Department of Housing and Urban Development Web Improvement PlanWorking Draft as of 10/11/2011Background -- In the August 12, 2011 Agency Instructions for Completing Web Inventories and Web Improvement Plans, Agency CIOs were asked to work with their Agency Web Manager and Office of Public Affairs to submit an Interim Progress Report on their efforts to streamline Agency-managed .gov domains (due September 6, 2011) and to begin development of an Agency-wide Web Improvement Plan. “By October 11, Agencies shall develop a Web Improvement Plan that communicates their strategy for managing web resources more efficiently, improving online content, and enhancing the customer experience of Agency websites.” This comprehensive plan will “address the broader objectives of streamlining content, infrastructure, and ultimately improving customer service.” The purpose of this Web Improvement Plan is to identify the strategy, actions, measurements, and timelines that the Agency is using to streamline website infrastructure, improve web content, and enhance the customer experience with Executive Branch websites. Agencies are being asked to create a Web Improvement Plan that will be developed iteratively over the next few months. In this plan, Agencies will describe Agency-wide efforts to effectively manage publicly accessible websites in the .gov domain. Only agencies in the Executive Branch are required to submit a Web Improvement Plan. The initial plan for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, due to OMB by October 11, 2011, is in the following section.Department of Housing and Urban DevelopmentHUD_461f0508-3002-11e1-b8c1-ad897a64ea2a_461f076a-3002-11e1-b8c1-ad897a64ea2aTo identify the strategy, actions, measurements, and timelines that the Agency is using to streamline website infrastructure, improve web content, and enhance the customer experience with Executive Branch websites._461f0832-3002-11e1-b8c1-ad897a64ea2aWeb ImprovementDescribe the Current State of Agency-wide Web Improvement Efforts._461f08c8-3002-11e1-b8c1-ad897a64ea2a1Current State of Agency-wide Web Improvement Efforts -- Over the past few months, Agencies have been reviewing their .gov domains, web operations, and other web-related efforts in response to OMB .gov Reform data collection efforts (individual domain inventories, web governance survey, interim progress reports, etc.). The following describes the state of current web improvement efforts at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.Web Strategy[Compile] an Agency-wide web strategy._461f095e-3002-11e1-b8c1-ad897a64ea2a1.1Does your Agency currently have an Agency-wide web strategy? Yes.Web Resources ManagementEnsure that Agency-wide web resources are managed efficiently._461f09f4-3002-11e1-b8c1-ad897a64ea2a1.2How does your agency currently ensure that Agency-wide web resources are managed efficiently (e.g. governance, technology/infrastructure, hosting, staffing, operations, etc.)? The Department’s Internet and Intranet are both funded out of the Working Capital Fund. As such, a business case is constructed and submitted every year outlining accomplishments, plans, performance metrics, investment details and operational analysis. Funding is determined based on the overall funding received by the Department and how well the business case ranks against others submitted for the various systems. The operations and governance are clearly mandated by the Web Management Policies and Web Operating Procedures, both available to the public at www.hud.gov/library/bookshelf11.Website ContentEnsure that website content is readily accessible, updated, accurate, and routinely improved._461f0a94-3002-11e1-b8c1-ad897a64ea2a1.3How does your Agency currently ensure that website content is readily accessible, updated, accurate, and routinely improved? The Deputy Secretary issued a policy (9/10/01) requiring each organization head to certify, in writing, each quarter that the web content for which that organization is responsible is both current and accurate. This certification is conducted on both the external and internal sites. Program offices are responsible for going through their pages and ensuring that content is relevant, accessible and current. Content must be certified every quarter by the Assistant Secretary for that office. A signed memorandum stating that the review, and all necessary corrections, has been completed is sent to the Deputy Secretary, to the attention of the General Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Public Affairs .User Expectations and Customer ServiceEnsure that websites are meeting user expectations and needs and that the customer experience with websites is continually enhanced._461f0b48-3002-11e1-b8c1-ad897a64ea2a1.4How does your Agency currently ensure that websites are meeting user expectations and needs and that the customer experience with websites is continually enhanced? The OPA web team, who are responsible for the website, continually monitor statistics, site usage, and user feedback via email. A comprehensive usability study was conducted in 2009 by an outside vendor, the results of which were incorporated as able into the 2010 site redesign.2011-10-112011-12-26http://www.usa.gov/webreform/agency-plans/hud.pdfOwenAmburOwen.Ambur@verizon.net