Dimension: 3.2.2 Parliamentary website
This dimension concerns the parliamentary website, which should provide comprehensive, timely and accurate information about parliament. The parliamentary website should also enable citizens to participate in parliamentary processes, for example by submitting comments and questions, and contacting MPs, committees and parliamentary officials.
Website content typically includes the following:
- The agenda, calendars and records of plenary sessions and committee meetings
- The profiles of MPs and their activities and votes
- Internal rules, administrative procedures and workflows
- The text and status of proposals for laws, as well as documentation generated during the legislative process
- Live-streams and recordings of parliamentary proceedings, particularly plenary sessions
- Datasets in machine-readable formats
- Information about international parliamentary activities
- Any other relevant documentation generated in parliamentary processes
The parliamentary website should be easy to use and understand and should be accessible to all groups in society, including persons with disabilities. Website content should be made available in all applicable languages.
See also Dimension 1.5.5: Digital technologies, Dimension 3.3.2: Access for persons with disabilities and Dimension 5.2.4: Multilingual service delivery.
Aspiring goal
Assess your parliament against this dimension
Assessment criteria
No 1: Website governance
Governance structures exist that set the goals for the parliamentary website, allocate sufficient human and technical resources, and periodically evaluate progress towards these goals.
No 2: Website content
The parliamentary website provides comprehensive, timely and accurate information about parliament and parliamentary proceedings.
No 3: Usability
Information on the parliamentary website is well-organized, including for non-expert users, and is written in plain language. Datasets are available in open, machine-readable formats.
No 4: Accessibility
The parliamentary website meets recognized accessibility standards, including for persons with disabilities.
No 5: Dialogue with the public
The parliamentary website provides a range of means for the public to participate in the work of parliament, and to contact MPs, committees and parliamentary officials.
How to complete this assessment
This dimension is assessed against several criteria, each of which should be evaluated separately. For each criterion, select one of the six descriptive grades (Non-existent, Rudimentary, Basic, Good, Very good and Excellent) that best reflects the situation in your parliament, and provide details of the evidence on which this assessment is based.
The evidence for assessment of this dimension could include the following:
- Links to various sections of the parliamentary website
- Details of a dedicated budget and staff for the website
- Details of security infrastructure and related reports
- Strategic vision and planning
- Evidence that the parliamentary website is periodically reviewed/evaluated
Where relevant, provide additional comments or examples that support the assessment.
Sources and further reading
- Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), “Centre for Innovation in Parliament Parliament A national body of elected (or sometimes appointed) representatives that makes laws, debates issues and holds the government to account. ”.
- IPU, Guidelines for Parliamentary Websites (2009).
- IPU, World e- Parliament Parliament A national body of elected (or sometimes appointed) representatives that makes laws, debates issues and holds the government to account. Report 2018 (2018).
- IPU, World e- Parliament Parliament A national body of elected (or sometimes appointed) representatives that makes laws, debates issues and holds the government to account. Report 2020 (2021).
- IPU, World e- Parliament Parliament A national body of elected (or sometimes appointed) representatives that makes laws, debates issues and holds the government to account. Report 2022 (2022).
- United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) and IPU, Technological Options for Capturing and Reporting Parliamentary Proceedings (2014).
Get help with this assessment
The assessment of indicators involves diagnosing and considering strengths and weaknesses, i.e. the things parliament is doing well, and the things it could do better or more effectively, taking into account established good practices that are described in the indicators.
Read the assessment guidance to find out what to consider when conducting an assessment against the Indicators. Find out how to prepare, how to set the objectives of the assessment, how to organize the process, and more. Contact the project partners for expert advice.
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