  (PDF - Word)
  Contains the texts in the other languages (not available when the document was published).
• Regulation 45/2001 on the processing of personal data [120KB].
• Commission Decision (2011/833/EU) on the reuse of Commission documents
  The current EC policy on re-use of European Commission documents.

In general terms, all works such as publications or documents issued by the European Union institutions and bodies, irrespective of the medium, are subject to copyright, whether or not this is explicitly stated, except for works excluded from copyright protection by the relevant applicable law because they do not meet the legal requirements for protection or even if they do, they are subject to legal exceptions. The Internet increasing the potential audience of works displayed online and disseminated through the European Union’s official website ‘Europa’, it is essential to ensure the protection of the European Union's intellectual property rights.

In the same way, the rights of third-party literary or artistic works incorporated in EU websites and electronic documents shall be protected.

Therefore, appropriate disclaimers and notices must be inserted in precise terms and wherever relevant.

For literary (articles/studies/reports/etc. or excerpts thereof) or artistic (photos/graphs/drawings/etc.) works prepared by EU statutory personnel within the context of their work for the EU institutions or bodies, the copyright vests with the European Union, in accordance with Article 18 of the Staff Regulations of officials of the European Communities(2 MB)  :

1. All rights in any writings or other work done by any official in the performance of his duties shall be the property of the Community to whose activities such writings or works relate. The Communities shall have the right to acquire compulsorily the copyright in such works.
2. Any invention made by an official in the course of or in connection with the performance of his duties shall be the undisputed property of the Communities. The institution may, at its own expense and on behalf of the Communities, apply for and obtain patents therefore in all countries. Any invention relating to the work of the Communities made by an official during the year following the expiration of his term of duty shall, unless proved otherwise, be deemed to have been made in the course of or in connection with the performance of his duties. Where inventions are the subject of patents, the name of the inventor or inventors shall be stated. 
3. The institution may in appropriate cases award a bonus, the amount of which shall be determined by the institution, to an official who is the author of a patented invention.

For contributions/articles/studies/reports/etc. prepared by external companies/contractors on commission for EU institutions or bodies, and subject to standard EU service/study contracts, the general terms and conditions stipulate that any results or rights, including copyright and other intellectual or industrial property rights obtained in performance of the contract, shall be owned exclusively by the European Union, except where copyright or any other right of ownership already exists prior to the entering into force of the contract. In this latter case,  the company/contractor shall specify the works subject to these pre-existing rights, which are included in the contribution/article/study/report/etc, and shall warrant that it is the owner of these rights or, as the case may be, that it has obtained permission from the copyright holder(s) or from its or their legal representatives to use the works. Furthermore, it shall communicate any terms and conditions linked to the rights it has been granted.

The use by an EU institution or body of contributions/articles/studies/reports/etc. submitted by third-party experts or groups of experts is subject to a ‘publication/translation rights agreement’.

The Commission has a reuse policy regarding its works that is implemented by Commission Decision of 12 December 2011 on the reuse of Commission documents. According to Article 2(1), this Decision only applies to public documents produced by the Commission or by public and private entities on its behalf:

• which have been published by the Commission or by the Publications Office on its behalf through publications, websites or dissemination tools; or
• which have not been published for economic or other practical reasons, such as studies, reports and other data.

This means that this reuse policy does not apply to works created by other EU Institutions or bodies. This difference is reflected in the general copyright notice of EUROPA and in the specific copyright notice of the Commission which are different.

Whenever third-party literary (articles/studies/reports/etc. or excerpts thereof) or artistic (photos/graphs/drawings/etc.) work is included within an EU website or electronic document, whatever the medium, the institution or body shall be responsible for obtaining the author’s or, as the case may be, right-holder's permission in writing and shall pay any fees required for the rights granted and ensure that appropriate acknowledgement is given in the publication.

The so called 'royalty free' images or photos found on the Internet or purchased on CD-ROM are not public domain! They are copyright protected. Therefore it is essential to respect all terms of use specified.

For this purpose, an agreement setting out basic formal conditions shall be concluded between the DG or other originating department and the author/copyright holder of this material. Whereas the ownership remains with the author/copyright holder, a ‘Publication/translation rights agreement’ not only authorises the EU to use/publish/translate the material, but also authorises the EU to permit further use/reproduction/translation thereof. It also states, if relevant, that the author/copyright holder has obtained unfettered rights for the reuse in his work of materials on which copyright or any other right of ownership already exists. A duly signed original of such agreements shall be kept within the relevant files. For further information, please contact copyright-info@publications.europa.eu.

Moreover, when using third-party material, whether textual or artistic, appropriate acknowledgement must be given to the author/copyright holder thereof (for photos, for example, a concise caption can be inserted). An additional courtesy acknowledgement may be mentioned as follows: ‘Reproduced with kind permission of the author(s)’.

Should, however, an author/copyright holder or his/her legal representative object to any use of his/her textual or artistic works other than dissemination by the EU institutions or bodies within their publication, the originating department shall respect this condition by displaying a relevant notice.

The latter may be printed directly under the third-party copyright acknowledgement as follows: ‘Reproduction is not authorised’, or inserted at a suitably prominent place at the beginning of a publication, as shown below.

• Reproduction of the texts of this [report/study/article/etc.] is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. Reproduction of the artistic material contained therein is prohibited.
• [Title of the material] (texts, drawings, photos, audio, video, etc.)
  © [name of copyright holder], [year of publication/creation]

For reproduction or use of this work, permission must be sought directly from the copyright holder.

In any case, the originating department is responsible for ensuring that no discrepancy may occur between the rights granted by the copyright holder and the copyright notice covering its publication.

For textual works, it is advisable to add to the copyright notice and qualification a disclaimer regarding responsibility, the form and wording of which is at the originating department’s discretion and adapted to the specific case, as shown in the following examples (for the EU).

• Responsibility for the information and views set out in this [report/study/article/publication/etc.] lies entirely with the author(s).
• The content of this [report/study/article/publication/etc.] does not reflect the official opinion of the European Union. Responsibility for the information and views expressed in the [...]/[therein] lies entirely with the author(s).
• The information and views set out in this [report/study/article/publication/etc.] are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the European Union. Neither the European Union institutions and bodies nor any person acting on their behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Any EU institution or body wishing to create a link to a third-party website shall make prior enquiries about the terms and conditions set out on the website concerned, and it shall keep thereto. Furthermore, notifying the webmaster of a third-party website of the creation of a link from the EU ‘EUROPA’ website is considered a matter of ‘netiquette’ and legal caution.

Read more about links to external site.

For more in-depth information on copyright and other intellectual property rights, related to web sites, please consult the Intranet Copyright website.

For any additional information about Copyright and other Intellectual Property Rights please contact the helpdesk on Copyright in DG COMM at the address COMM-COPYRIGHT@ec.europa.eu.

For further questions regarding copyright issues related to publications, please contact the Publications Office at the address copyright-info@publications.europa.eu.

Copyright notice for European Commission websites

© European Union, 1995-2013

Reuse is authorised, provided the source is acknowledged. The reuse policy of the European Commission is implemented by a Decision of 12 December 2011.

The general principle of reuse can be subject to conditions which may be specified in individual copyright notices. Therefore users are advised to refer to the copyright notices of the individual websites maintained under Europa and of the individual documents. Reuse is not applicable to documents subject to intellectual property rights of third parties.

Copyright notice for EUROPA Inter-institutional websites

© European Union, 1995-2013

Reproduction is authorised, provided the source is acknowledged, save where otherwise stated.

Where prior permission must be obtained for the reproduction or use of textual and multimedia information (sound, images, software, etc.), such permission shall cancel the above-mentioned general permission and shall clearly indicate any restrictions on use.

To be included by the author in publications:

• © European Union, [year]
  
  Responsibility for the information and views set out in this [report/study/article/publication…] lies entirely with the authors).
  
  Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.

• © European Union, [year]
  
  The content of this [report/study/article/publication…] does not reflect the official opinion of the European Union. Responsibility for the information and views expressed in the [...] / [therein] lies entirely with the author(s).
  
  Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.

• © European Union, [year]
  
  The information and views set out in this [report/study/article/publication…] are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the European Union. Neither the European Union institutions and bodies nor any person acting on their behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained therein.
  
  Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.
  
  

Before displaying the wording ‘Reproduction is authorised …’, either of the following conditions must be set:

• No third-party textual or artistic material is included in the publication without the copyright holder’s prior consent to further dissemination by other third parties.
• An additional clearly positioned notice specifies that the reproduction of the third-party textual or artistic material included is prohibited.

Read about disclaimer concerning Google products.

For all the Institutions, the European Data Protection Supervisor acts as an independent supervisory authority (see art. 41 to 45 of the Regulation).

Each institution or body appoints at least one person as Data Protection Officer.

For more details please consult:

• Data Protection Officer of the European Commission
• the Data Protection Officer of the European Commission on MyIntracomm
• Standard Notification Models and Templates for common processing operations
• Justice, Freedom and Security Directorate-General
  This page provides access to information on EC data protection law in general, on the Directive 95/46/EC and on the transfer of data to third countries. It provides access to the websites of the national Data Protection Authorities and other useful information like the opinions of the Article 29 Working Party.

Description

Many companies offer "free" tools, services, plug-ins or widgets that provide extra features and functionalities on websites. Use of these tools generally requires registration on the site and acceptance of the companies' terms of use. Examples include Google analytics or Statscounter to analyse site traffic; Bing maps for geographical information; AddThis to share or bookmark; YouTube for videos; Facebook social plug-ins an extension of Facebook in other site; Twitter plug-ins, etc.

These tools can be used or embedded on any website via JavaScript or API, while the tool remains hosted on the servers of the company. The website including the third-party tool will contact and connect to the company's servers anytime a page is viewed by a user. 

Using these tools embedded on EUROPA sites is not without risk. Several European countries and the US have removed third-party tools from their sites for fear of breaching their user privacy obligations following complaints by web users. For example, the German Data Protection Institution has declared it does not authorize the use of Google Analytics on public websites. The US government has drafted terms of services agreements with a range of Internet companies to ensure that they are still in control of the tool, service and data privacy.

Risks

The risks of using third party tools are based on the following critical issues:

1. Privacy and data protection

The European Union is committed to user privacy in conformity with Regulation 45/2001. As far as the Commission is concerned, its Personal Data Protection legal notice based on Regulation (EC) 45/2001 guarantees that on EUROPA sites the users are always informed when their private data is collected and how this data is handled.

EUROPA sites permit the use of session cookies and in cases when permanent cookies are used the Internet user is duly notified. On the contrary, third-party products often use permanent cookies, log files, web beacons and other tracking tools to monitor and analyse user behaviour.

In that case, the data will be transferred outside the EU, which is subject to a series of conditions and restrictions: the Commission is generally not in a position to check that such conditions are met by the third party service provider.

2. Business continuity is not guaranteed

The third-party tools are not maintained by the EUROPA team and the European Commission does not have any influence over them. That means there is a risk that the product could be discontinued at any time without prior notice. In case of malfunction or error in the service, there is no mechanism to assure backup function or data recovery.

3. Legal uncertainty

The terms of use of third-party tools may be changed without notice. A service that was once free may suddenly bring about legal or financial obligations for the institutions. The company that developed the tool may be sold to a competitor that could have different intentions for the use of the collected data. The privacy policy of the service provider may vary.

It should be also noted that by accepting the terms of use of the third-party service, EUROPA webmasters participate in a legal act in the name of the institution for which he or she may not have any authorisation.

4. Dependency on third party

External tools are essentially black boxes. Webmasters do not have control over them and the development team of DIGIT is unable to assist with any development or troubleshooting.

5. Limited accuracy assurance, dubious data comparability

Providers could change or adjust the collected data without notice. Moreover, various companies offering third party tools use differing data collection methods. Therefore, websites cannot be compared to each other. Their results can vary depending on the tool used thus being useless for reporting. On the contrary, EUROPA analytics uses the same collection method for all sites and allows comparability between them.

6. Internet security risks

In the past, the settings of a third-party service integrated on a Commission website were changed to redirect users to a pornographic website. On another occasion, users were asked to install virus infested software under heading of the European Union. Recently, Twitter was spreading a worm without the account owner's knowledge. This is an obvious public relation risk. 

7. Endorsement

The use of a third-party service on EUROPA sites serves as implicit endorsement or approval by the European institutions. This would constitute a breach of competition rules as no tender has been launched nor there exists any contractual relationship. This can also result in the Commission being held liable for any harm suffered by the Internet user.

Use on EUROPA

• Third party services are not allowed on EUROPA. Webmasters must use in-house solutions and not third party tools. The Commission has set up a range of in-house solutions which provide the same or often better service than some of these "free" tools. These services are tested to comply with security and legal requirements of the institutions. They also come with the full support and back-up of the EUROPA Team and DIGIT. 
• Insert a link to your social media pages instead of embedding the plug-ins on your site. 
• All videos posted on EUTube are available on the Audiovisual service. Embed or link to them instead.
• Use of social media in EU communication 

In case a EUROPA website wishes to use third party services, it should concern a justified business need, which cannot be fulfilled by in-house solutions. In that case, a risk assessment should be made, considering the requirements of Regulation (EC) 45/2001,  Decision C(2006)3602 and Directive 2009/136/EC. This risk assessment should cover at least the 7 risk areas mentioned above and should include a consultation of the DPO and HR.DS.

If the aforementioned actions have lead to a positive outcome, the owner of the EUROPA website must clearly inform the users via a specific disclaimer that a third party is collecting data on them and that they are no longer covered by the standard EUROPA privacy statement on data protection.

This section describes the activities involved in gathering all the relevant detailed inputs and information needed during the conception, structure and development phases of the website, as well as inputs for making the key decisions during those phases.
The main steps/activities during this phase include:

• defining what type of website
• documenting the purpose/objectives of the site
• the mission and target audience (including their expectations, etc.)
• preliminary definition of resources for project execution
• identification of constraints such as special standards
• establishing work plan and calendar
• defining and describing in detail the subject of the website, etc.

• Appoint the site coordinator (DG concerned).
• Recruit the personnel.
• Fix responsibilities for all tasks involved.
• Inform DG COMM of new site creation project.
• Establish calendar and work plan.
• Define and describe in detail the subject of the website.
• For dynamic applications introduce the detailed hosting request (THM form: Transfer-Hosting-Modification) via MIRELLA) – IRM responsible + corresponding DIGIT-DC Account manager (DIGIT ISHS account management).
• Appoint DIGIT-DC Technical Project Leader (coordinates the implementation of every request change).
• Prepare a capacity plan (DIGIT-DC).
• Analyse the request and its impact on DC infrastructure >>> CAB approval for starting change implementation.
• Set-up site environment for static site (site URL allocation, access to the Staging Manager, CIRCA environment if needed, etc.) & dynamic sites (site URL allocation, access to the development and test environments, etc.)
• Submit requests (security convention) for relevant accesses (possible also for contractors).
• Define the core e-services to be integrated within the site (Core e-services catalogue: Mailform, Mailmas, generic mailbox for contact, Forum, etc.)
• Plan and contact the DGT (upstream linguistic advice and editing needs, translation volume, deadlines, budget, etc.)
• Define promotion and communication strategy (define who will be informed about the new site, when and how).
  N.B. Site forms part of a larger communication strategy
• Define the tracking and evaluation elements (send the request to set-up and generate the statistics report).
• Launch the copyrights procedures.
• Launch the data protection procedures.

•  Quality Assurance Plan
•  Risk Management Plan

Administrative actions:

• Decision to create the site
• Resources/ Budget allocated/ Contracts organised/launched
• Document management procedures defined
• Project definition
• Creative brief (Project definition, including: stakeholders, project sponsor, overall conceptual and visual aims of the site, information on target group(s), how users will experience the site, communication strategy, risks)
• Architectural requirements: application schema (application architectural requirements, the software components, data access path), the evolution of disk usage and workload, criticality of the application (availability, fail over, contingency), potential security issues (external accesses.
• Basic concept plan
• Preliminary risk list

• Project Description and planning instruments (calendar and detailed work breakdown plan, resources allocation, including costs list (figures), etc.)
• Site specification
• Capacity plan (DIGIT-DC)
• Site production checklist
• Promotion and communication plan
• CAB approval for starting change implementation (based on received request for change)

• Framework contract available (OP)
• DIGIT (Mirella)
• DGT-D.2
• Data Protection Officer
• Legal service (copyrights)
• CIRCA support
• DG’s IRM
• DG COMM
• DIGIT ISHS ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT
• DIGIT-DC Technical project leader

A website is just one of the tools that are available to information and communication units to achieve the goals set forward in their communication plan. Its final purpose is to serve its target users well, so that they can perform the tasks for which they visit the site in the most efficient way.

A number of basic questions need to be answered before actually starting the creation of a site:

• Why is the site needed?
• Who is the site for?
• What are the main tasks?
• What will the site contain?
• How and when will the site be constructed and launched?

To assess that your website will be focused on its users, you can apply this quick checklist for building successful websites(141 KB)  .

To ensure that your site fits in with the other EUROPA sites, that development goes smoothly and that last-minute surprises are avoided, it is necessary to consult at the earliest possible stage all relevant stakeholders in the Commission, in particular the EUROPA team in DG Communication and the Internet editors of the DGs that could be interested in the subject of the site. It may be necessary to set up an ad hoc editorial board to accompany the set up of the site. In any case, the EUROPA team should be informed at the very start of the project following the site creation procedures.

If you need an external contractor to develop your site, The Publication Office can offer a large set of services to facilitate electronic publication.

The Informatics DG can give you all the information on the available software tools that you can use for constructing your site.

The standard template must be used for all EUROPA websites.

Last but not least, DG Translation will help you, not only for translating your web pages, but also for checking the editorial quality of them.

The following chapters will go into more detail on the:

• definition of the site goals,
• organisational aspects,
• resources at your disposal,
• services and tools available,
• quality requirements.

A site is created to answer the needs of its future users/readers. Knowing their expectations and needs provides for the foundations of your project. On that basis, you should set the overall goal or the mission of the site and relate it to the relevant EU‑policies and activities. At that stage, it is important to verify if the needs are maybe already covered by other sites and to possibly re-orient the project towards the improvement of the existing site. This may require close consultation with other internet editors and possibly the creation of a joint editorial board.

If it is clear that a new site is needed, decsions must be taken about the main message or messages that you want to get across by means of the site. This will determine the orientation and the type of site that you want to create.

A site can be used to address many audiences, from the general public, to the interested stakeholders or specialists.

Identify the category of users you want to reach. Try to define the goals for each type of user. Several different categories of users may be chosen, provided that the content is organised accordingly. Moreover, each particular audience must be able to see clearly from the outset where to go for the desired kind of information. Be aware that the wider the audience, the more need there will be for the rewriting of existing ‘bureaucratic’ texts and for additional languages. Please see the chapter on Editorial style and policy.

There are statistics available on information needs of citizens and enterprises from several different DGs and sectors. EURES network with the EuroAdviser network and EUROPE DIRECT could provide you these kinds of statistics as well.

Several methods(20 KB)   exist for identifying your target audience.

You must now decide on the main themes and the sub-themes (sections and subsections) of your site. For more details on this task, please see the chapter on Content.

To make sure that the subject is appropriately covered, you may gather information by a number of means:

• thorough analysis of current information related to your theme(s) already available or dispersed through EUROPA sites, resulting in a content mapping
• internal survey among the current publishers in all DGs
• external survey among information specialists

The EUROPA team, who has a fairly good overview on the information available on EUROPA, can be of help during this stage.

You should set up a clear action plan for creating and maintaining the site. Make sure that the action plan is in proportion to the human and financial resources you have at your disposal, and that you and the other content providers have the same level of commitment to your end-users. The action plan should cover all the phases of the creation of a site (strategy, content/services identification, design/presentation, choice of technology, content creation and/or migration, launching, etc). Any aims for further development of the site should be mentioned in this plan as well.

The basic steps in the creation and management of your site:

• approval by hierarchy
• definition of key messages
• analysis of audience and their expectations
• Definition of risks
• task definition and timing (identification of the content, inventory of the existing content and new content, content supply, proposals for navigation and content projects, services and tools devices, testing stages, post-launch monitoring, etc.)
• site conception: workflow, content, design, navigation and multilingualism
• technical decisions: which technology, what tools to use
• planning of resources - decision on whether or not to use outsourcing (e.g. through the Publications Office for tasks like planning, re-purposing of content, implementation and proofreading). Please see the example(17 KB)   of resources needed for the creation of a small site.
• development and/or adaptation of technical platform
• testing and launching
• training of staff

The organisation that needs to be put in place for a site can vary widely depending on the size and the scope of the site. The description giving hereafter is a comprehensive overview of the organisation that would be needed to manage the policy sites and the main priority sites on EUROPA. Smaller sites will not necessarily need this complete organisational structure. In any case, it is necessary to have a complete understanding about the resources and organisation that will be needed for successful completion of the project.

Without the necessary resources a project is deemed to fail. Before the final green light can be given, it is necessary to have a complete understanding about the resources and organisation that will be needed for successful completion of the project and a formal commitment from the hierarchy that these resources will indeed be available. For important projects, it may be necessary to foresee different scenarios that contain the scope of the project within the limits of the available resources.

Following elements must be taken into consideration:

• staff to be dedicated fully or partially to the project
• available budget
• requirements for the technical environment
• time deadlines

It is important to clearly assign operational responsibilities of the actors, in order to ensure smooth running of the project. A job description should be provided for each profile outlining the corresponding responsibilities, co-operation patterns, specific tasks, the desirable qualifications and required infrastructure.

Content provider (Authors)

Content providers are responsible for supplying material in the form of articles. These articles fulfil the requirements set by the editorial policy in its entirety. Content providers answer directly to their respective editor.

Editor

The editor’s role is to validate, upload and approve new content and to manage the translation process for the entire content. Their tasks involve also proofreading (spelling, syntax, missing pages, misprints and misplaced content). Editors are directly responsible to their chief editor for their respective theme/information group. If necessary the editor’s task and responsibility can be further split into sub-profiles.

Chief editor

Chief editors are responsible for their respective content area or theme (main-theme). They sit in the Editorial Board and answer directly to the Board itself and its President.

Chief editors review content to be published and give final approval prior to publication. This implies having a good overview of what is available as well as of what is to be published. It also implies making sure that articles comply with the editorial policy on the one hand and with the political priorities of the Commission on the other.

In some cases the thematic approach may show gaps in the information available or, worse still, may pose the dilemma of what to publish in the presence of controversial or even clashing policies between DGs. In such cases, chief editors have the task of finding compromises and creating a consensus across the administrative boundaries of DGs. It is therefore essential that chief editors have the appropriate degree of authority and that a proper share of their time resources is allocated to the task.

Chief editors also report to the Editorial Board about any problems encountered or suggestions put forward by their editors and content providers.

Site editor

The site editor is ultimately responsible for the site, belonging to the leading DG and chairing the Editorial Board.

Audiovisual editor

The person responsible for acquiring, editing and managing audiovisual material.

Role

The Editorial Board shapes the editorial policy and thematic approach, manages their implementation and monitors the operation of the content/services supply chain.

The Editorial Board also reviews the structure of the site, notably with respect to the main themes, sub-themes and newsletters and approves (or rejects) amendments to such structure.

The Editorial Board will analyse the results of feedback tools and make decisions regarding the reorientation of the content and service requirements if needed. He/she will also co-ordinate with the horizontal services (Publications Office, DI, etc.) in order to make best use of common methodologies and e-services support functions.

Competence

Even if the editorial policy could expand with the experience of all actors involved in the site, final decisions should lie with the Editorial Board. New themes or audience subsites should be suggested and approved at the meetings of the Editorial Board. The organisational model, however, should not be too rigid in order to provide for smooth operation across implicated services.

Composition

President

The Editorial Board is chaired by the site editor from the DG “chef de file”, who takes ultimate responsibility for the site.

Chief editors

The core of the Editorial Board is made up by all the chief editors, who are empowered to decide what the site should contain and what should or should not be published.

Senior management delegate

A senior management member (Commissioners’ staff for instance) should be on the Editorial Board. This person would provide input as to the political message and politically sensitive areas of information.

EUROPA representation

A member of the EUROPA team should be included to ensure co-ordination with existing or new horizontal developments within EUROPA.

Translators

A member of the web translation unit from DG Translation should be part of the Editorial Board to give advice on editorial and multilingual issues.

Technical managers

The technical departments of DG Informatics offering the services for content production and dissemination should also be represented within in the Editorial Board. They can advice the board on technical issues or features and their compatibility with technical/operational environment of the portal.

Contractor

In case use is made of an external contractor, the external project manager should also be allowed to assist to the meetings of the editorial board. When use is made of one of the framework contracts offered by the Publications Office, they should be represented as well.

In parallel with the assignment of responsibilities to the different key actors, a comprehensive overview of the content management workflow(22 KB) and its associated approval procedures must be established.

As explained in the chapter 'Objectives and planning', during the preparatory phase the various stakeholders will have reached agreement on the site's objectives and on the resources that will be allocated to the project.

This agreement must now be detailed and must result in a brief to the web designers, a document including:

• the aims and objectives of the site
• the audience/s it is to address
• the criteria on which their design will be judged
• timetable for site design
• navigation, content hierarchy and content structure
• alternative navigation systems and transaction services such as search facility, site map, FAQs, feedback, automatic notifications, etc.
• wire-frames
• the EUROPA templates
• the existing presentation style guidelines for EUROPA
• the legal requirements such as legal notices, data protection and accessibility
• the technical requirements
  • Where the site will be hosted (see Infrastructure)?
  • Which technology and what tools will be used?
  • What kind of database will be used if any?
  • Specifications of user platforms (browsers environment, connection speed optimisation, etc.)

1. Rough structure of the site

2. “Storyboard” of the site (i.e. interaction of the potential user with your site)

3. Graphical mock-ups of the Homepage and other representative pages

4. Creation of an interactive prototype (where some relevant links and buttons work) if needed.

Web designers should develop a few ‘look and feel’ ideas to consider. These can be wire-frames, storyboards or mock-ups underlying the information design of the Homepage and the various page types. Once the logical approach has been approved, then web designers will create a few graphical prototypes either as images or as HTML pages. All stakeholders should evaluate these proposals. Getting user feedback will be also very useful in order to assess the efficacy of a particular web design.

Validation by ALL the members concerned (also and especially at political level) of the prototype after the necessary feedback and eventual modifications.

5. Creation of the site’s own graphical chart and set of HTML templates. Creation of images or illustrations.

Prototype designs should evolve until a final decision has been made on one specific design. Web designers should provide then a complete site graphic design specifications for all page types. Finished HTML templates, examples of key pages and illustrations, photography or other audiovisual material will also be provided.

At the end of this step, the resulting design must be submitted to the EUROPA team for validation.

The workload associated with this step will vary widely according to the nature and type of site. In some cases only minimal content must be loaded (e.g. a news site). Sometimes a complete set of new content will have to be created and loaded, resulting in a very long initial load phase. In case of redesign of a site, migration of existing content will be necessary, in which case an in depth 'cleaning up' exercise should be envisaged.

Before launch, you should perform a final check of the site. Make sure that all remarks put forward during quality control by the EUROPA team have been taken into account. Use the checklist and add your own specific controls to it so that it can be used for controlling new additions.

1. Update your website regularly in order to ensure that content is always up to date and remains attractive. Don’t change the essential parts of the design; let the user become familiar with the look, navigation, interface of your site.

2. Collect effective images to illustrate the themes, especially in the portal pages. (While being aware of copyright issues, of course).

3. Adapt the graphical style of the interface to meet changes in the structure (i.e. making new buttons or icons matching the existing).

4. Encourage people who supply written content to include illustrations in their manuscripts. Don’t allow ad hoc changes to essential parts of the site (navigation, interface, typography …). Fix a graphical charter for your site and stick to it - until you decide to change it.

5. If the structure of information of the site changes substantially, then a complete renovation is needed, and you should return to the first step.

• Site specification/Concept paper/ Project description
  • target audience
  • subject of the website
  • navigation/organizational structure of the site
• Relevant standards (IPG, technical standards)
• Relevant contraints (Data Centre, DIGIT, etc.)
• EUROPA templates
• Illustrations, photography, audiovisual content
• Copyrights
• Standard central images

• Interface design and master pages
• Graphic charter: graphic design specifications for all page types and levels
• Illustrations, Photography, other A/V, etc.
• Finished HTML template pages

• The EUROPA team in DG Communication gives editorial advice during the entire period of site creation. It also performs the quality check of the site prior to publication.
• The web translation unit can help you, not only for translating the web pages, but also for checking the language quality of your original texts.  
• DG Informatics together with the technical team in DG Communication advises on technical implications. It checks with the originating department whether the techniques envisaged for implementing the project on EUROPA are compatible with the Commission’s general informatics architecture and that of the EUROPA server in particular. DG Informatics provides the necessary infrastructure core e-services to implement the project. (e.g. Authoring or Interactive services).
• The Publications Office gives advice during the planning period. It can also help you with implementing your outsourcing scenario for all processes through its framework contracts (see Publications Office website on MyIntracomm and its website on EUROPA).

Apart from the information contained in the IPG, the major other information sources in this context are: 

• The Interinstitutional Style Guide defines the standard drafting conventions for all the institutions in all the official languages (e.g. official names for countries, institutions, currencies etc.).
• The Vade-mecum Multimedia Publishing is a guide to good practice, for personnel of the European institutions, contributors and contractors who wish to publish information electronically.

Services can be broken down into the following categories:

Contact, FAQ, About, Site map, Search, A-Z Index

These services help the users get to know the site, either through immediate information or via a contact point. They are basic services that must be offered on each page of the site at the mandatory place on the screen.

What’s new, Reference library, Glossary, Key Issues, Information bulletin, Who’s who in the DG or the theme area, related events…

These services help the users to find information, news, subjects, and documents on the site. It is important that these services cover the complete set of information that the site wishes to provide. The glossary, for example, should contain all terms, i.e. those present in the site pages themselves as well as those present in the pages the site links to.

Blogs, Vlogs, Discussion forums, Chats, Social networks, Subscriptions, Surveys, Feedback, e-voting, Site rating, Information sharing, Syndication, Interactive maps

These services establish a direct interaction with the citizens, media, business, opinion leaders or decision makers. Their set-up should be carefully planned and cannot take place without provision for the proper back office facilities to support and manage them.

The "Flexible Platform" environment offers plenty of interactive services.

Ordering, Application, Calls for tender, Project management, Events registration

For online transactions a secure connection and online credit card verification should be established. The transaction for the payment should be safe. The Publications Office offers the features for online payments of publications (EU Bookshop).

• The privacy statement must be clearly stated.
• The return policy must be clearly stated.
• Delivery methods and timing must be described.
• The order page must be secure.

One of the possible assets of a site is its ability to be personalised. Although it is by no means required, it adds greatly to the usefulness and overall site experience if the users can choose the elements on display on the site. Furthermore, personalisation is something users have come to expect; failing to offer it might lead to disappointment.

There are several ways of implementing a personalised site:

Personal profiles

This form of personalisation requires the users to be 'known' to the site (through either direct or indirect sign-on), so that the site's content can be dynamically generated in function of the users' needs. This calls for the putting in place of a sign-on mechanism and policy. Sign-on policies can be based on Roles (e.g. lawyers, business me, etc.) A main problem with Roles springs from the underlying assumption that users can only take one role, which is not necessarily the case. An alternative to the Roles approach consists of using Rules instead of Roles. Rules are policies or conventions that are set up to achieve efficiencies and that are independent of the specific role of the users in question. (e.g. geographic location of the users, current time and date ...) An advantage of a rule-based policy is the flexibility it provides. In addition, it is much easier to use this approach if users access changes frequently. The main disadvantage comes to the fore on times when users require specific information due to his or her role, that they are not able to access because a more general rule keeps them from doing so. In an attempt to get the best from both worlds, most organisations prefer to run a Role-Rule "hybrid" that best fits their needs.

Pre-defined user classes

This technique is entirely based on the definition of Roles. Instead of having the user log on to the site, this approach considers a role as a pre-defined ‘user class’, the features and characteristics of which are discovered when defining the site’s target audience. The site’s Editorial Board plans for a separate section for each of the identified user classes, in which information access is structured to suit their specific needs. This approach is less demanding on the technology side and may also be perceived as less intrusive by the user (no need to login), yet it calls for a great deal of careful on-beforehand planning.

The quality control, which is carried out both for the technical as well as the editorial aspect of the site, aims to help DGs to improve the quality of their websites by identifying shortcomings and errors as far as the IPG is concerned and by making suggestions on how to improve their site. The chapter on quality assurance gives a complete overview of the work involved and contains checklists that can be used during construction of the site in order to ensure that the final product complies to the IPG requirements.

Whenever site construction is outsourced, the contract must contain the necessary clauses to ensure the site quality according to the IPG rules. For all contracts concluded via the Publications Office, the conformity to quality criteria (e.g. IPG) is included.

Official websites of the EU must always be part of the europa.eu domain. Sites managed by the Commission can belong to:

• the institution-independent europa.eu domain: sites which mission and content go beyond the activities of one single EU institution, or covers a policy, activity or campaign which is common to the different EU institutions and bodies.
• the Commission domain ec.europa.eu: sites which provide information or services related to the activities of the Commission's Directorates-General.

The inventory of EUROPA websites lists all the sites managed by the Commission specifying the URL, the manager and much other information for each site.

These websites can be divided into several categories:

1. Generic sites
   • Policy sites
   • Priority sites
   • Programme sites
   • Campaign sites
   • Event sites
   • Service sites
   • Audience sites
2. Organisation oriented sites
   • Sites of Directorates-General describing their tasks and internal organisation
   • Commissioners' sites
   • Collaborative sites

All websites on EUROPA must follow the rules described in this Information Providers Guide (IPG). Particular attention should be given to the following basic rules:

• Sites have to use the standard templates, either the Interinstituional template or the  Commission's template.
• Certain elements concerning legislation, statistics, press releases, publications, relevant Directorate(s)-General, policies, etc. should be present:
  • For "legislation", link to EUR-Lex
  • For "press releases", link to RAPID
  • For "statistics" link to EUROSTAT
  • For "publications", link to OP
  • For "DG" site, link to the sites of the DG(s) managing the thematic site (http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/<dg_name>/index_xx.htm)
  • For general EU information on the policy, link to interinstitutional page (http://europa.eu/pol/<policy>/index_en.htm)
• Its content has to be available in all official languages or as many of the official languages as possible; if not, the reason(s) why should be clearly explained somewhere in the site.
• The purpose and the target audience(s) of the site have to be specified on the home page or on a page at the highest/entry level of the site.
• The site has to be structured by subject in an intuitive and user-friendly way.
• All names of folders and files have to be in English and in lower case.
• The language of each page has to be indicated as per relevant template.

Generic sites are created to offer the visitor a user and task oriented view on the activities of EU in general and the Commission in particular. Every generic site is managed by a leader who is responsible for designing the contents of the site in accordance with the rules laid down in the IPG, and for ensuring that information is regularly updated. The leader has overall responsibility for editorial quality (updating, coherence, multilingualism, graphics, etc.) and the technical aspects of the site. He ensures that the site is easily accessible on EUROPA.

Generic sites are directly accessible from the following pages:

• the interinstitutional "policy" pages on EUROPA
• the policies index of the Commission's site
• the alphabetical index of the Commission's site
• the home pages of the Directorates-General concerned by the subject, service or audience (ec.europa.eu/dgs/< DG name>/index_xx.htm)

If information on the generic site emanates from several DGs, the leader coordinates design and updating through a steering committee which he convenes as often as required. All the originating DGs take an active part in the committee's work. The committee also comprises a member of the EUROPA team in DG Communication. The members of the steering committee are appointed by their own DG.

The EUROPA Editorial Committee (EEC) grants every generic site leader the necessary powers vis-à-vis the other participating DGs. Each leader regularly reports back to the EEC on the current state of its site. Leaders are free to decide whether site management will be centralised (which ensures better coherence but involves a considerable workload for the leader) or decentralised (requiring close coordination by the leader between the various units involved).

The  list of current generic sites specifies the URL, the leader and the DGs associated with each site. At a  DG's request, additions may be made to the list.

'Generic' sites include:

• Policy sites
• Priority sites
• Programme sites
• Campaign sites
• Event sites
• Audience sites
• Service sites

A "Policy" site deals with a specific area of activity for which the Commission is responsible (e.g. environment, health, agriculture ...).  Policy sites constitute the core of the Commission site. They are managed in a decentralised way by the web teams in the DGs. Policy sites present all the information on the given policy independent from the internal organisation of the Commission.

Policy site: Energy

• http://ec.europa.eu/<policy>/index_xx.htm 

"Policy" sites should be constructed and maintained using the Commission's Corporate Web Content Management System.

A "Policy" site should attach particular importance to the following criteria:

• Although a policy site is always administered by the web team of one single DG, it must not be confused with a DG site. Even if one DG is clearly the leader, most of the Commission policies need close collaboration between several DGs and in some cases a particular policy can be co-managed by several DGs on an equal basis. Whatever the situation, a policy site should present all the information on the given policy independent from the internal organisation of the Commission. It should behave as a portal and contain all the links to the relevant subchapters on other policy sites. A policy site must present all the information. 
• The latest information on the policy must be promoted prominently. Special attention must thus be given to the "Press releases" section. This is the minimum to be included on a policy site but it is advisable to go further and create a "News" page to provide the media with additional topical information (e.g. specialised newsletters, calendar of events, photos, videos, speeches and other multimedia material). 

A "Priority" site deals with a subject that was given high priority in the yearly work program on inter-institutional or Commission level or that is getting much attention in the public sphere, possibly for a limited period (a "hot topic"). 

If the subject is formally recognised as having high priority, it is justified to dedicate a complete separate site to it. If the subject is no longer a priority, the site may disappear and be archived or integrated within a policy site.

If the subject is not formally identified as having high priority, but still important enough to get special treatment, no separate site should be created. Instead, one should create a subsite in the relevant policy site that is completely integrated in it. In that case a short URL-alias can be allocated to give the priority site a specific name.

The purpose of the site should be clearly specified.

Priority site:

• EU level: 50th anniversary of the EU
• Commission level: Growth and jobs 
• Important topic: Roaming

The URL will depend on the level of priority. If the priority is formally recognised as having high priority, it is justified to dedicate a complete separate site to it, that has an URL on its own. If it concerns an important topic that has not formally high priority, the site should be integrated in the relevant policy site. For the purpose of promotion and visibility, it may then have a short alias, redirecting to the real address of the site:

• priority at EU level:  http://europa.eu/<priority>
• priority at Commission level: http://ec.europa.eu/<priority>
•  important topic:  http://ec.europa.eu/<priority redirecting to http://ec.europa.eu/<policy>/…/<priority> 

"Priority" sites should be constructed and maintained using the Commission's Corporate Web Content Management System.

A "Priority" site should attach particular importance to the same criteria as a "Policy" site.

A "Programme" site is created to support a particular programme managed by the Commission. It offers information about the programme and provides services to participants of the programme. Programme sites may consist of a closed and an open part: the closed part being only accessible to a closed group of registered users, the open part offering information to everybody.

Programme site: Marie Curie Actions

• Main URL of the site giving access to the public information

http://ec.europa.eu/<programme>/index_xx.htm, redirecting to http://ec.europa.eu/<policy>/.../<programme>/index_xx.htm

• URL of the closed part

The closed part, for technical and/or security reasons, should use an URL in the 'webgate' domain

https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/<programme>/index_xx.htm

"Programme" sites should be constructed and maintained using the Commission's Corporate Web Content Management System. In order to offer the interactive services needed to support the programme, parts of the site may use other technology (JSP, Drupal ...).

A "Programme" site should attach particular importance to the following criteria:

• The site should focus only on the programme itself and must refer to the relevant policy site for background information.
• The number of languages in which a programme site is offered will depend mainly on the audience targeted. Programmes targeting a very specialised audience (e.g. research programs) may have been limited in terms of multilingualism. Programmes targeting a very wide audience should be available in all official languages or as many of the official languages as possible; if not, the reason(s) why should be clearly explained somewhere in the site.
• The purpose and the target audience(s)  of the site have to be specified on the home page or on a page at the highest/entry level of the site.
• Whenever links are made to the closed part of the site, the user must be warned that he will enter a restricted area of the site and he must be informed about the conditions required to apply to the group of users that can have access to it.
• The closed part of the site must implement the necessary security measure for protecting the restricted area in the most appropriate way.

A campaign site is created to support a specific communication campaign with interactive events on the Internet. It will thus generally contain highly interactive elements that require specific technology. The site should focus purely on communication and should refer to the relevant policy site for background information.

Campaign site: European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations 2012

Campaign sites are always targeting the general public and should thus be part of the institution-independent europa.eu domain. The recommendation is to define the site as a subsite of europa.eu:

http://europa.eu/<campaign>/index_xx.htm

Given its short lifetime (in general less than a year), use of a top level name such as http://<campaign>.europa.eu should be avoided.

The site should use the technology that is most appropriate to deliver the functionality required by it. Several options are open: Flash, JSP, ColdFusion, Drupal, Documentum ...

The choice should be made in consultation with DG COMM and DIGIT.

 A "Campaign" site should attach particular importance to the following criteria:

• The site should focus purely on communication and should refer to the relevant policy site for background information.
• The graphical presentation of the site and the language used must be adapted to the purpose of the site, i.e. 'communication'. Nevertheless, given that a campaign site is still an official EU site, the basic rules about presentation should still be respected, in particular with respect to the use of the template: the EUROPA template must be used. 
• The number of languages in which a campaign site is offered will depend mainly on the audience targeted. In general, campaigns will target the widest audience possible and the supporting site should thus be available in all official languages. 
• It must be very clear on the home page which audience is targeted.
• The site must be taken off line at the end of the campaign.

An "Event" site is created in the context of a particular event (e.g. Green Week). Its main purpose is to promote the event and to provide electronic services to support its organisation (e.g. subscription forms). An event site always fits within a particular policy site, but can be promoted separately to improve its visibility to the outside world. It should focus only on the event itself and not repeat the background information that can be found through links on the relevant policy site.

One can distinguish several types of event sites, depending on the nature and lifetime of an event:

Important recurring event: European week of Regions and cities

One-off specialised event: European Future Technologies Conference and Exhibition

The URL to be used for an event site will depend on the nature of the event.

For important EU events targeting the general public, an URL in the europa.eu domain should be used. Preference should be given to sub-URLs, possibly supplemented by top-level aliases for very important public events. 

http://europa.eu/<event>/index_xx.htm

For more specialised events of conferences organised by individual DGs, an URL in the ec.europa.eu domain must be used. An alias can be created that redirects to a subsite within the parent policy site/

http://ec.europa.eu/<event>/index_xx.htm, redirecting to http://ec.europa.eu/<policy>/.../<event>/index_xx.htm.

The "Event" site should use the technology that is most appropriate to deliver the functionality required by it. Several options are open:

Flash, JSP, ColdFusion, Drupal, Documentum ...

In the framework of the "Flexible Platform", a standard "event site" was created. This environment can be used to generate a new event site in very short time by means of simple customisation rules. This solution should be adopted whenever possible. In any case, the choice of technical solution should always be made in consultation with DG COMM and DIGIT.

An "Event" site should attach particular importance to the following criteria:

• The site should focus only on the event itself and must refer to the relevant policy site for background information.
• The number of languages in which en event site is offered will depend mainly on the audience targeted. If a very specialised audience is targeted the site could be be limited in terms of multilingualism. However, sites targeting a very wide audience should be available in all official languages or as many of the official languages as possible; if not, the reason(s) why should be clearly explained somewhere in the site. 
• It must be very clear on the home page which audience is targeted.

A "Service" site focuses on offering a well-defined specific service to the visitor. Electronic services can be offered in multiple contexts, either as part of a general site or as a stand-alone service. This sheet talks about stand-alone service sites that have no other means than offering the service concerned. "Service" sites can address a general audience or can focus on a particular group of stakeholders.

Service sites:

• EU bookshop: central site managed by the Publications Office where visitors can find information on publications of all EU institutions and possibly order them. The EU Bookshop targets a general audience.
• EU Press Room: portal grouping all the services that the EU is offering to journalists: press releases, media libraries, broadcasting, etc. 
• EU law in force: central database of all official EU legislation.
• Researches in Motion: a one-stop shop for researchers seeking to advance their careers and personal development by moving to other countries.

• http://ec.europa.eu/<service_name> for services offered by the Commission
• http://europa.eu/<service_name> or http://<service>.europa.eu for services offered by an interinstitutional organism

A "Service" site should attach particular importance to the following criteria:

• A "Service" site should focus on the service itself and must refer to the relevant policy site for background information.
• A "Service" site must be completely task-oriented: when entering the site, it must be immediately clear for the visitor what he can do and what is the most efficient way to do it.
• The number of languages in which a service site is offered will depend mainly on the audience targeted. If a very specialised audience is targeted the site could be limited in terms of multilingualism. However, sites targeting a very wide audience should be available in all official languages or as many of the official languages as possible; if not, the reason(s) why should be clearly explained somewhere in the site.

An "Audience" site is targeted on a particular section of the public to offer direct access to selected information of specific interest to this audience (e.g. senior citizens, the scientific community, the media). Users should be able to find the information they are looking for without having to be familiar with the internal organisational complexities of the Commission.  

Audience site: Researches in Motion

Depending on the audience addressed, the site should be hosted in the EUROPA or the Commission domain:

• http://ec.europa.eu/<audience>/index_xx.htm or
• http://europa.eu/<audience>/index_xx.htm

The core of an "Audience" site should be constructed and maintained using the Commission's Corporate Web Content Management System. In order to offer the interactive services needed, parts of the site may use other technology (JSP, Drupal ...)

An "Audience" site should attach particular importance to the following criteria:

• An "Audience" site should behave as a portal, offering all relevant services to the audience concerned and providing a gateway to all relevant sites within EUROPA that can interest the audience.
• The number of languages in which an "Audience" site is offered will depend mainly on the audience targeted. If a very specialised audience is targeted the site could be limited in terms of multilingualism. However, sites targeting a very wide audience should be available in all official languages or as many of the official languages as possible; if not, the reason(s) why should be clearly explained somewhere in the site.
• It must be very clear on the home page which audience is targeted.
• The graphical presentation of the site and the language used must be adapted to the audience targeted.

An organisational site provides information about the internal organisation of the Commission or is a "Service" site that is used to organise and support the collaboration with external partners. There are 2 types of organisation sites:

• the sites of the Directorates-General and Commissioners'
• the "Collaborative" sites

Each Directorate-General provides the following information on its functional site:

• the DG's mission
• organisation chart (a simple link to "EU Whoiswho", the official directory of the European Union - instead of including the chart - avoids duplication and the risk of differences in updating)
• link to their Commissioner's site
• link to the "Policy" site or sites which wholly or partly come under the DG's responsibilities

DG site: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/regional_policy/index_en.htm

http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/<service_name>/index_xx.htm

DG sites should be constructed and maintained using the Commission's Corporate Web Content Management System.

A DG site should attach particular importance to the following criteria:

• The information given must be very factual and minimalistic: only some minimum content regarding the mission, organisation chart, the relevant Commissioner and link(s)to relevant  thematic site(s) should be present.
• For a detailed organisation chart, the site should link to the Commission Directory.

The sites of the Members of the Commission are managed by the private offices (Cabinets) or by the departments (at the Cabinet's request) and are subject to the rules laid down in the IPG. These sites must at least contain the following:

• curriculum vitae of the Member of the Commission
• speeches (link to RAPID)
• link to the site(s) of the DGs for which the Commissioner is responsible

Site of President Barroso

http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/<commissioner>/index_xx.htm

Commissioners sites should be constructed and maintained using the Commission's Corporate Web Content Management System.

Commissioners sites should preferably be constructed following a standard structure composed of the following elements:

• a section 'About the Commissioner' with the following information:
  • mandate
  • CV
  • declaration of interest
  • composition of the Commissioner's Cabinet 
  • link to the site(s) of the DGs for which the Commissioner is responsible
  • Commissioner's agenda
  • contact information
• latest news
• summaries of and links to speeches and key documents
• multimedia gallery
• interactive section (blog, vlog ...)

A collaborative site is a specific case of a service site that focuses on establishing a virtual environment to enhance collaboration between the members of a working group. Most collaborative sites are thus not really part of the normal EUROPA family, but in many cases the results produced by the collaboration are published on a 'normal' EUROPA site. It is important to separate the closed collaborative part from the open dissemination site. Whenever possible the two environments must be well separated and accessed via different addresses. Only when the collaborative section of the site is small and open to everybody can the site be presented under one access point.

A collaborative site can offer a large range of services:

Documents sharing 

A common repository of documents that constitute the knowledge base of the working group. A sophisticated document access management is part of the service.

Communication

Tools for work planning, task management, contact management, integrated mail and conferencing tools.

Collaboration

Integrated threaded discussions, blogs, and wikis with related content and federated search.

People management

Facebook-like user profiles, friends, message boards.

Internal Market Information System IMI

https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/imi-net/

Closed collaborative sites cannot be integrated in normal Europa sites. They must be integrated in the 'webgate' family of web applications and use the secure 'http' protocol. Their URL will thus have the following format:

https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/<service-name>   

In some cases, it may be necessary for organisational or technical reasons to host the collaborative site outside the Commission's server infrastructure. In that case, a specific 4rth level domain name can be allocated.

https://<service-name>.webgate.ec.europa.eu

Given the wide diversity of collaborative services, it is not possible to recommend one particular technical tool to implement a particular collaborative site. Several approaches are possible:

• CIRCABC is a generic tool for collaborative sites that was created in the context of the IDABC program. 
• Sharepoint, the internal collaborative tool is also a potential candidate for creating collaborative sites.  
• The Flexible Platform offers a set of interactive tools (blogs, forums, wikis ...) that can be used to create the services of a collaborative site.
• In some cases, it may be necessary to create a specific environment using one of the generic application technologies.

Collaborative sites are usually closed sites and are thus not really part of the normal EUROPA family. When such a site is referenced from a 'normal' EUROPA page, the corresponding link should be accompanied by a warning message explaining to the visitor that he will be directed to a closed site requiring a login/password in order to be accessed. The visitor should also be informed about the nature of the site and its target audience. The same information must be provided on the home page (login page) of the collaborative site together with and explanation of the procedure for obtaining a user account.

These pages are here to help you with your mobile web project. The EUROPA team can provide support for two of the most popular options for mobile web projects – responsive web design and mobile applications.

If you are not planning a mobile web project, your current website is still accessible on mobile devices and visitors just have to zoom in to view content. Discover some quick fixes for better browsing on mobiles to see what you can already do to improve your website.

Website in responsive design

In responsive design, the same website is served to desktop screens, tablets and smartphones but the layout changes and adapts to the screen size. One website fits all. It allows content to be accessed by the widest audience possible no matter what device they are using.

Mobile application

A mobile application (or 'app') is a dedicated software application built specifically for certain smartphone or tablet operating systems (Apple, Android, Windows, BlackBerry). They are distributed through app stores that are usually managed by the owner of the mobile operating system.

Which option for you?

If what the app does can be done in a website, then it's best to do it in a website. It's cheaper and easier to maintain and a lot more people will see the content.

Apps are useful for performing frequent tasks on a regular basis and are good for addressing specific audiences and activities.

A website is more suitable for consuming content and providing information on an occasional basis.

A website in responsive design is recommended for most mobile projects. This also has the following advantages:

Advantages of the responsive design

A website in responsive design is recommended for most mobile projects. This also has the following advantages:

• It's cheaper: Only one site needs to be developed and it is optimised for multiple devices. Developing an app is more expensive because development is often specific to each platform (e.g. Apple, Android).
• It's easier to maintain: A responsive design website can be easily maintained in-house with the standard web publishing tools. Updates to content can be made immediately. Updating an app requires additional development by a contractor and then the app must be submitted and validated once again by the app store which can take a few weeks. An app needs to be tested every time there is a change to a mobile operating system (which happens at least once a year). Otherwise there may be bugs or the app can stop working completely.
• It's easier to find: The entire content of a website is indexed directly by search engines so it can all be easily found. An app is more difficult to find and only its app store page is indexed by search engines.
• It has less competition: a mobile app is in constant competition with other apps for a user's attention. The average smartphone owner has 41 apps installed on their phone but 51% of these owners only use 1-5 apps per week. In addition, a quarter of apps are downloaded, opened once and then never opened again.
• It's easier to monitor: Website analytics provide many metrics indicating how users use a site. It is more difficult to measure app usage apart from the number of downloads. Even this is not reliable: a quarter of all apps downloaded are opened once and never used again.

An app can use the mobile device's hardware features (e.g. GPS, camera, accelerometer). It also allows content to be accessed offline.  However, this should not be the main reason for developing an app: more people access the Internet on the move, data roaming charges are decreasing and, of course, an app must be found and downloaded before that content can be accessed offline.

Resources

• W3C: the Web and Mobile Devices
• Nielsen blog: State of the App Nation
• Pew Internet: App usage
• CNN: Only one in four mobile apps engages user

Responsive web design has grown in popularity since 2011 and is considered a good approach to manage a website as the variety in screen sizes continues to increase. The first Europa website to become responsive was Your Europe Citizens.

Standard templates in responsive design

The inter-institutional and European Commission templates are now available in a responsive design. At three defined widths (called 'breakpoints'), the layout changes and displays the content best suited to the device.

These breakpoints correspond to a large tablet (768 pixels), a medium sized screen (600 pixels) and a smartphone in portrait (320 pixels). Between these breakpoints, the layout continues to change to fit the screen size. This approach ensures that the website looks good on any screen size.

Some examples of how the layout changes include the navigation being accessed through a 'menu' button and the right-hand column moving under the content of the centre column.

The PST version is available on the CWCMS portal   and XSL and HTML versions will be online soon.

Think "mobile first"

You should think of mobile visitors first when planning your content and layout. Give priority to tasks and content that are most important for them. Then, for each breakpoint of the template, arrange content and features according to the different screen sizes.

Moving an existing website to the new responsive templates

The new template adapts the header, menu and footer. In addition, you will have to adapt the style sheets and content of your current site as well. The CWCMS section contains a detailed migration guide   and these pages will be developed to provide further help.

Adapting an existing website has to be carefully planned and attention should be paid to the following:

• Elements (images, tables etc) cannot have fixed widths
• Navigation is limited to three levels
• Hover/mouseover actions should not contain critical information

Implications for your content

In responsive web design, a page of text that is completely visible on a desktop screen will require some scrolling on a smartphone screen. This is unavoidable but you can provide a better browsing experience by ensuring that your texts are easy to read and easy to scan.

Much of the advice in the 'Writing for the Web' pages is even more important to consider when managing a responsive website: the 'bite, snack, meal' structure, short paragraphs, concise texts and meaningful headings.

If you are moving a website to the new template then you should take the opportunity to review your existing content and simplify it and reduce it.

Resources

• W3C: Mobile Web Best Practices Flipcards
• W3C: Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0
• Mobile first - Luke Wroblewski
• Preparing websites for the unexpected – Smashing magazine
• Guidelines for responsive web design
• Usability of Mobile Websites and Applications by Nielsen Norman Group
• Content strategy for mobiles - .net magazine

If what you want your app to do can be done in a website, then it's best to do it in a website. It's cheaper and easier to maintain and a lot more people will see the content. See choosing the best option.

If you decide on an app then these pages describe how to plan it, what to include in your terms of reference and how you can submit it through the Commission's app store accounts.

Please contact the EUROPA team at an early stage so we can provide help and guidance and help make your app a success. This will also allow us to plan submitting the app to the relevant app store.

Plan the app

Like a website, you should have a clear idea of what the app should do and what you want to achieve with it.

• Define what you want to achieve.
• Define your audience and consider whether this audience use mobile apps
• Be clear about what your app will do. Apps are for simple related tasks. Do not add unnecessary features.
• Decide how you will measure performance:
  • Download figures are an indicator but not always reliable. Only Google Play provides information on how many people uninstall an app but this is usually 30-40% of the total download figure. (Note that the EUROPA team is investigating solutions for in-app analytics).
  • Increase in visits to website
  • Increase in queries to support helpdesk etc.
• Decide on the platforms that you will develop for. As a public service, the Commission cannot favour one platform over another but app development is expensive and so cost versus reach has to be considered. 
• Decide on the languages in which that the app will be available.

Terms of reference

When drafting your terms of reference, make sure to consider the following:

• Maintenance: make sure your foresee maintenance for bug fixes and for possible modifications to ensure the app works with subsequent new versions of mobile operating systems.
• Professionally written copy for app store descriptions.
• Professionally designed app icons (in line with the visual identity) and screenshots for the app store pages.
• Commission access to test versions (using products such as TestFlight for iOS).

Design and user interface

The different platforms have written extensive user interface guidelines. These should be consulted and your contractors should design with these in mind:

• Apple
• Android
• BlackBerry
• Windows Phone

In addition, the Commission's visual identity graphic charter will be expanded to include guidelines for mobile apps.

Commission corporate app store accounts

The EUROPA team has created corporate European Commission accounts in each of the major app stores (Apple App Store, Google Play for Android devices, Windows Phone Marketplace and BlackBerry App World).

This saves on individual account registration costs and eliminates the administrative workload required in setting them up.

Commission services or their contractors can't be given access to these accounts because it is not possible to assign rights for specific apps.

The final build/signature of the app must be done by the EUROPA team because, with the exception of Windows Phone apps, an app must be electronically signed with the Commission's app store private keys.

To use the accounts, you should contact the EUROPA team at the start of your project and provide details, planned launch dates and a contact person. You should foresee sufficient time – it takes Apple around two weeks to approve apps.

What to send

Here is what must be sent to the EUROPA team for the different platforms:

• Apple

Send a zip file containing the app project source files. The EUROPA team should be contacted beforehand and they will inform you what 'bundle ID' to use in the app code.

Some texts and images must also be sent that will be used in the app's app store page. Full details are provided in the Apple App Store: Text and images document(35 KB)  .

• BlackBerry

Send a zip file containing the app project source files. The EUROPA team will also provide details on what text and images for the app store have to be provided.

The approval process for BlackBerry apps is between 3 and 5 days.

• Google Play Store

Send an unsigned version of the Android application package file (APK). The standard configuration in Eclipse sets a debug signed key by default so the contractor should verify that the APK is unsigned before sending it to the EUROPA team.

Some texts and images must also be sent that will be used in the app's app store page. Full details are provided in the Google Play app store: Text and images document(27 KB)  .

Google Play Store apps appear online a couple of hours after submitting them.

• Windows Phone

Send the Windows Phone app file (.xap). The EUROPA team will also provide details on what text and images for the app store have to be provided.

It appears online within 24 hours after being submitted.

Transferring an existing app to the corporate accounts

Only Google Play apps can be transferred from another account to the Commission corporate account. All ratings and reviews will be kept. Send the email address of the original Google Play account as well as the contact details of the person managing the account.

For the other app stores there is a workaround. First, publish the app as a new app in the Commission account and then publish an update to the existing app on the old account informing users that a new version should be downloaded. Please note though that all ratings and reviews will be lost.

Resources

• W3C: Mobile Web Application Best Practices
• W3C: Standards for Web Applications on Mobile: February 2012 current state and roadmap

How to improve browsing experience on your desktop website

• Give priority to the site's top tasks.
• Reduce and simplify content where you can.
• Apply the Writing for the Web techniques: the 'bite, snack, meal' structure, short paragraphs, concise texts and meaningful headings.
• Avoid using Flash especially to show content that is not available anywhere else on your site. Flash is not supported by most mobile web browsers.
• Avoid using rollover or mouseover effects to display content. This behaviour is not possible on a touchscreen device.
• Indicate PDF and video links clearly so that visitors are not surprised when they start to download a document or stream a video.
• Make sure any images you uploaded are optimised for the web. Large images are slow to download and could consume your visitor's mobile data allowance.

List of EU mobile sites

European Commission

• Road Safety
• Audiovisual services
• European External Action Service
• Enterprise and Industry
• CORDIS
• Your Europe - Citizens
• European Commission Representation in Ireland
• A common international trade policy for the EU
• General Secretariat

Other EU Institutions

• European Parliament

List of EU mobile applications

Before designing or redesigning a website, you have to consider the business goals of the website.

A good IA can address both business goals and user needs. User needs include both the activities users will want to undertake on the website and the information they want.

Different groups of users may have different needs or expectations of the website. Audience groups for a website may be farmers, students, researchers, citizens, business people, etc.

Consider listing what each user group may wish to achieve on the website - the information they may be looking for and the tasks they may like to undertake on the website.

A number of techniques can be used to assist in understanding users' needs. These include:

• user surveys, focus groups
• analysis of usage statistics
• analysis of feedback

Consider what services, functionality or information can be provided on the website to meet identified needs and goals.

For each of the user needs identified, consider an example of how a user may meet these needs on the website and what activities they may undertake on the website. Where the need is to find information, the example may include a list of information the user requires. Where the need is to conduct an activity on the website (for example completing a form), the example may include the steps in the process that the user would undertake.

There are a number of different website structures which may be appropriate for different target groups and purposes.

Once the information needs of users and the required functions have been identified, you have to create a list of the content or content types that are needed on the website. Read more in the Content chapter.

Once the content and services to be provided have been identified, they can be sorted into logical groups. Understanding the users' needs and identifying the content to meet their needs may provide some guidance regarding how to group the content.

It may also be useful to gain input from focus groups to help ensure that their needs are met.

A number of methods can be used to sort content. These include:

• Card sorting

This involves writing each element of content or content type on a separate index card, sorting them into groups of related content and describing the groups. The results of the grouping can be analysed as another input to the IA of the website.

• Written outlines 

Try to organize and number your content:

1 Category1
    1.1 SubCat1
    1.2 SubCat2
        1.2.1 SubSubCat1
        1.2.2 SubSubCat2
        1.2.3 SubSubCat3
    2 Category 2
        2.1 SubCat1
        2.2 SubCat2

For example for sorting "Books"

Arts
            Photography
            Sculpturing
Computers
            Software
            Hardware

• Mind mapping

When you mind map, you start with a blank piece of paper and several coloured pens. Draw a small circle in the centre and label it "Home". Each time a new subject comes up, take one of the pens and draw a line out from the circle using a new color for each subject. Give each branch an appropriate name. When a topic relates to one of these main subject branches, draw a smaller branch out of main branch and label it accordingly. The colours help you visualize information that is related, plus any links you need to add from one branch to another.

Websites structured around a logical hierarchy can make it easier to decide on a navigation system and to design page layouts. Consider the hierarchy that will be most appropriate for the information and services to be provided on the website and that meets the needs of users.

Hierarchies can be narrow and deep, or broad and shallow:

• Narrow hierarchies

In these there are few main menu choices and many lower levels of the hierarchy. The disadvantage is that the choices may be not be specific enough, so users may need to click through a number of levels to find the information they require. The advantage is that front pages may be simpler and users less confused about the most appropriate menu choice.

• Broad hierarchies

In these there are a large number of main menu choices but fewer lower levels of the hierarchy. The disadvantage is that, if there are many main menu choices, the page may be cluttered and choices too specific. The advantage is that the information required by users may be only a few 'clicks' away.

Not all parts of the website may be hierarchical. Other ways of grouping information include:

• task-based: ask for a grant, to register
• audience: individuals, businesses
• alphabetical: A-Z index
• chronological:  by date released, date updated …

These methods may be used to group a particular part of the website or as an addition to the main hierarchy.

Once the hierarchy has been developed, all parts of it can be assigned labels, which will eventually be used in navigation and links.

Labels that are accurate and informative are more easily understood by users. Labels based on language used by users and not language used by the Directorates-General (jargon and acronyms).

When the grouping and labelling have been developed, the content that will be included in the website can be fitted into the structure of the website.

Before developing the actual website, it may be useful to review the proposed structure. Ask yourself these questions:

• Are the business goals of the website met by the structure?
• Does the structure meet users' goals?
• Do users understand the labels and language?
• Is there a place for every piece of information?
• Does content fit together logically?
• Is the structure too wide - menus not specific enough?
• Is the structure too narrow - menus too specific?
• Does the structure easily allow for growth and change?

At this point it is very useful to test a prototype with a group of users. Do usability testing.

Monitoring and evaluation of the use of the website (statistics) can help judge whether they are meeting their outputs and outcomes, whether the structure is meeting the needs of users and how the structure can be improved.

A structure is never really finished. Changes will continue to take place. Keep the structure of the website and sitemap up to date.

Changes give you opportunity to do things even better.

• Project Description and planning instruments (calendar and detailed work breakdown plan, resources allocation, including costs list (figures), etc.)
• Site specifications
• Existing content, if available
• Site "storyboard" , diagrams (site maps, outlines, tables of contents)
• Content plan/schedule: detailed description of site contents
  (hierarchical list of all content (texts, picture material) by page; for each element identify who is responsible for supplying the content; deadlines)
• Prototype(s)
• Schedule for site design and construction

• EUROPA team (DG COMM)

• Jakob Nielson: www.useit.com
• US Government website: www.usability.gov
• Louis Rosenfeld: www.louisrosenfeld.com

It is important to understand:

• Why you are developing a site.
• Who should come to your site.
• When and why those people might come.

Usability aspects, therefore, should be in mind during the whole process of creating and producing a site:

At the definition phase:

• during the concept definition and planning of a new site
• during the content definition and structural organisation of a new site

At the development/production of a prototype phase:

• during the final decision of the final look and the “feel” of the new site
• during the production of content and the technical elements involved
• during the (internal/external) testing of the new site

At the quality control phase:

• during the site quality control/quality assurance (internal or external) testing phase

At the publishing/distribution phase:

• during the official launch of the new site
• during the publicising of the new site

At the maintenance/evaluation phase

• during the editorial maintenance and updates of a site
• during the technical maintenance and updates of a site

When evaluating the usability of a site, ask these questions:

• Can the user easily find the information he is looking for?
• Are the services offered easy to access and are the features offered easy to understand?
• Is the content of the site presented in a consistent manner?
• Has the site a logical and comprehensive structure and efficient navigation?
• Are explanations provided on how the site has been organised or how navigation works?
• Is it possible for the user to interact with the site and provide feedback? Does he get a quick and satisfactory reply?
• Are search features offered?
• etc.

As for the methods of evaluating those criterias, the famous online survey which gathers the general user satisfaction rate about a website is not sufficient. There are a variety of approaches to usability evaluation that you may choose to take.

• Project definition/plan for a new site
• Project Quality Plan
• Project Testing Plan
• Quality Control report including relevant set of checklists
• Site evaluation/usability testing survey

• Project report
• Project quality plan report
• Project testing report
• Project quality control report
• Site evaluation report

• How to set up multilingual websites
• General tips on web writing

•  On 20 April 2004, the European Commission has published its Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on implementing the information and communication strategy for the European Union [298 KB] where one of the main objectives is “to use the Internet  to associate the public in European decision making and to listen to the public and their concerns in order to improve the perception of the EU and its institutions and their legitimacy”.
• On 2 October 2002, the European Commission has published its Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on an information and communication Strategy for the European Union [149 KB] where it is stressed that “the EUROPA site remains an essential instrument  for bringing the institutions closer to ordinary people and facilitating  contact between Europeans and should be geared more to meeting information requirements of the general public, facilitating access to information sources directly linked to selected priority issues”.
• On 25 July 2001, in its White Paper on European Governance [179 KB], the European Commission acknowledged that genuine and coherent information and communications policy with the appropriate instruments to carry such policy were the main prerequisites for the development of better European governance.
• On 6 July 2001, the European Commission has published its Communication by the President to the Commission in Agreement with Vice-President Neil Kinnock and Mr. Erkki Liikanen "Towards the e-Commission - EUROPA 2^nd Generation  " [95 KB] where the roadmap is set for the implementation of 2^nd generation  websites, reaffirming that EUROPA should offer “information services providing easy access for all to updated, user-friendly and multilingual information tailored to users’ needs”.
• On 27 June 2001, the European Commission has published its Communication from the Commission to the Council, European Parliament  Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions on a new framework for cooperation  on an information and Communication strategy of the European Union [194 KB] where it is reaffirmed that “the main features of the new EUROPA sites should be interactivity, rapid and authentic consultations, research into support by public opinion and a simplified administrative practice for everyone”.
• On December 1999, the eEurope - an Information Society for All initiative was launched by the European Commission to bring the benefits of the Information Society to all Europeans and to improve productivity and their quality of life by stimulating, among others, interactive public services, accessible to all and offered on multiple platforms.

• Jakob Nielsen
• Search engine friendly design and usability
• US Government website overview about usability
• Roger Brown: Effective tips for improving your website’s usability
• Usability evaluation criterias
• Great web design tips
• A universal design approach to web usability
• Web style guide
• Macromedia Flash Usability tips
• Usability and Information architecture

• The reports on usability are in the training chapter.

• Usable Web: 786 links about web usability
• Suggested bibliography for usability testing

• Usability Professionals Association (UPA)

The task of evaluating and improving the usability of websites can be daunting given the quantity of sites being produced, the frequency of updates, and the sheer size of many sites. As a result, some automated support for web designers and usability specialists will become an increasing necessity within the overall usability process. Automated usability tools can help save time and money in design and user testing improve consistency and quality of site design, and improve the systematic application of usability standards. Here are some examples of usability tools available in the market:

• Web Link Validator , or W3C Link Checker , is a site management and link checker tools that help webmasters automate the process of web site testing: finds broken links (including those using JavaScript and Flash), orphaned files, slow-loading, deep, outdated and small-sized pages.
• Web Static Analyzer Tool (WebSAT) - checks web pages HTML against typical usability guidelines.
• Web Category Analysis Tool (WebCAT) - lets the usability engineer construct and conduct a web category analysis.
• Web Variable Instrumenter Program (WebVIP) - instruments a website to capture a log of user interaction.
• Framework for Logging Usability Data (FLUD) - a file format and parser for representation of user interaction logs.
• FLUDViz Tool - produces a 2D visualization of a single user session.
• VisVIP Tool - produces a 3D visualization of user navigation paths through a website.
• TreeDec - adds navigation aids to the pages of a website.

For further information on usability issues, please contact the EUROPA team.

• Defining and planning a new site (i.e. type of site, possible definition and structure).
• Content analysis, identification and organisation of information to be published (i.e. site content and functionality, content plan, tools and services for the site, WAI elements, metadata, etc.)
• Defining the prototype.
• Internal testing of the new site prior to the official launch.
• External testing of the site prior to the official launch.
• Regular and constant maintenance and evaluation in order to achieve optimal performance of the site.

The Web is an increasingly important resource in many aspects of life: education, employment, government, commerce, health care, recreation, access to information and more. It is essential that the Web is accessible in order to provide equal access and equal opportunity to persons with disabilities. An accessible Web can also help people with disabilities more actively participate in society.

The Commission is committed to make Websites as accessible as possible to the largest possible number of users including those with visual, auditory, cognitive or physical disabilities, and those not having the latest technologies. The Commission must take a lead in providing an example of good practice in Web accessibility and accomplish its legal obligations.

As a public service, EUROPA is addressed to all citizens of the European Union. It is important to ensure that it is accessible to all audiences and complies with the standards for accessible web design.

In addition to making information easier to access and thereby increasing the site’s potential customer/client base, benefits of Accessible Web design include:

• Improved usability for all visitors. Consistent navigation makes it easier to find desired content quickly.
• Clear navigation and clear content supports people with and "without" disabilities: older, low literacy levels, low bandwidth, etc.
• Providing text equivalents (e.g., ALT attributes and captioning), table summaries, structured mark-ups and metadata improves search engine optimisation (SEO).

• As from January 2010, all new EUROPA websites should be created in compliancy with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0, level AA.
• In case of justified technical or practical reasons for not complying with these guidelines, the exceptions should be explained in an accessibility page.
• Existing sites could gradually be improved to conform with the new guidelines if resources are available.
• EUROPA pages should be designed to work with a wide variety of browsers, devices, operating systems and monitor colour-depths and resolutions.
• Websites should be developed according to the standards set down by the World Wide Web Consortium and be compliant with HTML 4.01 Transitional and Cascading Style Sheets CSS2.1.
• When creating a new website:
  • During the content definition phase of the site and the creation of the prototype phase, the WCAG 2.0 AA must be taken into account.
  • During the life of the website, on each update, ensure that web accessibility rules are followed.
• When updating existing content, ensure that as far as possible it conforms to the guidelines. If this is not possible, explain why in an accessibility page.
• Websites that comply with 2.0, level AA guidelines, can insert the compliance logo. 

The Commission has adopted the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, compliance level AA, as objective to attain for websites published on EUROPA from January 2010 on.

Until 2009, the standard followed for web accessibility of EUROPA websites has been the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 (WCAG), level A (priority 1). Most websites that conform to WCAG 1.0 will not require significant changes in order to conform to WCAG 2.0, and some may not need any changes.

Some top level EUROPA sites already meet the terms of WCAG 2.0 AA level of compliance, and the European Commission continues to move forward achieving conformity for a great deal of its existing subsites.

However, in spite of continuous efforts to monitor accessibility, full "level AA" compliance cannot be guaranteed at all times. In case of justified technical or practical reasons for not complying with these guidelines, the Commission will explain the exceptions in an accessibility page.

DG Communication (DG COMM) offers a number of framework contracts and AMI list:

• DG COMM multiple framework contract
• DG COMM framework contracts for activities in the Communication fields
• AMI list for specialised web services

DG COMM maintains also a list of all DGs' framework contracts in the Communication fields.

For further information, see DG COMM intranet for the framework contracts possibilities.

The framework contracts from DIGIT can offer you the necessary expertise for constructing complex dynamic sites using ColdFusion or Weblogic.
The IRMs (Information Resources Managers) of each DG and their teams are the key contact people from DIGIT in this field. Contact them first if you want to make use of these contracts. For further information, please consult the Framework Contracts page of DIGIT on MyIntracomm. Public information about DIGIT's framework contracts is available on EUROPA.

The Publications Office (OP) know–how is available to anyone requiring help and advice with publications projects (electronic and paper). OP uses framework contracts to produce publications together with external contractors. Directorates-General and institutions can submit a request for a publication which will be produced in-house or with the help of an external contractor. OP advises on technical specifications, helps plan, prepare and manage projects and ensure quality of the finished product, and ensures conformity with the rules governing the use of framework contracts and house style guides. OP has a number of such contracts which can be used to carry out multimedia and print publications projects.

For further information, see PubliCare (services offered by the Publications Office) and the Publications Office internal site.

• Request form for the creation or revamp of a (sub) site DOC(116 KB)
  This form is required at the very start of the website creation or revamp planning process and must be submitted to DG COMM before publication or signature of any contract. 
  
  
• Concept paper DOC(206 KB), PDF(125 KB)
  Example of an integral concept paper, defining all aspects and requirements to create a website.
  
  
• Timeline XLS(86 KB)  
  Example of a website creation timeline. The first two parts "Roles, budget, schedule" and "Goals, scope, indicators" are fundamental and preliminary for all the rest - their outcome has an impact on the entire project. The timeline is based on the ideal hypothesis that all the necessary resources will be available at the right moment.
  
  
• Wireframes DOC(193 KB)   PDF(95 KB)   
  Examples of different page level design.
  
  
• Methods to define the target audience DOC(47 KB)  , PDF(20 KB)  
  Help to find what the main audience of your website will be, based on defining types of user and specific goals for each type of user. 
  
  
• Example of the resources needed for the creation of a small site DOC(42 KB)  , PDF(17 KB)  
  Example of how to estimate the resources needed for the creation of a small-scale website.
  
  
• Content workflow management PDF(22 KB)
  Comprehensive overview of the content management workflow and its associated approval procedures.
  
  
• Standard templates
  The graphical foundations on which you must base your project. 
  
  
• Quality Control check list
  Help to measure how well a website meets IPG requirements and best practices.

The definition of a website’s content and how that content is structured, internally and externally, is a key element in determining the effectiveness and maintainability of the site. This section describes the elements of information architecture relevant to website content and structure as well as providing detailed and practical information on the activities required to be carried out in order to systematically produce an effective, useful and maintainable website.

• Content identification
  • Inventory of all existing and related content
  • Definition of needs for new content requirements
  • Re-adaptation of existing content
• Definition of site structure
• Definition of website navigation
• Definition of site technical architecture and making key design choices
• Labelling of site elements
• DGT.D.2 to give linguistic advice/editing services in advance of translation (web style + clarity of original text)
• Proofreading the content
• Validate and approve the content and send for translation
• Translate the content into required languages
• Naming (labelling of site elements)
• If necessary, select key parts of the site and build prototypes, review results
• Definition of metadata and WAI elements, etc.
• Database design (type of encoding, type of data, language, blocked or classified fields, etc.)

• Quality plan

• Existing content
• Staff assigned to project (tasks descriptions, profiles)
• Project description and planning instruments (calendar and detailed work breakdown plan, resources allocation, including costs list (figures), etc.)
• Site specifications
• Site production checklist
• Promotion and communication plan

• Detailed site design specifications
• Specifications of user platform (browser environment, connection speed required, etc.)
• Specifications of web server resources needed
• Programming proposals based on functional needs of the future site
• Site "storyboard", diagrams (site maps, thumbnails, outlines, tables of contents)
• Content plan/schedule: detailed description of site contents
  (hierarchical list of all content (texts, picture material) by page; for each element, identify who is responsible for supplying the content; deadlines)
• Prototype(s)
• Schedule for site design and construction

• Background material for the general public: explaining what the European Union is, its achievements, what it does and how its policies affect citizens is text that many institutions, DGs and services produce. Written in a journalistic style, and with no jargon, this text must also be short.
• Summaries of key documents: all key documents should be introduced by a short summary, understandable by most citizens.
• News: news items are not press releases. Press releases are destined for journalists who will then write their own news. If you want to include news in your sites, make sure you are able to produce short, easy-to-understand pieces of no more than around 400 words.
• Short texts: short texts (maximum 100 words) for introductory content, slogans, banners, promotional buttons, hyperlinks, hyperlink descriptions, metadata, labels for website elements (such as the navigation), promotional texts, press conference backdrops.
• Press releases: these are written by the spokespeople service and are destined for journalists. Directly linking to the Rapid database from news sections is not advised. Press releases should be linked to from "Press corners" or website areas dedicated to the Press.

If you want to include any other types of content in your website and it is not described in this section, it means that it most certainly needs to be introduced by one type that is describe in this section.

The role of the site vis-à-vis the policy or activity in question should be decided. And the architecture as well as a map of the site should be drawn. Once available, the thematic site map should be submitted to the Editorial Committee of EUROPA and the Ceiii, if its character is interinstitutional, so as to make sure that the project does not overlap with other sites in preparation and that all relevant DGs are involved.

More links on organisational aspects in the Planning chapter.

On the basis of this policy, guidelines on editorial style and content authorisation procedures can be drawn up and distributed to everyone who is adding content to the site. This will guarantee a coherent presentation of information within the site. Editorial style will also have to be individually adapted to the target audience and to the degree of specialisation of each level of the site.

Write for your readers! Writing for the Web differs from writing for printed publications and content cannot simply be transferred from paper to net without being adjusted. Texts should be short and concise and navigation to related text obvious and quick.

In summary, the editorial policy must provide the online providers/editors with guidance on:

• the objective of the site
• the target audiences and main communication messages to convey
• the article and style policy
• the thematic/organisational structure and content aggregation approach and levels
• the rules and procedures regarding the provision, approval, and use of content
• the users’ feedback collection, management and analysis

For more information on writing for the Web, please check the following sources:

• Writing for the Web in this chapter
• Multilingualism and editorial quality – Editing quality
• Interinstitutional style guide

The aim of this step is to establish a complete inventory of all the generic sites, subsites, pages, documents, services on EUROPA and other sites (Member States government sites, government sites outside of European Union, etc.) relative to the theme in question. This inventory could be done by the content providers (authors) and it has to be approved by the site’s Editorial Board.

Inventory methods:

Manual Method

Manual method based on the knowledge of different experts in order to identify the information regarding the theme.

• Identify and interview experts, information officers and webmasters of the concerned DGs, task managers of EUROPA at the DG COMM and copywriters.

Automatic Method

• Search in the Thesaurus EUROVOC of all the terms related to the theme of the site in question
• Use of these terms as a search criteria for metadata (title, classification, keywords and description)
• Use of these terms as search criteria for a search on EUROPA

Existing content must be carefully considered and possibly revised before it can be recycled onto your site. Since existing content will probably be dispersed over different sites, decisions will have to be made as to the level of integration of that content into the site (i.e. whether to host it directly on the site or make it accessible via a link).

Whenever content is integrated via a link, consider if a new introductory text is needed. If the target site is well structured and has been constructed using the CWCM, you may be able to reuse some of its content for providing this introductory text. Please keep in mind that several layers of navigational pages between the home page and the content might be frustrating to the users.

Much of the time, content only refers to text. But images, graphics, tables, audio and video are also types of content. These different content types should work together to fulfil a single content requirement.

Whether it is to introduce and explain a series of links or to fill the content gaps that may emerge from the inventory of existing content, your site is most likely to need new content. Editing new texts is one of the most delicate stages of the site creation. Not only must the texts respect the rules for web writing and be fine-tuned to the specific target audience, but they also must be approved by all the relevant DGs and services.

You can start by creating a graphic presenting the structure of the site (usually a hierarchy) and use it to discuss the site navigation structure with the team. Try to imagine how to make the site more usable maybe by providing search boxes, context-sensitive help, breadcrumbs, indexes, site maps, navigation bars and structured menus.

How users will navigate around the site and discover the content they are looking for? You can for example choose a topical structure of your content or a structure with respect to life events. A topical structure for a service sites such as an eGovernment would for instance have the sections: employment, residency, taxation, etc. A structure following life events would have sections, such as ‘finding a job’, ‘building a house’, ‘the tax return exercise’, etc., i.e. all information necessary for an administrative event in your life to happen. The so-called matrix structure is useful for enabling users with different needs to navigate through the same content. For some example, some users would like to look for a document by its topic, its year of publication, its author, etc. As to the hierarchical structure (also so-called tree structure), the information gets more and more detailed level after level.

Try to understand the users of your site, the way they work and the way they think. Remember that the navigation scheme should not be too realistic either. In fact, sometimes this approach only confuses users instead of helping them. It is more important that the navigation is consistent throughout the site.

Remember that you will see the “global, top view”, but the people navigating your product will probably not. Even if you provide people with a map, they rather spend most of their time attending to the content of the site, not to the map. So while making your site map, try to represent the complex structure as clearly as possible. Always provide a single page that gives a visual and textual representation or overview of the entire site and which allows users to navigate directly from this representation.

The availability of the information in multiple languages, ideally in all official languages of the EU, is one of the major strengths of the EUROPA website. When a website is created, the language issue is therefore one of the first aspects to be tackled. A well-thought decision must be taken on the language policy of the site. It will take into consideration the type of content of the site, its main target audience and the resources available. It is essential to discuss this policy with Directorate-General for Translation (DGT) so as to adopt a realistic approach to multilingualism.

During site operation, when content must be created, it is also important to involve the DGT’s web unit at the earliest opportunity - while you are still drafting or even before you start. Waiting to contact DGT until the moment you are ready to submit files for translation is far too late. Experience has shown that the final product is much improved if DGT can collaborate from an early stage on web projects, checking original web texts to ensure they are suitable quality for translation/web publication, and providing native speaker editing of these texts where necessary. Other benefits include DGT advice on other issues related to multilingualism on the Web and scheduling of translation work as far in advance as possible.

• Define the language policy of the site according to target audience, nature of web content and available resources.
• Notify the DGT’s web unit at the earliest opportunity of your web project – especially regarding volumes and languages. Include them in the drafting process from the start, in particular by providing sample texts for comment and linguistic advice.
• Define navigation policy for languages (including splash page, if any).
• Describe the language policy in the “About this site” section, with sound arguments defending it.
• In the design phase, keep in mind that adjustments might be necessary, depending on the language.
• Follow language-related IPG recommendations on URLs, file naming policy, site names, procedure for requesting a URL, etc.
• Send content for translation (relevant deadlines and possible delays to be taken into account in the overall planning). For further information on how to request the translation (available resources, procedures, etc.), see the relevant “Tools” section below.
• When choosing the templates for your site, keep in mind all the relevant multilingual elements: keywords, metadata, characters ALT, WAI, etc.
• Define the language policy for the management of functional mailboxes (i.e. how to handle incoming messages in any language, translation of both messages and replies, multilingual collection of standard replies, etc.)
• When planning the promotion of the site, define all language aspects related to both the site itself and the promotional tools.

• Site(s) availability in the appropriate official language(s)
• Final product quality as regards not only the original text but also translations
• Users’ feedback related to language offer and issues relating to quality of translations

• Project description defining the new site
• Language policy proposed (including  the relevant justification)

• New site available in x number of languages
• Translations of original text(s)
• Proofreading documentation/proofs
• Glossary of used terms

Training

Language recognition training courses are sometimes provided by DG HR. At the same time DG HR, in collaboration with DG COMM, holds regular courses on “Writing for the Web” in EN. These courses help information providers write clearer texts, suitable for web presentation and also address the multilingual aspects that relate uniquely to the EUROPA site.

Tools

The DGT is able to help you process your documents in 23 languages. However, not all texts can be treated on an equal basis, different priorities and different solutions are on offer according to the documents’ importance and nature. DGT therefore offers a variety of linguistic treatments and language tools which can be found on the site of its web unit.

Contacts

Further information on multilingualism issues can be requested by email to the EUROPA team.

The decision on the nature and number of languages offered on a website should be given careful consideration; it is usually determined by striking a fine balance between the type of content of the site, its main target audience and the resources available and, as these factors may vary over time, the initial policy should be reviewed regularly. The policy adopted should be defensible before the outside world with fair and objective arguments.

As we know, official documents are available in at least the languages which were official at the date of their publication. Other documents, of a non-legally binding nature, are frequently published only in certain languages, mostly in English, French and German.

General information on the other hand, should be available in all official languages, although some of them may become available as the necessary translation capacity increases. Exceptions to this general rule are made only for information that is urgent or has a very short life (see below).

The following can be identified as general information to be published in all official languages:

• the home page of a site (whether a generic site, a DG's site or a Commissioner's site)
• any stable information (about the site, FAQs, etc.)
• official documents
• the mission of a DG
• the organisation chart of a DG

You may publish all language versions at the same time or you may publish first the original language and any other language version at your disposal. In that case you will have to upload the remaining language versions gradually, as they become available.

Whatever the language policy adopted for a site, the policy itself and the underlying rationale should be explained (in as many languages as possible) on a dedicated page or in the “About this site” section (see an example at the relevant page on the Information Society site).

Specialised information should be available in at least two languages, the ones most commonly used by the audience the information is intended for.

The following can be identified as specialised information:

• technical information
• speeches
• Information on financing  possibilities (public procurement/ grants available)
• campaigns, fora, blogs

News and news-related information

Information that is urgent and short-lived, such as news items, may be distributed in fewer than 23 languages. The need to keep up with the latest news and react quickly on a site requires that some information be published at short notice, and does not allow for translation time. news-related pages may include the following:

• newsrooms
• press releases
• newsletters
• "What's new" pages
• timetables, events, conferences

For a more detailed description of the current language policy on EUROPA, see FAQ.

Mixture of languages on the same page

Languages should not be mixed on the same page except in very specific cases, i.e. when the home page is also used to announce daily news on the site or news connected with the domain covered by the site.

Proofreading

Ideally, and where necessary after conversion into HTML, the texts should be proofread in every language one final time. This is a service the Publications Office (OP) may be able to provide in the near future.

The language issue is one of the first aspects to be tackled when planning or revamping a site. The language policy of a site will be determined by the type of content, the audience targeted and the translation resources available.

However, as these factors (content, audience and resources) may change over time, the language issue needs to be readdressed regularly during the life-time of the site. The policy adopted should be defensible before the outside world with fair and objective arguments.

• Define the language policy of the site according to target audience, nature of web content and available resources.
• Notify the DGT’s web unit at the earliest opportunity of your web project – especially regarding volumes and languages. Include them in the drafting process from the start, in particular by providing sample texts for comment and linguistic advice.
• Define navigation policy for languages (including Splash page, if any).
• Describe the language policy in the “About this site” section, with sound arguments defending it.
• In the design phase, keep in mind that adjustments might be necessary, depending on the language.
• Follow language-related IPG recommendations on URLs, file naming policy, site names, procedure for requesting an URL, etc.
• Send content for translation (relevant deadlines and possible delays to be taken into account in the overall planning). For further information on how to request the translation (available resources, procedures, etc.), see the relevant “Tools” section below.
• When choosing the templates for your site, keep in mind all the relevant multilingual elements: keywords, metadata, characters ALT, WAI, etc.
• Define the language policy for the management of functional mailboxes (i.e. how to handle incoming messages in any language, translation of both messages and replies, multilingual collection of standard replies, etc.)
• When planning the promotion of the site, define all language aspects related to both the site itself and the promotional tools.

• Site(s) availability in the appropriate official language(s)
• Final product quality as regards not only the original text but also translations
• Users’ feedback related to language offer and issues relating to quality of translations

• Project description defining the new site
• Language policy proposed (including  the relevant justification)

• New site available in x number of languages
• Translations of original text(s)
• Proofreading documentation/proofs
• Glossary of used terms

Brief the translators on the target audience.

Please let the translators know what audience you are running the website for so that they can adapt the translation style accordingly. Some languages make distinctions between younger/older, general/specialist ... audiences.

Write neutral text which needs minimum localisation.

Information specific to one language or country often needs localisation, i.e. customisation for the specific language community concerned. Translators will have to adapt this kind of information for the language community they are addressing. For convenience, avoid local references where possible, especially if you are not intending to put your text onto your site in every official language.    

If you need to localise, please always notify translators in advance which parts of your content have been localised.

How to proceed? Two possibilities:

• Once you have finalised your original text and created a file for each language (see also below), insert the words you want directly in the relevant place in the corresponding language version.
  Or
• If your text includes a list of several examples (e.g. of projects in different Member States), give priority to the information of interest to a particular target language community by putting it first in the list in the relevant language version.

If you just need to replace a language or country name with that of the target audience, you can ask the translator to do it for you.

Write addresses in their original language where possible and not in the language of your document. The same applies to proper names. It is rather difficult and time-consuming for a translator to find out the original name of a company, an organisation or a brand. The best approach is to give both, a description combined with the proper name.

Describe link contents rather than giving proper website names only. Remember that what is common sense in one language area can be completely unknown in another. Example: "Bundestag" could read "German Parliament (Bundestag)" or Bundestag (German Parliament).

Keep it short and simple. Remember that each page may be translated into over twenty-three languages, which will multiply any shortcomings (errors, excessive amounts of text, etc.) by the same factor. See the IPG recommendations on web writing or any of these style guides). 

Do...

• Contact the Directorate-General for Translation (DGT) as early as possible so that when planning your project you can take account of the period required for translation.
• When you send your content for translation, try to also send all navigation elements, links, etc. at the same time, as these are difficult to translate later out of context.
• Provide the DGT with as many references as possible (documents and/or URLs) to help translators to understand the text and improve text quality.
• When making a  Poetry request , specify clearly where the text is to be posted, i.e. give the full URL ( http://europa.eu/...)
• Give the DGT maximum instructions on text formatting, taking over any underlined text, adapting URLs, and page layout. This will greatly help to get the text properly formatted.
• Rework the translation documents (ex: to ensure the translation coherence with the pages already online).
• Be consistent on your site (terms/expressions used, etc.)

Don’t...

• Mix languages on one page except in very specific cases, i.e. when the home page is also used to announce daily news on the site or news connected with the domain covered by the site.

1. Leave some room on your screen.
   If possible, try to avoid filling your screen up to the last centimetre with information. Since translations (especially from English into another language) can be longer than the original, the presentation might not look as nice as your original or, in the worst case, might become a mess.
2. Use the "include" function of FrontPage for repetitive text. 
   It helps to keep maintenance low and consistency high. The files included could be named with an i_ at the beginning so that the translator knows that the text concerned is to be inserted into several documents. If and when you need to modify it, only the "include" file will have to be updated and sent again for translation, i.e. it will take you and the translator much less time and effort.
3. Wherever possible use styles and avoid hard encoded formatting information.
   This not only keeps your file size down but makes it much easier for the translator to concentrate on the text without having to bother with its formatting. With the tools we have, we cannot add, remove or move tags easily within the text.
4. Prefer plain text to images.
   We know that text images are very popular amongst webmasters, but keep in mind that the DGT cannot handle them. If you use images with text, create one for each language and use the very same text as "alt" description so that you can copy paste it into the image afterwards. And another tip: be generous with the image size, since more space might be needed for the target language.
5. Use relative table, cell, box sizes.
   Text length in other languages will vary and nothing is more frustrating for the reader than having just half of the text visible on screen or overwritten by other text. So whenever possible, try to avoid absolute sizes. This also applies, of course, to JavaScript menus.

1. Create a file for each language version and replace links with the corresponding language version from the outset. Once your original version is finalised (not before), create a file for each language version and adapt the links inside it accordingly. Be aware that the translators have no way of modifying link information.
2. Create text images for each language version. Even if you don't yet have the translation, it is good practice to create an image file with the correct extension from the outset (_da.gif, _de.gif). See also "prefer plain text to images" and the previous tip.
3. Put alphabetical lists into the correct order for each language after translation. Translators have no way of modifying the order in which the information is presented. So don't forget to do it after translation.
4. When making a  Poetry request , specify clearly where the text is to be posted, i.e. give the full URL ( http://europa.eu/...).

Links policy : Language icons and links

Particular attention should be paid when linking to a page with content in a different language. The relevant language icon should be inserted in order to ensure better usability and smooth access to information.

Language selection tool

It must be present on all pages. The language selection tool provides the only means of horizontal navigation between languages. It also provides an indication of which language versions exist.

Multilingual templates

The translations in the templates are official and mandatory.

A   study on multilingual splash pages [1.15MB](ordered by the Publications Office) contains a number of recommendations and standards, while some examples of multilingual splash pages can be found at:

http://europa.eu/

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/

http://www.cor.europa.eu/

• Basic principles of web writing
• Keep visitors coming back
• Structure and layout
• Headings
• Menus and links - helping users navigate
• Keeping it short
• Words and style
• Other reference sources

Ask yourself these questions for every web page you write. This is recommended good practice, though not all points may apply to every page.

• Who is the audience and is the content relevant/interesting to them?
• Does the page have just one (main) subject – and what is it?
• Is the key information in the most prominent position (usually the top of the page)?
• Does the page have an intro paragraph summarising the page’s key idea (answering the basic questions: who, what, where, why, how, when)?
• Does the page contain only essential content?
• Is background info linked to rather than being quoted in full on the page? (Don't duplicate content already available on EUROPA/the Web)?
• Are all the concepts expressed as much as possible from the perspective of the reader, not the EU?

• Are plentiful, meaningful (sub)headings used (to show how the different text chunks relate to each other)?
• Is bolding used to highlight key ideas in each paragraph? (max. 2 items per paragraph)
• Are paragraphs short? (max. 2-3 lines - even 1 sentence is fine).
• Does each paragraph have just 1 main idea?
• 3 or more items listed in running text should be a bulleted list or table.
• If the page is long, does it have internal navigation links at the top?

People are much more likely to find your pages through search engines if the following are short, meaningful, and include keywords (at the beginning):

• <title> tag
• meta description tag
• links (use text names rather than leaving a simple URL)
• headings (must be formatted H1, H2, etc.)
• ALT tags

• Is the page written in simple, accessible language?
• Is the message conveyed as objectively and concisely as possible?

Be clear in your own mind what your key message or service is and find a straightforward way of conveying it to your target audience. Help your readers to find what they want – don’t simply put online all the information you have at your disposal. And never just use existing print texts – consider shortening, bulleting and adding subheadings and links.

Always write for a specific audience. Don't try to reach everyone with the same content – it won't work! Try to tailor everything you write to appeal to the interests / needs / concerns / goals of your target audience, so your content is understandable for them.

To be credible, ensure your content is:

• objective – not hype
• concrete – not abstract political statements
• accurate – most especially: not out of date

Broadly speaking, the audience for EUROPA sites breaks down into one of two categories (and so should your content):

• experts/stakeholders - e.g. civil servants, professionals in the field
• general public

It is important to write from your reader’s perspective.

Examples: “free circulation of labour” is a familiar concept to economists and policymakers, who have the overview. But that policy-based perspective is not so relevant to individual jobseekers, who would probably be looking for “the freedom to live and work abroad in Europe”, for instance.

Similarly, institutions buying in goods/services know this process as public procurement – companies potentially providing those goods/services are more likely to be looking for public contracts.

Attractive pictures and graphic elements are important for website presentation. But words are the main content on your web pages.

The text is what conveys the facts about the information or service your readers are looking for – this is what most web users read first. Only afterwards do they look at pictures for extra information. And using your readers’ words is the only way you can attract them via search engines.

Experts may understand the jargon in their field, but like all readers they still prefer texts that are short and readable (i.e. using plain words, rather than the technical/legal/administrative style of many traditional EU documents). This is especially important for people reading pages in a language that is not their own (often the case for English).

We cannot assume the public know as much about the EU and its jargon as EU officials do. Texts for the public need to use words ordinary people understand (read 'EU jargon in English and alternatives'). Generally this is more personal, direct and conversational than most print documents.

Writing short texts involves 2 things:

• WHAT to write – evaluate which points you really need to make - i.e. what the reader really needs to know - and write only about this.
• HOW to write – to convey those points, use only the words you need in every sentence.

This requires us to change – from the easy, running style, we use for print documents to spare and functional prose that makes every word count.

Be ruthless in reducing every sentence to the bare minimum to convey your message – by cutting out every word you can and rephrasing. This is often enough to cut your text by half.

On the home page, tell visitors who you are, show them how you've organised your site, tell them about updates and give them a way to interact (sign up for a newsletter or other notification service).

Add links to related content – on either your site or sites of other organisations.

Try to guide readers to information they might want/need by asking: what else might they want to know? More background on the subject? More about us (link to our site's "About Us" page)? Other questions?

Commission sites are mainly content (text) based. Images, audio and video files can make them better looking, but for a legislative/policy-making organisation, content quality and presentation are all-important.

• Focus your information - present content in a way that appeals to the audience you consider most important/relevant to your site and policy area - usually there is no "one size fits all" solution!
• Organise your content based on the subjects involved, not the administrative structure of your institution (e.g. by units, directorates, etc.)
• Quality control - check the quality of all documents thoroughly before putting them online. Badly written or translated documents will sabotage your attempts to attract and keep a high readership for your site.

Whatever you do, do NOT publish low-quality texts just for the sake of “having something on our site”.

Ways to keep your content fresh for readers:

• Feature a column - updated daily, and with interesting content: this gives casual visitors a reason to visit again.
• Regularly introduce new subtopics within your main topic - so users can be constantly re-engaged.
• Respond quickly to user feedback and take it seriously.
• Use email alerts or e-magazines to tell subscribers what's new. But don't send too much, this is counterproductive. And always reassure users that you are not passing on any personal data or details to third parties.
• Tidy housekeeping - update regularly.

Users want up-to-the minute information, so update regularly and thoroughly - delete or archive old material, correct dead links and check your content to make sure it reflects changes and new events.

Maintaining a website properly takes time. So when you plan your site, keep in mind that a relatively small site with up-to-date content is much better than many long and outdated pages.

You will also need procedures for senior management to quickly - but thoroughly - check and approve material to be published.

Depending on the type of site, you might need to look at it every hour, day, week or month. The absolute minimum should be a twice a year.

So apart from the initial cost (man hours/outside resources, etc.) of creating your site, allow for regular additional costs/resources for its upkeep.  It  will depend on the type of site and information presented, subject area, political importance, etc.

Unlike printed pages, the success of a site greatly depends on visual presentation.

While graphic design (use of colours, images, etc.) is an important factor, how you write text content (layout, style) has a big impact. Screens filled with large blocks of dense text or using inaccessible, incorrect or clumsy language, especially in prominent positions (headings, etc.) create a very bad impression on the Web.

Uncluttered screens with plenty of white space are most restful to the eye and visually more attractive. And they are more likely to convey your key information effectively by not drowning it in a sea of detail – so make your content short and concise.

Also try to vary paragraph lengths, so readers can tell them apart and thus find their way as the page scrolls down.

Readers rarely see a whole page together and different browsers can display different proportions of it. It is not easy to control the visual appearance of a text. First test the technology, to see what it can deliver to the user, and then adjust the writing accordingly.

Print documents build logically from premise to conclusions. Web pages, however, should start with the most important information for readers. The remaining information should follow in descending order of importance.

• Ensure that a page’s top heading and text is used to convey this key information – in words that are clear and meaningful (and if possible also attention-grabbing).
• Don’t waste this vital space with less‑important information (welcome messages, background details, etc.). Such content (if it needs to exist at all) should be put at the bottom or linked to on another page.

Studies have shown that readers’ eyes usually rest first in the upper left of the page, then move slowly to the right. Only after scanning the top of the page for some time do their eyes explore further down.

The graphic below shows the zones of importance. While each site is different, you might look at your own website and see what content you have in which zones.

Source: The best of Eyetrack III - what we saw when we looked through their eyes, by Steve Outing and Laura Ruel

People do not read web pages word by word. Instead, they scan them, running their eyes down a screen to pick out individual words and sentences, looking for material relevant to their needs.

Search engines read text similarly, algorithmically scanning for those words that describe the page's subject better than others. So they give more weight to words that are differentiated from the main text, e.g. bolded or in bulleted lists.

Break up text as much as possible to help your readers (and search engines) scan:

• Write small paragraphs (containing just one idea).
• Use several information areas, e.g. insert text in shaded boxes within text or alongside it.
• Insert plenty of meaningful  sub-headings (short and eye catching).
• Bulleted lists or tables (instead of long descriptive lists in text form).
  Bold the key word(s) of each bullet, then separate the following supporting information with a dash (more visible onscreen than a colon).
• Highlight key words (link text, bold/italic or different colours).
• Add meaningful picture captions.

How to highlight

• Highlight only key information-carrying words (or actual keyword phrases).
• Highlight about three times as many words as you would when writing for print.
• Highlight words that differentiate your page from other pages and words indicating what a given paragraph is about.

Using tables (more visual and much less text)

    Text version (84 words)

On 1 January 2006, three contribution classes were introduced for statutory accident and sickness insurance with different contribution levels for employers. Employers in the first contribution class for statutory accident and sickness insurance have to pay a contribution of 31.7%. Employers in the second contribution class have to pay a contribution of 31.11%. Employers who do not fall within the first or second contribution class belong to the third class for accident and sickness insurance and are required to pay a contribution of 30.98%.

    Table version (30 words)

On 1 January 2006, three contribution classes were introduced for statutory accident and sickness insurance, with different contribution levels for employers. 

Typographic practices to avoid

• Italic typefaces - for long passages of text (they are slower to read online).
• Underlining - if the term is not a link.
• Different character fonts on the same page.

Create a consistent look and feel, integrating images and text (see Design chapter).

Headings should:

• Be short (max. 60 characters with spaces, or ±8 words in English). Use a telegraphic headline style without filler words like the, and, of.
• Use the same main descriptive words as in your <title> tag .
  Readers clicking on your <title> tag in a search results page will then be easily able to see that the page they land on is the correct one.
• Use concrete readers’ words (i.e. for non-specialists, avoid jargon and abstractions).
• Express issues from the readers' perspective.
• Lead with the key idea, not the EU's perspective or lesser details (dates, etc.)
• Meaningfully describe the content in that section and its relationship to other sections.
• Be interesting to attract the attention of scanning readers,
  e.g. use an informal style and express action through strong verbs rather than nouns.

Examples                                                               

The Commission’s existing framework (in a page on ethics in the Commission)	Ethics at the Commission (includes specific subject words)
Procedures (in a page on press accreditation)	How accreditation is granted (expresses a meaningful task for readers)
Your Internet - Your choice (too much slogan and general)	PC users free to choose web browsers (uses concrete subject words so readers will instantly understand)

Like tables of contents, menus should give the contents of your site a meaningful structure. Write menus to reflect this structure. Help visitors understand this by using hierarchies and organising your content in the simplest and most logical order – especially since you never know the order in which it will be read by the user.

Write individual menus so that:

• One bounces off another, illuminating both.
• Readers can see why certain menus are grouped together.
• Readers sense a certain sequence from the top menu to the last.
• Readers quickly get a sense of what the section is about, along with hints as to where they can find the information they want.
• They are clear – not cryptic or ambiguous, as they could be misunderstood.

When objects are in groups, people remember them more accurately. Grouping helps people understand how your menu is organised, find what they want more easily and recall the organisation of your site more accurately later.

One way to group items is to create a range from the familiar to the unfamiliar, from general to specific and from most commonly used to least.

Grouping headings into menus and submenus creates a hierarchy. In general, a good hierarchy helps people store and remember incoming information, because people organise the information in their long-term memories in hierarchies.

Group information items at various levels and provide clues in your writing as to why you organised the items in this way.

To avoid confusing readers with too many pages at different levels, try to ensure your hierarchy is no deeper than four levels.

To help visitors follow their own trail, offer them multiple menus leading to the same low-level items. People usually come to your site with different purposes, tasks and mindsets - you can support them by putting the same heading in more than one menu. Such menus can also offer different perspectives on your content.

Nobody will be entering these terms in a search or skim-reading a page for them.

For information on EU fisheries policy, click here	Information on EU fisheries policy
EU fisheries policy - More	More on EU fisheries policy

Unless you're promoting a particular site address, standard practice is to write a meaningful, descriptive label for your links.

For more information, see the EU tax and customs home page: http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/index_en.htm	For more information, go to the EU tax and customs site Use meaningful words

Link labels should be a specific indication of the content the reader will find by clicking (don't mislead and waste their time). And search engines look especially for keywords in links.    

Don't slavishly mirror the heading on the underlying page. If this is unsuitable for use as a link label (too long, unclear, etc.), it's okay to rephrase it in your link label.

(heading on page linked to)	(link label pointing to it)
Detailed explanation of the different types of public works contract	Public works contract types Link contains enough words from the underlying heading for readers to make the connection when they land on that page.
European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument	Programmes in EU's southern/eastern neighbours Explains underlying content better for non-experts - "EU neighbourhood" concept not widely known.

Link labels must make sense if used out of context, e.g. in other locations, on outside websites, etc.

Energy saving  (too general)  a link to a video of individual energy-saving projects in European towns	EU energy-saving projects   Specifies more where the energy saving is and in what form

Most of the figures in this table are ceilings (absolute maximums) – not targets to attain.

The rule is always the shorter, the better.

In terms of screens, a web page should ideally be no longer than 4, though this might vary if the page contains tables or large graphics.

No need to spell out the full official titles of people, bodies, laws, agreements and other documents, etc.

Use only the key words/concepts readers need to understand. These should preferably be the words they enter in search engines. And if you can make the name a link, this will take people to the full official title if they need it.

Titles
UNESCO Convention on the Promotion and Protection of Cultural Expression	UNESCO convention on cultural expression The essence of the convention is “cultural expression”, nothing more.
Minister for Financial Affairs	Finance minister
Ministry for Social Security, Generations and Consumer Protection	Social security ministry (in texts mainly about social security - just use the relevant part of the title
Laws, official documents, programmes, etc.
Regulation (EC) No 689/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 March 2007 establishing and amending the rules on data protection	EU regulation 689/2007 on data protection
White paper on environmental protection	environment white paper
In 2002 the Council and the European Parliament adopted a Regulation establishing the European solidarity fund.	In 2002 the EU decided to set up a European solidarity fund
Events
The Copenhagen summit on 12 June 2005	The 2005 Copenhagen summit

Show that it a file is downloadable by placing the appropriate icon next to it. Display the file size, so users can assess the download time before clicking. A brief summary of the file’s contents will also help users decide whether they want to read it.

... unless writing exclusively for experts in the field. If your text is understandable only to insiders, it will exclude large numbers of potential readers.

If you have to use jargon, then at least explain what it means the first time you use it.

For a list of tips, see

• Jargon tips
• EU jargon in English and alternatives
• Eurojargon explained.

These are words in two languages that look or sound familiar but have different meanings. See some examples of false friends.

Explain an acronym the first time you use it. Search engine users may look for the acronym or words from its full name so include both to increase their chances of finding your page. However, using acronyms too much could alienate non-specialist readers so there are other ways of shortening long names.

• It makes text clearer and more personal because it identifies the actors in the sentence. It also introduces the action at the earliest stage, so readers can work out what’s happening.

• It puts the actions in the order they happen so readers can follow the logical sequence of events.

Address readers directly by using “you” - this is more engaging and more personally.

Similarly, consistent reference to ourselves in the third person seems self-important and can be misleading by giving the impression that there is a third party involved.

Using simple words should not be seen as dumbing down but rather ensuring that we don't overestimate readers' knowledge.

• They describe the action rather than hiding it in nouns.
• They engage readers and are more direct, concrete and conversational than nouns.

These can often make the sentence difficult to understand (especially when double negatives are used.

This makes text seem self‑important and is harder to read. All of the following are quite acceptable:

The general aim should be no more than one subordinate clause per sentence. But for readability, including some longer sentences is best. The main thing to avoid is text with mostly long and complex sentences.

Captions draw a reader’s eye, so use them to add an extra layer of information or highlight a point from the main text.

The search is a mandatory tool (it is possible to customise a specific tool, otherwise the webmaster must link to the general europa.eu search engine).

If a site is large, providing a search function allows users to access information quickly.

The user will use the search button when he has a word or phrase that he wants to search for on the site. The search button appears on each page of the site.

With a specific "What’s new" page, the user has unique access to all recent news/changes of the site. Webmasters are also encouraged to use RSS feeds to send the information to the user.

Examples Eurostat website

An alphabetical repository of collected links and information. The index, also contained in the very top tool bar of the site, is an A-Z listing of most of the pages on the website, choosing a letter from the menu reveals all the pages listed for that letter.

Example: Commission A-Z index

To get an overall view of the site you can use the site map.

A site map is a web page that lists the pages on a website, typically organised in hierarchical way (categories and subcategories of information which are connected to each other). This tool provides users with a way of visualising the site's structure.

The site map can be used like a table of contents in a book to give you an overview of the contents and structure of the site. Each of these is selectable to take you to that part of the site directly. The site map button appears on each page of the site.

Example: Commission site map

List of answers to some frequently asked questions. Some questions that webmasters often receive can become a good FAQ section. The questions can mention what type of information the site gives, technical explanations, changes on the site, statistics (number of pages), languages covered, future developments on the site, contact information, etc. If there are several questions, it is better to regroup them in categories.

Some examples: EUROPA FAQs, Eur-Lex FAQs

For a complete list of tools, please consult Service tools chapter.

Optimising your web pages for search engines can help your content reach many more people than it otherwise might.

If you need to reach beyond your core audience - people already familiar with your site or directed there through their work - you’ll have to design your pages so people can find them via search engines.

Search engines account for over 85% of visitors to the average web page. Not optimising for search is like sending web pages out into a vacuum - they simply will not be found by many people who might be interested in the useful services/information on EUROPA.

To be sure your sites are found quickly and efficiently, it’s best to register them with at least the leading search engines: Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft.

However, since these major engines use crawlers to find pages for their search results, if other sites link to you, they'll find you even if you're not registered with them.

Some search engines, notably Yahoo!, also operate a paid submission service that guarantees crawling for either a set fee or cost per click. Such programs usually guarantee inclusion in the database, but do not guarantee specific ranking within the search results.

Two major directories, the Yahoo Directory and the Open Directory Project, both require manual submission and human editorial review.

Google also offers Google webmaster tools, for which an XML site map feed can be created and submitted for free to ensure that all pages are found, especially pages that aren't discoverable by automatically following links.

Don't forget, also, to put your XML site map link in your robots.txt.

Read the materials from Internet editors workshop: Search Engine Optimisation.

External guidelines:

• Search engine watch 
• Google webmaster guidelines
• Google's advice on SEO
• Yahoo! webmaster guidelines
• Ask.com webmaster guidelines
• Webconfs - 15-minute SEO

Search engines consist of a software package that crawls the Web, extracts and organises the data in a database. People can then submit a query using a Web browser. The search engine locates the appropriate data in the database and displays it via the browser. Search engines usually have three major elements:

• The spider, also called the crawler, harvester, robot or gatherer. The spider visits a web page, reads it and then follows link to other pages within the site. The spider returns to the site on a regular basis, such as every month or two to look for changes/updates.
• The index. Everything the spider finds goes into the index. The index is like a giant book containing a copy of every web page that the spider finds. If a web page changes, then this book is updated with new information.
• Search engine software: this is the program that sifts through millions of pages recorded in the index to find matches to a search and rank them in order of what it believes is most relevant.

At the global level, Internet search engines were developed to search across multiple websites. Unfortunately the results offered are often big in numbers,  but not very relevant. This is what information scientists call “high recall” but “low precision”. The low precision refers to not being able to locate the most relevant and useful documents. The introduction of the <META> element as part of HTML coding was in part an attempt to encourage search engines to extract and index better structured data such as description and keywords.

The metadata are also very important for the EUROPA search engine. They are used to categorise the results of a query (Content-Language and Classification) and to influence their ranking in the result list (Keywords, Description and Date).

Because of its prime importance in assisting information retrieval, metadata should be among the first things to consider where creating a site.

Metadata are one of the first steps you have to follow when creating a new site and must be present on all pages.

Developing a website without metadata is like stocking a library without providing an index system.

Descriptive META information has many benefits. They can make information easier to locate by providing search tools with more detailed indexing information, rate information to protect minors from viewing certain content, as well as a variety of other things. It is also related to the management of a website in that it helps provide meaning for a document's role in a global or local information space.

Metadata provide information for:

• specification of the character set to be used
• identifying documents (reference, title, language, etc.)
• management and administration purposes (expiry date, author, etc.)
• classification (description, etc.)

On EUROPA, only 7 metadata are compulsory: "Content-Language", "description", "reference", "creator", "classification", "keywords", "date".

Besides these compulsory metadata, the information provider may introduce other metadata if he deems them necessary for management purposes (e.g. "DateAlarm, "WritePermission", "Version").

For the full list of metadata as identified by the "Dublin Metadata Core Element Set", see http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.

However, it is strictly forbidden to include in the metadata any information relating to the firms involved in designing, producing and updating web pages for EUROPA.

Detailed information on metadata is given in the "Instructions" section.

EUROPA templates content 7 compulsory metadata to fill in.

1. <meta http-equiv="Content-Language" content="en">
2. <meta name="description" content="Content should be a sentence that describes the content of the page">
3. <meta name="reference" content="SITE_NAME">
4. <meta name="creator" content="COMM/DG/UNIT">
5. <meta name="classification" content="Numeric code from the alphabetical classification list common to all the institutions">
6. <meta name="keywords" content="One or more of the commission specific keywords + European Commission, European Union, EU">
7. <meta name="date" content="Date of creation of the page">

Translation

Translation of relevant metadata should be requested in all languages in which one intends to publish a site. Translation availability and translation delays should therefore be taken in mind when planning a new site available in various languages.

Metadata should be compliant with the IPG recommendations.

Further evaluation could be done by running relevant tests of the page(s) concerned in different search engines and measuring the accuracy and effectiveness of the information retrieved.

List of defined metadata + all necessary translations

General information on metadata:

http://www.w3.org/Metadata/
http://www.xml.com/metadata/
http://www.niso.org/
http://www.loc.gov/standards/mods/
http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/

Further information on multilingualism issues can be requested by email to the EUROPA team.

Joint alphabetic list of document classification by subject for all the institutions

A portal of links, where the portal administration “only” provides an overview and then makes more detailed information accessible through carefully edited hierarchies of links, is only possible where concise, well structured, high quality information and services already exist elsewhere, eliminating the need for editing or rewriting existing information.

Two possibilities are taken into account:

Deep links

By deep linking into a site, the linking portal allows the users to bypass the home page of the linked portal, a page that often contains terms and conditions and proprietary information relevant to the use of the linked portal. Deep links that go directly to a portal’s interior pages enhance usability because, unlike general links, they specifically relate to users’ goals and context.
A major drawback of deep links is their greater dependency on small changes in the target site. For this reason, the management of deep links can be difficult. In order to avoid broken links, deep linking requires immediate information on the changes on the pages where the links refer to. Inside EUROPA, this could be done automatically, for example by means of a logical access mechanism to pages, hiding the intricacies of the physical arrangement of information on a particular site. A nice example of this principle can be found on EUR-Lex, where a logical linking mechanism called UDL (Uniform Document Locator) has been implemented. Use of a Corporate Web Content Management (CWCM) also facilitates the link management of all pages and documents residing inside the CWCM. Unfortunately there is no simple solution for the links pointing outside of EUROPA.

General links

In this case, the users are provided with links giving direct access to a top entry level or section of other sites where they should then search further for the information of specific interest using the site’s navigation/services. The editing and formatting or thematic organisation of this site may be totally unrelated to the one of the portal.

The use of syndication techniques and web services can simplify the reusability of content. These facilities are already provided by portals such as EU-Bookshop and the EU Press Room and can also be used by sites produced by means of the Corporate Web Content Management system.

• deal with an issue, policy or outside organisation in greater depth than is appropriate on EUROPA;
• are relevant and useful to a wide audience;
• are authoritative, accurate and up-to-date;
• are open to the public (no password-protected sites);
• are representative - if your page covers a range of countries, organisations or languages, then your links should too.

• are primarily commercial – i.e. that carry paying advertisements, or are chiefly concerned with sales;
• are offensive – e.g. contain hate speech, incite discrimination or are otherwise likely to cause grave offence;
• contain misleading information or unsubstantiated claims.

If in doubt do not link. The EUROPA team reserves the right to disallow or remove any such links.

• Verify the content before and during linking. Remove the link when the site is no longer relevant or no longer in line with original objective of the link.
• Check that the sites you link to have credible privacy policies that guarantee compliance with relevant privacy laws.
• Link to a site only if you are confident that the site-owner would not object to the link. Obtain permission if possible. If they do object, remove the link immediately.
• Do not link to Word or PDF documents on other sites, but only to HTML web pages.
• Use plain text links instead of images or logos. If you want to enrich the text link with an icon or the official logo of your partners or social network pages, you must ensure the image fully comply with the legal requirements of the branding or registered trademark. The overall look and feel should not give the impression that EU institutions endorse, support or make publicity of commercial brands (e.g. enormous or manipulated logos of primarily commercial companies).
• Users should be able to identify external links before they click on them. If this is not self-evident from the link text, then make it explicit, e.g. by placing all outside links in a separate list:

          External links:
           Millennium development goals  (United Nations)

• Open outbound links in a new browser window.

EUR-Lex (http://eur-lex.europa.eu) provides direct free access to European Union law. The system makes it possible to consult the Official Journal of the European Union and it includes inter alia the treaties, legislation, case-law and legislative proposals. It offers extensive search facilities.

You will find how to create links to documents on their website.

For more information about content and functionalities of the site, please the page About this website.

The deep link should have the following format:

 http://bookshop.europa.eu/uri?target=EUB:NOTICE:<catalogue number>:<navigation language>

The deep link is composed of the first 9 characters of the catalogue number, followed by the 2 characters of the navigation language you want for the information display. For example, for displaying the details related to publication KA7007020 in the navigation language English, the link will look as follows:

http://bookshop.europa.eu/uri?target=EUB:NOTICE:KA7007020:EN

You can also add the language code to the 9 characters of the catalogue number:

http://bookshop.europa.eu/uri?target=EUB:NOTICE:KA7007020:EN:EN

Please note that due to the strictly language based architecture of the EU-Bookshop, the display of the publication language is coupled with the navigation language chosen, with fallback to EN. Therefore, if no navigation language encoding is applied, EU-Bookshop will choose EN by default:

http://bookshop.europa.eu/uri?target=EUB:NOTICE:KA7007020

If you implement such links on your website engine or in-house application, we recommend to dynamically link to the current navigation language of the user. It will be of course more user friendly to keep the same browsing language when going from your website to the related EU-Bookshop pages.

The links to TED documents have the following format:

http://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:xxxxxx-xxxx:TEXT:yy:HTML

where xxxxxx-xxxx must be replaced by the number of the document (ex: 123456-2006) and yy by the language code (ex: EN for English).

For complete HTML code of the link, ready to copy paste into your HTML page code, please click on the ‘URI’ icon in the documents: a small window with the code will open.

Links to EUROPA from external sites have to meet the following conditions: 

1. Links should where possible be illustrated with official logos and/or trademarks owned and/or licensed by the European institutions and should comply with the instructions provided. If you cannot use logos or trademarks, you can use text links (for example: "For more information, see the EUROPA website"), subject to the conditions below.
2. Links can be made only to pages displaying the EUROPA legal notice .
3. When users access EUROPA via an external link, it should be perfectly clear to them that they are viewing information that is free and not exclusive.
4. Links should not give the impression that the EU institutions endorse or support the objectives or contents of the host website or the organisation managing it.
5. If links are made from a frames-based website, the pages should not be displayed as frames on that site in a way that might mislead users as to their true origin.
6. As soon as you make a link to us, notify the EUROPA webmaster by sending the URL of the page where the link appears - so we can check whether your site has followed points 1-5 above. 

• Interinstitutional style guide – useful for lists of countries, currencies, official names of institutions (in 23 languages)
  Note that such full official titles are not always applicable in websites aimed at a general readership - see Words and style.
• EU glossaries – explanations of various EU policy fields 
• Editorial guidelines - news on the Commission HP
• OPOCE multimedia publishing guide – some technical issues, e.g. copyright
• How to write clearly  

• Drafting aids in EU languages
• English style guide (DGT)   useful reference, expanding on the Interinstitutional style guide
• Terminology database IATE (various languages)

• International Telecommunication Union style guide
• Economist style guide
• Guardian style guide
• Plain language resources

• Web writing that works
• Task-focused websites
• Useit.com
• Writing for intranets
• Writing for the Web
• Writing effective text
• Writing for many interest levels
• Ecrire pour le web (in French)

• Ecrire pour le web - Manuel du formateur 

This section describes in detail the different activities to be carried out in order to implement a site’s objectives and requirements, and to make sure that a created site “fits” into the EUROPA family. Many of the activities are classical design activities that concern the creation of discrete elements that express the objectives and vision of the site in concrete terms and elements. Here can also be found the various guidelines and rules in force with regard to the visual design, including a walkthrough of the standard templates and their various key constituent components.

• Establishing precise page layout, page design and user interface design standards
• Creation of illustrations, photography, logos, flash animations, and any other audiovisual content (collect the captions)
• Rich Media Packages (RMP) and any other audiovisual content (collect the captions)
• Acquisition of copyrights if necessary for third parties elements
• Programming and scripting with CGI, ColdFusion, Java, XSLT
• Customization of search functionality (Verity, thesaurus, indexing, search multilingual, collections, topics, HotPages, etc.)
• Design and validation of accessibility features (WAI, etc.)
• Design database, application including back-office system
• Perform any additional necessary translations

• Content proofreading
• Pre-translation linguistic advice/editing by DGT.D.2
• Translations proofreading

• Presentation Style Guide
• Relevant standards (IPG, technical standards)
• Relevant constraints (Data Centre, DIGIT, etc.)
• Site specification
• Detailed site design specifications
• Specifications of user platform (browser environment. connection speed required, etc.)
• Specifications of Web server resources needed
• Programming proposals based on functional needs of the future site
• Site “storyboard” , diagrams (site maps, thumbnails, outlines, tables of contents)
• Content plan/schedule: detailed description of site contents
  (hierarchical list of all content (texts, picture material) by page; for each element identify who is responsible for supplying the content; deadlines)
• Prototype(s)
• Schedule for site design and construction

• Graphic design specifications for all page types
• Site thumbnails, and roughs (Graphics/Interface deign Models, graphic design and interface design sketches)
• Non-text content (Illustrations, Photography, other A/V, etc.)
• Text, edited and proofread
• Finished HTML template(s)
• Finished examples of key pages
• Interface design and master page precise layout
• JavaScript scripts, Java applets, etc. 

The standard target screen size is 1024x768 pixels. Layout should be always checked for correct display on 800x600 screens. Horizontal scrolling is not allowed under any circumstances.

The length of a page should not be longer than four times the height of the screen of reference (768 pixels). When pages are longer than two vertical screens a top link should be introduced between paragraphs. 

The top area of a web page is the most visible area of a website. This is the place to identify the institution, the purpose of the site and to offer coherent and consistent navigation aids that are constantly applied across every page in the site.

The format could be flexible and may be adapted for the "look and feel" of each site. The best approach is to create a page template that specifies the column layout, the position of major navigation links and any other page elements. It should then be applied on every page within a site. The goal is to establish a logical screen layout that allows easily introducing text and graphics without rethinking at any time the basic design approach.

The width of pages can be fixed in size with pixels or can use percentages in order to adapt the layout to the various screen sizes. Both layouts have advantages and disadvantages. However, in the last years, more than 55% of screen resolutions are bigger than 1024x768 and therefore the EUROPA Templates have implemented an approach semi-fixed instead of flexible to avoid having long lines of text. The maximum width has been set up to 984px and the minimum to 770px. The minimum width can be customised depending on each site layout.

Fixed layout

Long lines of text can slow reading. Ideally a line length should be limited to no more than 75-80 characters. If there is only one column of text you could apply a centered fixed layout, where the text block, not the text itself, is centered in the page. However, a sheet of A4 paper is not as wide as a 1024x768 screen, so screen presentation is reformatted for printing. This automatic reformatting can be inhibited by specifying fixed width tables or images that exceed the paper width, resulting in the loss of text. You should not give to any element of the page a width of more than 650 pixels if you want to be sure that the page prints safely. CSS can also be used for a safe printing.

Flexible layout

The use of a multicolumn layout can increase legibility and functionality. The page can be divided into columns containing the site navigation, the main text and maybe a third column with relevant links related content. Several columns allow applying a flexible page layout as they might narrow the main text column to a comfortable line length. Use percentages to define the width of a table (max. 95%) or the cell containing the main text. Images longer than 650px can prevent text on Web pages of being printed correctly.

Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) helps to simplify the task of maintaining websites by separating formatting information from the structure and content of a document and by providing more sophisticated layout and design features for web pages. All graphical formatting should be done through CSS.

CSS has put an end to the (mis)use of tables as design structure. However, even with current browsers, some CSS-formatting and positioning could be displayed differently in different browsers.

Pages must always be legible when CSS is disabled.

The templates use a standard style sheet, containing a set of classes that determine the presentation of the standard elements and a definition by default for all HTML elements. A local.css should also be used to customise the layout of the content area.

Reading on screen is harder on the eyes than reading on paper. Texts written specially for websites should be short and concise. Read more about writing for the Web.

A rule of thumb is that a line shouldn’t hold more than 75-80 characters. The optimal readability is achieved around 65 characters per line.

The font Verdana is mandatory for all typographical elements within the page. A general reference "Sans-Serif" must always be included in the specification, to help users who don’t have the specified font.

Underlined text is reserved for hyperlinks. It should not be used for other purposes.

Text must be displayed in a contrasting colour to the background colour used.

Scrolling and moving text should be avoided.

To maintain the image of the Commission and to assure the readers that they are in EUROPA, it is important that the mandatory colours are respected.

The colours of the European Commission logo in the banner must be dark blue #004494 and yellow #f9e904, dark grey #5c6a6d and grey #c5c7c8.

The site name in the identification banner should be blue, #0065a2.

The subtitle in the identification banner should be white, #ffffff. 

Text colour should be #000000 or in a contrasting colour to the background colour used.

Link colour should be #027AC6.

Visited link colour should be #551A8B.

It is recommended to use white (#ffffff) as the background colour of all pages.

Use the hexadecimal format "#nnnnnn" instead of names, which are not all recognised by all browsers.

Use images that add value and underline the message of your page. You want to draw the readers’ attention to your page, but not to draw the attention from the message.

It is often better to focus on a detail than to reduce an entire photo to a fraction of its original size.

It is good practice to decide on a few “standard” image sizes when you develop the template for your pages. This makes it easier to update the pages and the result will be more coherent, design-wise.

The images' physical size should be 100% of their displayed size on the page, not resized by the browser. If you upload a big picture to the server and display it at a smaller size, the users need to download an unnecessarily big image. If you upload a small image and resize it to be larger, the users will see a pixelated and/or fuzzy image.

Provide always the exact pixel dimensions when you specify the image using the width and height attributes of the img element.

Avoid using images of text (headings, titles, etc.)  It is not always possible to enlarge the text and never possible to change the contrast between text and background, which is difficult for users with visual impairments. Even with browser zoom or screen magnification images of text can appear blurred or pixelated. Prefer real text and if necessary use CSS for font effects and background images.

Be careful when including text in maps and diagrams, you may need to create one image per language. In some cases, a legend can include the explanations to a diagram.

Text in banners, buttons, etc. should be anti-aliased unless it is set in a typeface designed for the Web. Anti-aliasing removes jagged edges by blending the edges of a font with the surrounding pixels. The resulting object is thus better integrated in the image. For small text sizes, you need to experiment to see what works best for the size and the typeface.

Avoid using large background images unless they are light. A patterned and contrasted background makes it more difficult to read text in a page.

Images must have an ALTernative text describing the image content. ALT is an HTML attribute that is displayed if the browser can’t show the image. It is also essential for vocal browsers. It should be no more than 70 characters.

For example:

<img src="button_presidency_en.gif" alt="Presidency of the EU" />

Decorative images are those that convey no information. For these, provide a text alternative but leave it empty (alt=""). This informs the user (or assistive technology) that the image is not relevant to the meaning of the content. Purely decorative images can be better inserted using CSS rather than in mark-up, improving maintainability.

Often images have functionality, beyond their information content. Always remember that you need to describe the functionality rather than the image itself. For example, buttons and links indicate actions. The text alternative should describe the action, not the image. For example, for a “print this page” button with a printer icon, a proper alternative text is "Print this page" and not "printer icon".

Charts and graphs are complex images to be described in a few words. You should provide a brief ALT text description of the image and then provide a longer description elsewhere. There are several ways of providing a long description for images: within the same page, adding a page describing the image and linking to it via a normal text link or via the “longdesc” attribute added to the <img> tag that provides a link to the long description page.

Example of longdesc attribute:

<img src="chart_unemployment_en.gif" alt="Chart showing EU unemployment by countries in 2010" longdesc="chart_description_en.html" />

Images can be inserted in a page using the HTML tag <img> or as background within a CSS. Use CSS background images for repeating decorative images and inline images for functional or images that convey information.

One of the problems with background images is accessibility. When you turn off CSS, background images do not have ALT text and some operating systems such as Windows High Contrast mode have the effect of hiding CSS background images. Therefore, the user will not be able to fully use your website. 

Functional images (e.g. a print icon opening the print function, a play button, etc.) or images providing information (e.g. PDF icons within a link with alt text PDF to convey information about the file format to screen readers) should be inline images inserted with the tag <img>.

CSS sprites is a technique that allows by using CSS positioning to selectively display composite background images. They are a useful method to display graphics while preserving bandwidth (save HTTP requests) and improving page rendering times (the combined image is often smaller in size than the individual images).  

While it is certain the advantages of the sprite technique, it may incorrectly be assumed that all sliced images should be placed as backgrounds — even images that convey important information. The results would be a less accessible site, and would limit the potential benefits of the title and ALT attributes in the HTML. To maximize accessibility and usability, use CSS sprites only for repeating decorative effects.

Animated GIFs can be used for simple animations, but be aware that some users find this very annoying.

Flash is the best format for vector animations, and the plug-in is very common. You should still make sure the information is available in another format for those who don’t want to – or can’t – see Flash files.

Images on EUROPA must be in either JPG, or GIF format. PNG format is also allowed. As a rule of thumb, JPG is best for photos and illustrations with many colors. GIF is better for text and illustrations with areas of solid color (such as maps and diagrams). PNG is best for transparency effects but many older browsers do not support this format.

You can read more about image formats in the standard chapter.

Most graphic software lets you view the effect of different compression levels; try to keep the images small without obvious quality loss.

Beware of quality loss through repeated compression. Changes should be carried out on the original file formats (e.g. PSD for Photoshop) not on the final files (GIF, JPG).

JP(E)G compression removes information from the digital image, thus reducing the file size. This means visual information is lost permanently. If you need to change a JPG, go back to the original image file. Compression of already compressed files can give unexpected results.

GIF compression is most suitable for flat areas of colour. A dithered GIF has softer transitions between different colours, as colours between system colours are approximated. An interlaced GIF image gives a nice effect for users on slow Internet connections. The image is displayed one horizontal row at a time, but not from top to bottom, allowing the graphic information to be stored in a multi-pass format.

Always use the standard icons of EUROPA (language codes, PDF, ZIP, arrows, flags, etc.) when available:

• The images must be used from the standard images library (IMPORTANT: do not make local copies).
• The language version appropriate to the page must be used.
• When standard images are not available, create new images or use existing ones.

All third-party material published on EUROPA must be checked for the necessary copyrights. If the material is not the property of the Commission, it should not be published or removed immediately. The images in our Audiovisual portal are free to download and use.

If contractors prepare material for the Commission that includes third-party material for which rights need to be obtained, these contractors must provide the necessary proof of their acquisition. Pay special attention to photos of buildings, the rights to reproduce them is under discussion in several European countries.

If the Commission prepares material itself that includes third-party material for which rights need to be obtained, all the necessary proof of their acquisition must be kept on file.

Read more about legal notice and copyright.

The label of a link is the visual part of a link: it can be text, image or image map. This is also the active area that reacts to user action.

Recommendations for this part of the link: Clearly identify the target of each link.

In addition to clear link text, content developers may further clarify the target of a link with an informative link title (e.g. the "title" attribute in HTML).

Read more to write good link labels on Menus and links - Helping users navigate page.

The URL of the link can be specified in several ways:

Absolute URLs

These URLs are complete and include the protocol, for example "http://domain.eu/site/index.htm".

This is the format to use to create a link to a document that is on another domain (external link). This also includes links from europa.eu to ec.europa.eu or any other subdomain and vice-versa.

For internal links, this format must not be used as it destroys the independence of the test and production environments by crossing over between them.

Relative URLs

These URLs define the path to follow from the calling document to the destination document. For example: "../../index.html". This is the preferred method within a EUROPA sub-site.

Semi-absolute URLs

These URLs start with the root folder of the web server, for example "/site/index.html".
This is particularly useful to return to higher levels of EUROPA or other subsites and also to reference standard elements, because the HREF value remains the same at whichever level it is used.

Keep internal navigation in the current window.

Open external links in the new browser window.

The appearance of a link can be defined for each of its state, thanks to CSS.

The only restrictions are the following:

• Non-visited text link should always be underlined.
• Links in other states (visited, active, hover, focus) should be readable, especially regarding contrast between text colour and background colour.

It is also recommended to keep the same font size for each state.

• Link colour should be #027AC6.
• Visited link should be #551A8B.
• A special colour for "hover", "active" and "focus" status is optional.

The basic rule is that links must always point to a page in the same language as the source page.

However, the destination document does not always exist in the appropriate language. In addition, depending on the context, the target document type and language availability, a significant number of situations could occur and for each case a rule should be defined for your website.

Here are the most common situations and some advices:

Navigation links

The situation must be evaluated and defined on a site-by-site basis.

• The website owner is free to decide about the link policy he wants to apply for its website.
• Using language and file type icons with file size may alter the design of web page.

Navigation path and service tools must not contain file type and language icons in order to preserve design.

Text links

The target link does not exist in the same language as the calling page.

Create a link to the document in the same language as the source page. By clicking on the link, a linguistic redirection page will appear offering the user with the list of available languages.

Example: The EU in Spain

The target link exists or does not exist in the same language as the calling page but you want to show the languages available for this document.

• Create a link to the document regardless of the fact whether the document in the language of the page exists. In case it does not exist, a linguistic redirection page will appear offering the user with the list of available languages.
• Following the linked text, insert the single language-choice icon that will trigger a pop-up showing the linguistic coverage of the document. This icon will call a web service that will detect automatically all languages available for static pages on the EUROPA file system and RAPID.

Example: European Commission template   

Please note that the automatic redirection and the web service described above are only available for static pages (managed manually or by means of the CWCMS). Dynamic applications should create their own web service and linguistic redirection page. This way other websites could link to dynamic pages using the web service and detect automatically the available languages. You can look into the instructions on how to set up a web service(56 KB)   for dynamic applications.

Read more about Multilingualism.

• Create a link to the document regardless of the fact whether the document in the language of the page exist. In case it does not exist, a linguistic redirection page will appear offering the user with the list of available languages.
• Following the linked text, insert the file type icon indicating the type of file.
• Following the file type icon, indicate the size of the file in brackets in Kb, Mb or b.
• The document icons and size should be included within the <a> tag.
• If you want to show for PDFs or other documents the whole linguistic coverage, add the clickable single language-choice icon that will trigger a pop-up displaying all the available languages.

More information on links to binary documents on the Document icons page.

Examples: Template(417 KB) (displaying single language) - Test file(1 KB)      (displaying multiple languages).

See also the remark on how to set up a Web service for dynamic applications mentioned in the sub-title above.

• The target link is always on the image.
• The image must have an alternative text, describing the target page. If the language of the alternative text is in a different language than the rest of the page, the lang attribute must be specified in the <img> tag.
• If the language of the target page is different, it must be specified with the href lang attribute in the <a> tag.
• Language and file type change will be indicated in alternative text and language attribute. No additional icons should be used.

Several different links may be attached to different areas of an image (common examples are links to different countries from a map or to different persons from a photo).

Image maps must be client-side, meaning that they must be inserted in the HTML code of the page. This is normally done by all web editing software.

The image must have an alternative text for each link of each area in the language of the page, describing the target page of the link, and also indicating the language of the target page if it’s different (same rule as above for Image links).

In general, browsers do not print background images. If visual effects are produced by a combination of background and foreground images, the print and screen versions may differ considerably.

For a safe printing you can use CSS.

CSS2 introduced a mechanism for closer control over printing web pages that are styled using style sheets. The latest versions of Web browsers support CSS2 print media stylesheets, which can be used to print documents in a style better suited to the medium.

The code line <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="filename.css" media="print"> on the header of HTML documents allows to refer a CSS that will be activated only when the print function is called. In this special printing CSS, you can redefine the properties of the classes applied in the HTML pages.

An additional way to  create a "print-friendly version" of an HTML page with CSS (apart from the specific declaration with the attribute media=”print”) is to put specific instructions inside the (main) CSS itself, such as for instance:

@media print {
body { color:#000; }
.layoutRight{ display: none; }
.layoutContent { background-color: #fff; }
}

This approach has been implemented in the standard templates. So they offer a print-friendly version by default. 

There are two templates:

• Interinstitutional template 
• Commission template

The "europa.eu" address space is interinstitutional and brings together information from all the European institutions. Even though each institution manages its own site, EUROPA is designed as the starting point for all information concerning the European Union. The interinstitutional pages are administered by the Commission (DG COMM) on behalf of and in close collaboration with the other institutions.

Sites that have an interinstitutional mission and content or which are not linked to a particular institution or DG can be hosted at EU level and must use the Interinstituional template.

For the Commission's Directorates-General, the default address space is "ec.europa.eu".

Sites with which the Commission's departments would be associated without having adequate control of the information disseminated must use addresses outside the "ec.europa.eu" domain.

You can download templates in 24 languages on their respective pages.

Templates in 24 languages

• Online version:
• Download version: file template-ii(821 KB) contains a help file, 24 templates for Dreamweaver and HTML production, central style sheets and JavaScript files, central images and the PSD files to create the images of the banner.
• Documentum version: you will find instructions to use the template on CWCMS portal. This version contains additional CSS and JS files.
• Font download: the font(2 MB) to use on the identification banner.

The template includes all compulsory metadata to fill in. You will find more information about the compulsory metadata in the relevant metadata section.

The interinstitutional template comprises 1 CSS call for all browsers and 1 additional call for Internet Explorer browsers.

This is a summary of the calls in HTML, followed by a description:

<!--TEMPLATE (css)-->
<link href="/wel/template-2011/stylesheets/europa.css" media="all" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css">
<!--[if IE]>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="/wel/template-2011/stylesheets/europa-ie.css" type="text/css" media="all"></link>
<![endif]-->

1. europa.css: the central CSS for the interinstitutional template. This CSS contains presentation rules that form the graphical presentation of the interinstitutional template including the header, footer, layout of the page, properties of main HTML elements, font sizes, print version, presentation of links, links to binary documents and presentation of multilingual links via a language icon that will trigger a pop-up window displaying the available languages.

2. europa-ie.css: the central CSS for IE browsers. It is designed to guarantee compatibility with Internet Explorer browsers versions 6 and 7 containing rules complementing the general 'europa.css' style sheet.

The template provides an additional style sheet that should be used if you implement the optional additional tool "Toggle high contrast".

3. europa-hi-contrast.css: this optional CSS is not referenced centrally and you should save it in your local style sheet folder. It proposes a high contrast version for your site, but you must test it for all your custom components.

The Documentum version of the template contains also two additional style sheets:

4. europa-components.css: the CSS allowing for integration of various page format styles (such as Gallery, FAQ, Agenda, etc.), navigation menus and components (such as Media Player, Slideshow, etc.)

5. europa-components-ie.css: an additional central CSS designed to guarantee compatibility with Internet Explorer browsers 6 and 7 containing rules complementing the 'europa-components.css' style sheet.

These files can be both used in the Dreamweaver and HTML versions of the template to add the extra Documentum functionalities. These files are constantly updated to add new features. Check the CWCMS portal to see whether you are using the latest version.