Introduction

This site aims to assist government employees and external developers in the process of building web sites and applications for the Government of Nova Scotia. Following the steps outlined and reading all of the information will go a long way towards making your project go more smoothly.

First steps

There are a number of steps you need to take when you have been hired by the Government of Nova Scotia to produce a website or web application.

• Before you suggest any domain names for the project, make sure that you have read through the Domain Name Guide. You or your client should consult with the Communications Technology section of CNS, who will purchase any needed domains.
• Basic requirements and best practices are given in the Nova Scotia Government Web Standards.
• Your client will have to obtain access to the government webserver for you, as explained in the Government Employee page, Technical and best practices section.

Building websites

Technical, privacy, and best practices

You will of course want to consult with your government client on the following.

• Wondering if you can use a certain type of application or website? The list of available CITO hosting environments is given here.
• To improve the accessibility, usability, and findability of your websites and applications, make sure all developers follow these basics steps at a minimum.
• Make sure that the Dos and Don'ts are followed.
• Determine if the website or application will be collecting any personal information (beyond the server logs capturing IP addresses).
• Make sure no personal information will be stored outside of Canada, or by a US-owned company operating in Canada unless the client tells you that an approved PIA has been done and appropriate safeguards instituted.
• Make sure pages are secured (SSL turned on) for all pages that enable logging in, and/or that collect personal information.
• On all pages that collect personal information there must be a notice explaining a) how the information will be handled and b) how to obtain access to or correct the personal information submitted.
• All pages must have a link to the privacy statement.
• All pages setting a permanent cookie must provide a link to the cookie notice. See "Cookies Information" and "Cookies Information for gov.ns.ca" for more details.

Tests to do during development

Accessibility

• Check X/HTML code validity using the W3C validator
• Check accessibility with:
  • the WAVE tool or the WAVE toolbar
  • Juicy Studio Accessibility toolbar
• Enhanced features. Make sure all important features/services/information are available with the following disabled: JavaScript, CSS, Flash, Images.
• Check accessibility and usability of the site/application with a screen reader such as JAWS.

NOTE: See the Accessibility page for more detailed information. Following the steps on the Accessibility page does not guarantee that the information will be accessible, however, it will greatly help. In addition to improving the accessibility of your information and services, following those steps will improve the findability, search engine ranking, and usability of your sites for all users. Applying the steps on the Accessibility page as well as product testing must be done with knowledge of WCAG 2 and best practices in order to maximize the accessibility of products.

Usability with various browsers

For desktop browsers check with

• Internet Explorer 6, 7, & 8
• Firefox 2 or newer
• Safari 2 or newer
• Google Chrome
• Opera

For mobile browsers check usability with the W3C's Web on the Move. Another checker that can also provide simulations of what your site will look like is mobiReady. You will need to determine with the client how important the mobile audience segment is to your project. It is possible you might wish to consider having separate pages/applications to enable easier mobile use.

If possible check with the following devices:

• BlackBerry devices (OS 4.2+)
• iPhone
• Opera Mini devices
• Nokia devices

We recommend having a look at all of the material on the Web Guide site to get a more complete picture of the entire process.

Please note that while we will take reasonable steps to ensure the information contained here is accurate and up to date, we cannot promise that this will always be so as procedures and policies do change from time to time.