ISO/IEC/IEEE 23026:2015

INTERNATIONAL ISO/IEC/
STANDARD IEEE
First edition
2015-05-15
Systems and software engineering —
Engineering and management of
websites for systems, software, and
services information
Ingénierie des systèmes et du logiciel — Ingénierie et gestion de sites
web pour les systèmes, logiciels et services d'information
Reference number
©
ISO/IEC 2015
©
IEEE 2015
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Contents Page
1  Scope . 1
2  Conformance . 1
3  Normative references . 2
4  Terms and definitions . 2
5  Abbreviated terms . 5
6  Planning websites for systems, software, and services documentation . 6
6.1  Defining the purpose, users, and context of the website . 6
6.2  Establishing the informational website design strategy . 6
6.3  Developing a strategy for website lifecycle management . 8
7  Designing websites for systems, software, and services documentation . 9
7.1  Information architecture . 9
7.1.1  Information structure of a website . 9
7.1.2  Shared resources . 10
7.1.3  Website home page . 10
7.1.4  Identifying the website and its owner . 11
7.1.5  Page title and header . 11
7.2  Site index and search . 12
7.2.1  Search filtering . 13
7.2.2  Keywords . 13
7.2.3  Metadata for indexing . 13
7.2.4  Flushing search engines . 13
7.2.5  Robot exclusion . 13
7.3  Site navigation . 15
7.3.1  Links . 16
7.3.2  Offsite warning . 16
7.3.3  Usage tracking and cookies . 17
7.3.4  Frames . 17
7.4  Website content . 17
7.4.1  Intellectual property rights . 18
7.4.2  Time-sensitive content . 18
7.5  Presentation of information on websites . 20
7.5.1  Consistency . 20
7.5.2  Presentation of text . 20
7.5.3  Graphic images . 20
7.5.4  Animations, 3D, sound, video . 21
7.5.5  Use of color in websites . 21
7.5.6  Interactivity . 22
7.5.7  Collaboration and user generated content . 22
7.5.8  Energy and environmental conservation . 22
7.6  Security . 22
7.6.1  Authentication . 24
7.6.2  Authorization . 25
7.6.3  Cookies . 25
7.6.4  Digital signatures . 25
7.6.5  Single sign-on . 25
7.6.6  Data encryption . 25
7.6.7  Security measures and metrics . 26
7.6.8  Continuous monitoring and risk assessment . 26
7.7  Privacy . 26
© ISO/IEC 2015 – All rights reserved
© IEEE 2015 – All rights reserved iii

7.7.1  Notice .27
7.7.2  Choice .28
7.7.3  Onward transfer (transfers to third parties) .28
7.7.4  Access .28
7.7.5  Security .28
7.7.6  Data integrity .28
7.7.7  Enforcement .28
7.7.8  Reporting .28
7.8  Accessibility .29
7.9  Translation and localization .30
7.9.1  Browser language selection .31
7.9.2  Icon use .32
7.9.3  Holidays and time zones .32
7.9.4  Place of origin .32
7.9.5  Hemisphericals .32
7.9.6  Units: metric, monetary .32
7.9.7  Regulations .32
7.9.8  Contact Information .33
8  Website platform engineering .33
8.1  Selecting technical formats and standards to use for the website .33
8.1.1  HTML versions .34
8.1.2  Cascading style sheets .34
8.1.3  Bandwidth efficiencies .35
8.1.4  Document type declaration .35
8.1.5  Description meta-tag .35
8.1.6  XML considerations .35
8.1.7  Image formats and compression .36
8.2  Server technology independence .36
8.3  Scripting and executable considerations .36
8.3.1  Scripting languages.36
8.3.2  JavaScript .37
8.3.3  Java .37
8.4  Database management system considerations .37
9  Evaluation and testing of websites .38
9.1  Evaluating site usability .38
9.2  Testing websites before release .39
9.3  Validation of markup language and accessibility conformance .39
9.3.1  Active links .40
9.3.2  Dead links .40
10  Site management and sustainment .40
10.1  Website life-cycle management .40
10.2  Planning for site management and sustainment .40
10.3  Providing user support .41
10.4  Maintenance procedures and methods .41
10.4.1  Backups .42
10.4.2  Content changes .42
10.4.3  Site or page relocation .43
10.4.4  Redirection .43
10.4.5  Versioning .44
10.5  Archiving .44
Bibliography .45
© ISO/IEC 2015 – All rights reserved
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Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical
Commission) form the specialized system for worldwide standardization. National bodies that are members of
ISO or IEC participate in the development of International Standards through technical committees
established by the respective organization to deal with particular fields of technical activity. ISO and IEC
technical committees collaborate in fields of mutual interest. Other international organizations, governmental
and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO and IEC, also take part in the work. In the field of information
technology, ISO and IEC have established a joint technical committee, ISO/IEC JTC 1.
IEEE Standards documents are developed within the IEEE Societies and the Standards Coordinating
Committees of the IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA) Standards Board. The IEEE develops its standards
through a consensus development process, approved by the American National Standards Institute, which
brings together volunteers representing varied viewpoints and interests to achieve the final product.
Volunteers are not necessarily members of the Institute and serve without compensation. While the IEEE
administers the process and establishes rules to promote fairness in the consensus development process, the
IEEE does not independently evaluate, test, or verify the accuracy of any of the information contained in its
standards.
International Standards are drafted in accordance with the rules given in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
The main task of ISO/IEC JTC 1 is to prepare International Standards. Draft International Standards adopted
by the joint technical committee are circulated to national bodies for voting. Publication as an International
Standard requires approval by at least 75 % of the national bodies casting a vote.
Attention is called to the possibility that implementation of this standard may require the use of subject matter
covered by patent rights. By publication of this standard, no position is taken with respect to the existence or
validity of any patent rights in connection therewith. ISO/IEEE is not responsible for identifying essential
patents or patent claims for which a license may be required, for conducting inquiries into the legal validity or
scope of patents or patent claims or determining whether any licensing terms or conditions provided in
connection with submission of a Letter of Assurance or a Patent Statement and Licensing Declaration Form, if
any, or in any licensing agreements are reasonable or non-discriminatory. Users of this standard are
expressly advised that determination of the validity of any patent rights, and the risk of infringement of such
rights, is entirely their own responsibility. Further information may be obtained from ISO or the IEEE
Standards Association.
ISO/IEC/IEEE 23026 was prepared by Joint Technical Committee ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information technology,
Subcommittee SC 7, Software and systems engineering, in cooperation with the Systems and Software
Engineering Standards Committee of the IEEE Computer Society, under the Partner Standards Development
Organization cooperation agreement between ISO and IEEE.
This first edition of ISO/IEC/IEEE 23026 replaces and supersedes ISO/IEC 23026:2006, which was the
adoption of IEEE Std 2001 (TM)-2002, IEEE Recommended Practice for the Internet — Website Engineering,
Website Management, and Website Life Cycle. The IEEE contributed IEEE Std 2001-2002 as a source for this
standard.
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Introduction
The increase in use of the World Wide Web for every type of communication, and the accelerating
development of new technical protocols, products, and services, for website development and hosting, have
both simplified and complicated the engineering and management of websites. Because of the ready
availability of commercial website providers, it has become simpler for information and communications
technology (ICT) enterprises of all sizes to launch websites to present technical information. The growth in
global communities of interest in software, systems, and services has expanded the creation of information
from many sources. To a large extent, use of digital communications, particularly those accessible through the
Internet or Intranets, has supplanted printed publications for conveying technical information. This trend
applies to systems and user documentation as well as to service management and operational plans, policies,
and procedures.
Other factors have also affected the design and operation of websites since the original publication of
ISO/IEC 23026–IEEE Std 2001-2002, a source for this International Standard. The prevalence of automated
search engines to locate technical information results in new considerations for website design. The
increasing sophistication of information security threats to technical enterprises and their information, as well
as concerns for the privacy of Internet users, have markedly complicated the process of delivering ICT
information over the Web. This revision of ISO/IEC 23026 therefore has increased emphasis on information
security and privacy concerns.
The diversity of websites for commercial marketing and social networking purposes reflects different interests
and media choices from those websites that deliver ICT reference information. This revision of ISO/IEC 23026
applies primarily to websites whose purpose is to deliver information about ICT systems, software, and
services. It includes increased emphasis on the human factors concerns for making information easily
retrievable and usable for the intended audience. It recommends practices for websites based on World Wide
Web Consortium (W3C®) and related industry guidelines, which have changed significantly since the original
version of this International Standard. With rapid changes in technology, users may seek current technical
guidance to fulfill the intent of this International Standard. It continues to address the entire life cycle of
website strategy, design, and ongoing sustainment that are the responsibility of the website owner.
© ISO/IEC 2015 – All rights reserved
vi © IEEE 2015 – All rights reserved

Systems and software engineering — Engineering and
management of websites for systems, software, and services
information
1 Scope
This International Standard defines system engineering and management requirements for the life cycle of
websites including strategy, design, engineering, testing and validation, and management and sustainment for
Intranet and Extranet environments.
This International Standard applies to those using web technology to present information and communications
technology (ICT) information, such as user documentation for systems and software, life-cycle documentation
for systems and software engineering projects, and documentation of policies, plans, and procedures for IT
service management. This International Standard provides requirements for website owners and website
providers, managers responsible for establishing guidelines for website development and operations, for
software developers and operations and maintenance staff who may be external or internal to the website
owner's organization. It applies to websites for public access and for limited access, such as for users,
customers, and subscribers seeking information on IT products and services.
The goal of this International Standard is to improve the usability of informational websites and ease of
maintenance of managed Web operations in terms of:
a) locating relevant and timely information,
b) applying information security management,
c) facilitating ease of use,
d) providing for consistent and efficient development and maintenance practices.
This International Standard is not intended for websites used primarily for marketing or sales, or to deliver
instructional material, or to provide Graphical User Interfaces (GUI) for business or consumer transactional
application processing. However, this International Standard may provide useful insights for managing such
sites.
This International Standard focuses on vendor- and product-independent considerations. It does not include
specifications for application development tools, programming languages used for archiving site content or for
presentation of content on the web, metadata tags, or protocols for web page design based on World Wide ®
Web Consortium (W3C ) and related industry guidelines. It does not address tools or systems used for
management or storage of information content (data, documents) that may be presented on websites.
This International Standard does not address the design and architecture of software supporting the Internet.
2 Conformance
Throughout this International Standard, "shall" is used to express a provision that is normative, "should" to
express a recommendation among other possibilities, and "may" to indicate a course of action permissible
within the limits of this International Standard.
Use of the nomenclature of this International Standard for the parts of a website is not required to claim
conformance to the International Standard.
© ISO/IEC 2015 – All rights reserved
© IEEE 2015 – All rights reserved 1

EXAMPLE Referring to the home page as the landing page or main page.
Conformance to this International Standard may only be claimed by an organization if all of the requirements
in the standard are met by the organization or by its suppliers.
EXAMPLE When conformance is claimed for a website for which one organization provides the site content and
another supplier is responsible for website presentation and operation, the site owner may claim conformance if each of
the requirements are met by an identified party.
This International Standard may be included or referenced in contracts or similar agreements when the parties
(called the acquirer and the supplier) agree that the supplier shall deliver services in accordance with the
standard. This International Standard may also be adopted as an in-house standard by a project or
organization that decides to develop and maintain a website in accordance with the standard.
3 Normative references
There are no normative references for this International Standard. The user is encouraged to consult the latest
edition of the referenced documents (including any amendments) listed in the Bibliography.
4 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in ISO/IEC/IEEE 24765
(www.computer.org/sevocab) and the following apply.
4.1
archival page
content that is preserved as a record and not expected to change
Note 1 to entry: Due to technology upgrades, some archival pages cannot be readily rendered unless they are upgraded
along with active pages.
4.2
audience
category of users sharing the same or similar characteristics and needs (for example, purpose in using the
documentation, tasks, education level, abilities, training, and experience) that determine the content, structure,
and use of the intended documentation
Note 1 to entry: There may be a number of different audiences for a software product’s documentation (for example,
management, data entry, maintenance).
4.3
body metadata
elements in the body of an HTML document providing administrative and/or navigational facilities for the user
or administrator
4.4
breadcrumb trail
navigational aid with a displayed series of hyperlinks which lead from the home page to the current page,
allowing the user to return to previously viewed pages
4.5
browser
application allowing a person to retrieve and read hypertext, to view the contents of hypertext nodes (Web
pages), to navigate from one Web page to another, and to interact with the content, such as changing the
visual appearance of the displayed content
© ISO/IEC 2015 – All rights reserved
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4.6
content (object)
interactive or non-interactive object containing information represented by text, image, video, sound, or other
media
4.7
cookie
small file that is stored in and retrieved from user web storage to maintain state information, including
identification of users and transaction coherency
4.8
faceted search
progressive search which allows users to narrow the results by selecting values for one or more attributes
4.9
feature
functional or non-functional distinguishing characteristic of a system, usually an enhancement to an existing
system
4.10
frame
mechanism for dividing a browser window into independent windows for displaying different content or
different parts of the same content (document)
4.11
global navigation
set of navigation links available on all pages of a website
4.12
home page
page of a website through which users typically enter the website, and whose URL is typically published or
linked as the main web address of the site or organization
Note 1 to entry: Synonym: center page, front page, index page, main page, start page, top page.
4.13
Internet
worldwide interlinked computer systems and networks connected by gateways that enable the transfer of data
between them
4.14
intranet
managed network operating within an organization with controlled and limited access
4.15
link
reference from some part of one document to some part of another document or another part of the same
document
Note 1 to entry: Synonym: hyperlink
4.16
managed network
network or set of networks established and controlled by one or more organizations to meet specific
organizational or business needs
4.17
managed website
site created and maintained based on organizational guidelines
© ISO/IEC 2015 – All rights reserved
© IEEE 2015 – All rights reserved 3

4.18
mirror site
duplicate copy of a website maintained on a different host typically to provide redundancy, higher performance,
or local access
4.19
navigation
process of accessing on-screen information by moving between different locations in a website or electronic
document
4.20
orphan page
page on a website with no link from the home page or other page on the website
4.21
persistent
for a URL, describing a reference that does not need to change at the link in a document, and can still reach
the desired object even though that object may have changed locations
4.22
responsive web design
method for web page construction to detect the user's screen size and orientation and dynamically change the
layout accordingly
4.23
site map
textual or graphical overview of the navigation structure of a website
4.24
thumbnail
miniature image file displayed for quick identification of a larger image or video file
4.25
Uniform Resource Locator
URL
mechanism for identifying resources on the Internet (such as web pages) by specifying the address of the
resource and the access protocol used
Note 1 to entry: The term as specified by the IETF is uniform resource identifier (URI) of which URL is a subset.
4.26
user profile
set of attributes that are unique to a specific user or user group, such as job function or subscription to a
service, used to control the parts of the system or web page that users can access
4.27
webmaster
person or group responsible to the website owner for ongoing maintenance of the site's presentation and
availability
4.28
web page
coherent presentation of a set of content objects and associated interaction objects delivered to users through
a browser in accordance with Internet protocols
Note 1 to entry: A Web page may be generated dynamically from the server side, and may incorporate multimedia, applets
or other elements active on either the client or server side.
© ISO/IEC 2015 – All rights reserved
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4.29
website
collection of logically connected web pages managed as a single entity
Note 1 to entry: A website may contain one or more subordinate websites.
4.30
website owner
organization responsible for the site content and site design
Note 1 to entry: The website owner may select a supplier as the website provider or may also be the website provider.
4.31
website provider
organization responsible for operation of the website and delivery of site content to users
Note 1 to entry: The website provider may also be the site owner, webmaster, site designer, or the internet service
provider for the site.
5 Abbreviated terms
3D three-dimensional
CI Configuration Item
CSS Cascading Style Sheets
CVE Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures
CVSS Common Vulnerability Scoring System
DNS Domain Name Service
DOI Digital Object Identifier™
DTD Document Type Definition (for XML or SGML specifications)
FTP File Transfer Protocol
GIF Graphics Interchange Format
GUI Graphical User Interface
HREF HTML reference designator
HTML HyperText Markup Language
HTTP HyperText Transfer Protocol
ICT information and communications technology
IETF Internet Engineering Task Force
IP Internet Protocol
IPR Intellectual Property Rights
JFC Java Foundation Class
JPEG Joint Photographic Experts Group (image format)
JPG Joint Photographic Group
MAC Media Access Control
OTP One-time password
PII Personally Identifiable Information
PIN Personal Identification Number
PNG Portable Network Graphics
RDF Resource Description Framework
RWD Responsive Web Design
SGML Standard Generalized Markup Language
SSL Secure Sockets Layer
TCP Transport Control Protocol
TLS Transport Layer Security
URI Uniform Resource Identifier
URL Uniform Resource Locator
UTC Coordinated Universal Time
WAI Web Accessibility Initiative (W3C)
WAP Wireless Application Protocol
WCAG Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
© ISO/IEC 2015 – All rights reserved
© IEEE 2015 – All rights reserved 5

W3C World Wide Web Consortium
XHTML Extended HyperText Markup Language
XML Extensible Markup Language
6 Planning websites for systems, software, and services documentation
6.1 Defining the purpose, users, and context of the website
This International Standard addresses websites that have the general purpose of providing information about
ICT systems, software, or service management. Within this scope, a broad range of purposes, audience
(users), and resulting types of content can be included, such as policies, plans, specifications, operating
procedures and instructions (user manuals), service descriptions, service agreements, knowledge
management articles, help desk scripts, test plans, technical reports, and descriptions of concepts.
The website owner shall document the purpose and intended users of the website.
This information may be placed in a plan, charter, or policy and represented by use cases or scenarios. It
influences the decisions on what information content belongs on the website and how to organize and present
the content. This governing document or another explicit statement of purpose, suitable for use by possible
stakeholders, should be posted as part of the website. The owner of the website should consider how the
company's technical and strategic direction should influence code and feature choices that are extensible or
scalable for future use.
The users of the website can include internal management and technical staff, external customers, or the
general public. Thus, the website content could include general user information or procedures and
specialized technical information for reference by trained technical users. Websites may be intended for a
specific group, such as internal helpdesk or external customers. Some websites may allow users to add
content as part of a collaborative community, or to post comments in a wiki. Some sites include both technical
information for existing customers and marketing presentations for prospective customers. Some sites can be
hosted by the owner of the technical information; other sites can run on services offered by unrelated website
providers, who may have their own marketing information and third party advertisements displayed alongside
the website owners' technical content. Sites can be intended for local or global use and offered in one or
multiple languages.
Websites are often developed to serve a number of purposes and users of different technical backgrounds.
Therefore, the site should be designed to allow users to easily gain an overview of the scope of the content
and functionality provided. The introductory pages of the site should include a description of the purpose and
intended uses of the website, with links to topics accessible within one link or search which satisfy the
information needs of casual users. Global navigation features and search functions should allow more
technical users to quickly reference needed information.
The effective communication of the content to the user is the primary purpose of an informational website.
Ease of access to information by targeted-user communities is an example of one of the possible design goals.
A website may address one or more diverse sets of users. Representatives of these user communities, which
may include persons with disabilities, should be included in the design process and the ongoing evaluation of
the site.
The target user community may have a wide diversity of connection speeds, display devices, or selected
presentation formats within the display windows; this may establish some presentation constraints (consider
displaying Web pages to small screens on mobile devices). Websites may consist of static pages, system
generated pages, and dynamic pages, and may include user-generated content. Furthermore, any of these
options may be combined for the purpose of providing the intended information to the website's users.
6.2 Establishing the informational website design strategy
If the website includes marketing material or advertising for other organizations not part of the website owner's
organization, the home page shall include or link to disclosures relating to separation of editorial content and
advertising, and the presence of sponsored content and sponsored links.
© ISO/IEC 2015 – All rights reserved
6 © IEEE 2015 – All rights reserved

The designer shall consider the need of users to use content on mobile devices or to print content.
Considering the needs of search engines and differently abled users, the designer shall provide a text
equivalent or label for graphical, video, and audio content.
Site documentation for websites presenting ICT information shall have an identified set of measures to
evaluate whether the website is meeting its goals. The plan shall include the set of measures to be collected
and analyzed, the methods that will be used for the evaluation, and the acceptance criteria for approval of the
website design.
The designer shall document the targeted computing environments for the website for future sustainment. The
selection of implementation tools (e.g., servers, generators, and release levels or versions of HTML, CSS,
XML, and scripting) shall be based on the evaluation of the target client communities and plans for site
maintenance.
Responsive Web Design (RWD) is a method for web page construction to detect the user's screen size and
orientation and dynamically change the layout accordingly, so the site produces output which is viewable and
navigable with the devices and web software of the intended site users. It employs the use of flexible layouts
(columns), scalable images, and CSS media queries. For content to be responsive to various devices and
browser viewport sizes, layouts and content should adhere to the following principles:
 Page element sizing of the site should be built with a flexible grid system that uses relative units such
as percentages for width/height and em's for font size.
 Flexible images that are used in the design should be in relative units or make use of appropriate CSS
(e.g. using CSS property overflow: hidden).
Different views should be enabled in different contexts by employing media queries. Media queries allow
designers to build multiple layouts using the same HTML documents by selectively serving stylesheets based
on the user agent’s features, such as the browser window’s size, orientation (landscape or portrait), screen
resolution, and color. Navigation elements should scale and dynamically be placed so as to not obscure
information and degrade the user's experience. For mobile devices, navigation icons may be hidden with
appropriate visual cues for the user that indicate interaction.
Organizational effectiveness, competitive success, and even meeting legal obligations and avoiding liabilities
can depend on timely access to critical information within an organization. Intranet/Extranet design should
consider these factors, particularly as the Internet is used to displace other methods for information delivery.
Usability testing and other methods of obtaining user feedback should be actively pursued as part of this
process.
Separation of content and presentation management is a primary design principle.
EXAMPLE Use of cascading style sheets (CSS) to take care of the presentation management needs and use of
content templates to take care of structure management can simplify site management.
The website should exhibit consistency of design (uniform look and feel for the site). The website designer
should adopt, adapt, or develop a style guide to assist in implementing a coherent strategy.
In situations where related organizations own related and interconnected websites, a coherent strategy should
be implemented to allow consistent global navigation, search and information retrieval, security, and
identification of site ownership among the related sites.
Websites should adopt and conform to a policy regarding the separation of informational content from
advertising and marketing content.
NOTE 1 The American Society of Magazine Editors’ editorial guideline for digital media, available at
http://www.magazine.org/asme/editorial-guidelines is a baseline industry standard
...