EPA Widget Guidance


Want to edit and use for your own organization?  Please delete all EPA-specific information.

 

Other EPA social media guidance


 

Note: EPA’s official use of widgets is still evolving. We’re collectively learning from the variety of approaches to issues that our various widgets address. This guidance will be issued as a standard in the Fall 2010.  Your comments and suggestions will be used to keep the processes and best practices current and up-to-date. The Office of Public Affairs (OPA) and the Office of Environmental Information (OEI) will discuss potential changes with the EPA Twitter community before issuing changes.

 

Note: Remember that your official activities on-line are subject to the ethics regulations as well as other federal and agency laws, policies and regulations.  In addition, existing policies and guidance for accessibility, privacy, external site links, cookies and writing style apply to social media tools as well.  References to these are included at the end of this document.

 

Background: What is a Widget?

A widget is a piece of Web code which can be added to somebody else’s Web page. The code will appear on the other Web page, but you still manage and maintain the content of your widget. It permits you to provide useful information in a “shareable” format.

 

Contact:

  Your content coordinator should contact Kay Morrison in OPA’s Office of Web Communications (OWC) for approval of your widget.

 

Why use widgets?

Your widget is content that you produce that shows up on somebody else’s Web page; thus, widgets can reach a broader audience than EPA’s webpage, www.epa.gov.

 

This piece of code can be used to provide information in many ways, for example:

 

 

See http://www.epa.gov/widgets/ for examples of EPA widgets.

 

Things to consider before creating a widget  

 

Approval  

All widget concepts should be reviewed and approved by OWC BEFORE you begin developing the widget.

 

Get approval from:

 

  1. Your manager; and
  2. Your content coordinator (see http://www.epa.gov/webgovernance/leadership.html to find your content coordinator); and
  3. OWC (your content coordinator will get this for you).

 

Steps for EPA Widgets

Please read this entire document BEFORE you begin. This document describes the general process and standards for developing EPA “widgets.” The process approximates a generalized widget life-cycle:

 

 

Concept and Planning

Answer these questions before contacting your Content Coordinator:

 

Purpose and function

 

 

Audience

 

 

Development

 

 

Management

 

 

Development and Deployment

First get approval from your management, Content Coordinator, and OWC for the widget concept before you begin to develop a widget. Follow the standards listed below. If you wish to deviate from a standard, please bring the reasons why to your Content Coordinator and get approval from OWC before you proceed.

 

See http://www.epa.gov/widgets/ for examples of EPA widgets. Note: effective February 19, 2010, all new widgets should comply with the guidelines below  (see “Important” below).

 

In general, a widget should include the following:

 

 

Keep in mind:

 

 

Metrics

Track whatever usage statistics you have access to so that you can measure and determine how your widget is being used. At EPA we don’t track the Web activities of individual users, so we can’t assess exact usage per person.

 

Keeping track of your widget activity lets you determine how much the widget is being used so you can:

 

 

For widgets distributed using EPA HTML pages and iFrame, the Agency’s basic Web statistics pages can provide useful if limited metrics. These are found on pages with a URL format of

http://www.epa.gov/reports/objects/tssms/tssms-Month_YYYY.html

 

(insert your own TSSMS account name, month, and year). Note that the TSSMS name is lowercase, while the month name is capitalized. For example, http://www.epa.gov/reports/objects/adminweb/adminweb-July_2009.html

 

Beginning in 2010, all EPA widgets will be produced using widgetbox.com, which will deliver better usage statistics and make widgets easier to share. OPA will update this guidance when the new system is available.

 

Termination

Taking a widget down will leave a hole on Web pages where it was installed. Therefore, most widgets have an indefinite life. However, a widget could have a short lifespan for two reasons:

 

 

For a pre-planned short-term widget: On the widget’s page, be clear that it will be live only from X date to Y date, after which it will go offline. While it is possible this might discourage casual users from adding the widget, remember, you will have a good reason for a short-term widget and your target users will understand your reasons.

 

For unforeseen circumstances: if you can, replace the widget content with a simple, clear announcement that the widget is offline or discontinued, giving the reason. Include a link to a page with relevant information. State that we regret the inconvenience.

 

Unless you intentionally planned and got approval from OWC to post a short-term widget, please do not take down a widget. If you must take it down please notify your content coordinator and OWC.

 

References  

Ethics:

 

 

EPA Policy:

 

 

Guidance:

 

 

Additional resources: