{
    "version" : "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1",
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    "type" : "single",
    "title" : "New ITIF Report Inspires a Closer Look at Website Performance and Security—Here Is Where to Begin |Digital.gov",
    "description": "New ITIF Report Inspires a Closer Look at Website Performance and Security—Here Is Where to Begin",
    "home_page_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cm-topics-button-component/","feed_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cm-topics-button-component/2017/03/24/new-itif-report-inspires-a-closer-look-at-website-performance-and-security-here-is-where-to-begin/index.json","item" : [
    {"title" :"New ITIF Report Inspires a Closer Look at Website Performance and Security—Here Is Where to Begin","summary" : "The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF) recently published a report, Benchmarking U.S. Government Websites, that looks at the performance, security, and accessibility of the top 297 government websites.","date" : "2017-03-24T11:02:04-04:00","date_modified" : "2024-04-02T09:45:13-04:00","authors" : {"digitalgov-team" : "Digital.gov Team"},"topics" : {
        
            "accessibility" : "Accessibility",
            "analytics" : "Analytics",
            "content-strategy" : "Content Strategy",
            "design" : "Design",
            "human-centered-design" : "Human centered design",
            "mobile" : "Mobile",
            "open-data" : "Open Data",
            "plain-language" : "Plain Language",
            "product-and-project-management" : "Product and project management",
            "research" : "Research",
            "search-engine-optimization" : "Search Engine Optimization",
            "security" : "Security",
            "software-engineering" : "Software Engineering",
            "usability" : "Usability",
            "user-experience" : "User Experience"
            },"branch" : "cm-topics-button-component",
      "filename" :"2017-03-24-new-itif-report-inspires-a-closer-look-at-website-performance-and-security-here-is-where-to-begin.md",
      
      "filepath" :"news/2017/03/2017-03-24-new-itif-report-inspires-a-closer-look-at-website-performance-and-security-here-is-where-to-begin.md",
      "filepathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/blob/cm-topics-button-component/content/news/2017/03/2017-03-24-new-itif-report-inspires-a-closer-look-at-website-performance-and-security-here-is-where-to-begin.md",
      "editpathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/edit/cm-topics-button-component/content/news/2017/03/2017-03-24-new-itif-report-inspires-a-closer-look-at-website-performance-and-security-here-is-where-to-begin.md","slug" : "new-itif-report-inspires-a-closer-look-at-website-performance-and-security-here-is-where-to-begin","url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cm-topics-button-component/2017/03/24/new-itif-report-inspires-a-closer-look-at-website-performance-and-security-here-is-where-to-begin/","content" :"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Information Technology \u0026amp; Innovation Foundation (ITIF) recently published a report,\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"https://itif.org/publications/2017/03/08/benchmarking-us-government-websites\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eBenchmarking U.S. Government Websites\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cem\u003e, that looks at the performance, security, and accessibility of the top 297 government websites.\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"https://itif.org/about\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eITIF\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/a\u003e \u003cem\u003eis a think tank in Washington, D.C. whose mission is to formulate, evaluate, and promote policy solutions that accelerate innovation in technology and public policy.\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOver the past 90 days, government websites were visited over 2.55 billion times. According to the \u003ca href=\"https://analytics.usa.gov/\"\u003eAnalytics Dashboard\u003c/a\u003e, 43.5% of those views were done from a mobile device.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHowever, according to ITIF’s findings, 92% of the 297 government websites they tested failed in at least one of the benchmark topics: \u003cstrong\u003epage load speed\u003c/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003emobile friendliness\u003c/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003esecurity\u003c/strong\u003e, and \u003cstrong\u003eaccessibility\u003c/strong\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo based on the four benchmark areas, we’ve pulled together a number of resources and tools to help you make your agency’s website provide better access to services and information.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2017/03/600-x-333-Advice-and-Support-Service-Concept-olm26250-iStock-Thinkstock-486135391.jpg\"\n    alt=\"A compass with the needle pointing to the word, solutions.\"/\u003e\u003cp\u003eolm26250, iStock, Thinkstock\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\n\u003ch2 id=\"improving-your-sites-performance\"\u003eImproving Your Site’s Performance\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"page-load-speed\"\u003ePage Load Speed\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen the report looked at page load speed, it took desktop and mobile page speed into account. Of the reviewed sites, only 36% passed the speed test for mobile devices. Websites often failed this test because they failed to implement many of the common optimization techniques, the study found.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePerformance (load time) for Web pages has become so important that \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cm-topics-button-component/2016/03/29/google-will-rank-mobile-friendly-sites-even-higher-beginning-in-may/\"\u003eGoogle now considers it\u003c/a\u003e one of three equal components to good user experience, along with design and functionality, he noted.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf you are looking to improve your performance, or just get a sense for how well your site is doing, \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cm-topics-button-component/2015/09/16/speed-matters-optimizing-your-website-for-maximum-performance/\"\u003estart with this article on Why Speed Matters\u003c/a\u003e. It explains which metrics you should be measuring for and there is a \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cm-topics-button-component/digitalgov-university/\"\u003eDigitalGov University\u003c/a\u003e (DGU) video course, Speed Matters: Web Design Performance Load Time (duration: 45 minutes), that details a number of free or low-cost testing tools for measuring performance.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch4 id=\"resources--tools\"\u003eResources \u0026amp; Tools\u003c/h4\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cm-topics-button-component/communities/user-experience/\"\u003eJoin our UX Community\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/\"\u003eGoogle Page Speed\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://testmysite.thinkwithgoogle.com/\"\u003eGoogle Mobile Testing Tool\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://gtmetrix.com/\"\u003eGTMetrix\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://yslow.org/\"\u003eYSlow\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://rigor.com/\"\u003eRigor\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.pingdom.com/\"\u003ePingdom\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://webpagetest.org\"\u003eWebpagetest\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eDo you want more information on how to improve your page load speeds?\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"mailto:digitalgov@gsa.gov\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eEmail us\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/a\u003e \u003cem\u003eand we’ll put something together for you.\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003chr width=\"60%\" /\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"mobile-friendliness\"\u003eMobile Friendliness\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJust 59% of the websites reviewed were mobile friendly. Common problems included not using metatags to properly configure the site for mobile devices, illegible font sizes, and buttons and links that were too small for easy use on mobile devices, the report found.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cm-topics-button-component/2015/10/23/is-your-site-mobile-friendly/\"\u003eWhat does it mean to have a mobile friendly site?\u003c/a\u003e Can your visitors access your services and information easily from a mobile phone?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cm-topics-button-component/2015/08/31/mobile-content-less-is-more/\"\u003eLess is More\u003c/a\u003e. One of the biggest barriers to optimizing a site for mobile is trimming down the large volumes of content and text that many sites host. Large volumes of content not only weigh down a page, but make it harder for readers to take in the information you are trying to communicate.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHow does Search Engine Optimization (SEO) play into this? Here are \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cm-topics-button-component/2015/04/15/mobilegeddon-government-edition/\"\u003e7 questions you should be asking about the health of your mobile experience\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch4 id=\"resources--tools-1\"\u003eResources \u0026amp; Tools\u003c/h4\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cm-topics-button-component/communities/\"\u003eJoin our MobileGov Community\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cm-topics-button-component/2016/11/21/mobile-development-and-testing-with-chrome-devtools/\"\u003eMobile Development and Testing with Chrome Developer Tools\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://testmysite.thinkwithgoogle.com/\"\u003eGoogle Mobile Testing Tool\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cm-topics-button-component/2013/05/31/four-steps-to-achieve-good-seo/\"\u003eFour Steps to Achieve Good SEO\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cm-topics-button-component/2014/06/13/search-engine-optimization-for-government-websites/\"\u003eSearch Engine Optimization for Government Websites\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cm-topics-button-component/2015/11/30/the-content-corner-the-balance-between-seo-and-the-user/\"\u003eThe Content Corner: The Balance Between SEO and the User\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cm-topics-button-component/2016/03/07/the-content-corner-how-google-judges-your-content/\"\u003eThe Content Corner: How Google Judges Your Content\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDGU video course: Using Mobile User Experience Guidelines to Create Stellar Mobile Products (duration: 62 minutes)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eDo you want more information on making your site more mobile friendly?\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"mailto:digitalgov@gsa.gov?subject=ITIF%20Report%20and%20Mobile\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eEmail us\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/a\u003e \u003cem\u003eand we’ll put something together for you.\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003chr width=\"60%\" /\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"security\"\u003eSecurity\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSecurity was one bright spot, as the majority of the sites scored well in this area. The researchers analyzed the websites’ SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificates and reviewed whether they enabled the DNSSEC (Domain Name System Security) feature. Ninety percent of federal websites enabled DNSSEC and 61% passed both the SSL and DNSSEC tests.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMaking the switch to HTTPS can be a difficult change for many websites. But in recent years, over 85% of federal sites \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cm-topics-button-component/2015/03/25/http-vs-https-is-it-time-for-a-change/\"\u003emade a change\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch4 id=\"resources--tools-2\"\u003eResources \u0026amp; Tools\u003c/h4\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://https.cio.gov/\"\u003eThe HTTPS-Only Standard\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cm-topics-button-component/2015/09/02/https-and-other-ranking-factors-what-impacts-the-seo-of-government-websites/\"\u003eHTTPS and Other Ranking Factors: What Impacts the SEO of Government Websites?\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cm-topics-button-component/2016/06/06/why-switching-to-https-will-make-your-analytics-better/\"\u003eWhy Switching to HTTPS Will Make Your Analytics Better\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cm-topics-button-component/2017/01/19/automatic-https-enforcement-for-new-executive-branch-gov-domains/\"\u003eAutomatic HTTPS Enforcement for New Executive Branch .Gov Domains\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDGU video course: Migrating to HTTPS: Common Pain Points and Practical Advice (duration: 68 minutes)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eDo you want more information on switching to HTTPS?\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"mailto:digitalgov@gsa.gov?subject=ITIF%20Report%20and%20Security\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eEmail us\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/a\u003e \u003cem\u003eand we’ll put something together for you.\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003chr width=\"60%\" /\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"accessibility\"\u003eAccessibility\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOnly 58% of the sites were accessible for users with disabilities. According to the report, issues with accessibility ranged from poor contrast on websites to a lack of labels, which may prevent the website from being easily navigated by someone using a screen reader (assistive technology commonly used by individuals who are blind).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith the January release of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.access-board.gov/guidelines-and-standards/communications-and-it/about-the-ict-refresh/final-rule\"\u003eAccess Board’s final rule\u003c/a\u003e (updating the original regulations from 2000), testing for accessibility (DGU video course, duration: 65 min) can help meet the growing demand for accessible content.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch4 id=\"resources--tools-3\"\u003eResources \u0026amp; Tools\u003c/h4\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cm-topics-button-component/communities/user-experience/\"\u003eJoin our User Experience (UX) Community\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cm-topics-button-component/2015/06/05/using-section-508-guidance-to-improve-the-accessibility-of-government-services/\"\u003eAccessibility Resource List\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/wcag.php\"\u003eWeb Content Accessibility Guidelines\u003c/a\u003e (WCAG)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://section508.gov/agency-shared-guidance\"\u003eAgency Implementation Guides\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://section508.gov/content/it-accessibility-playbook\"\u003eCIO Council’s Accessibility Playbook\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cm-topics-button-component/2016/08/15/celebrating-the-18th-anniversary-of-section-508-rehabilitation-act/\"\u003eCelebrating the 18th Anniversary of the Section 508 Rehabilitation Act\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDGU video course: How to Use Assistive Technology to Comply with Section 508 (duration: 65 minutes)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eDo you want more information on accessibility resources?\u003c/em\u003e \u003ca href=\"mailto:digitalgov@gsa.gov?subject=ITIF%20Report%20and%20Accessibility\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eEmail us\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/a\u003e \u003cem\u003eand we’ll put something together for you.\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDisclaimer\u003c/strong\u003e: All references to specific brands and/or companies are used only for illustrative purposes and do not imply endorsement by the U.S. federal government or any federal government agency.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eFederal agencies can register their mobile products—mobile websites and native apps—on the \u003ca href=\"https://usdigitalregistry.digitalgov.gov/\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eU.S. Digital Registry\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/a\u003e to verify that they’re \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cm-topics-button-component/2015/10/23/is-your-site-mobile-friendly/\"\u003emobile-friendly\u003c/a\u003e, authoritative sources of government information. \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cm-topics-button-component/2016/02/29/is-your-federal-mobile-app-or-website-in-the-us-digital-registry/\"\u003eLearn more about the Registry\u003c/a\u003e (there’s also an instructional webinar, and \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cm-topics-button-component/services/u-s-digital-registry/\"\u003esign up here\u003c/a\u003e).\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eIf you have a .gov or .mil email address and would like to connect with other feds in these fields, check out our \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/cm-topics-button-component/communities/\"\u003eCommunities\u003c/a\u003e page to find out how to join the Listservs for MobileGov, Government Customer Experience (CX), User Experience (UX), Web Content Managers, and more.\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n"}
  ]
}