Most of our recommendations will likely be organized in reference to specific access points: the site, office, or agency publicizing the information. We can sharpen our advice, however, by taking into account some general guidelines for effective data sharing.
These ideas come from numerous conversations and posts. By collecting them into one post, I’m hoping to inform our evaluations with suggestions for specific goals.
Timeliness: Promptly available information is necessary for meaningful involvement.
Accessibility: The House (and related agencies) should strive to publish information in accordance with W3C recommendations for accessibility.
Format: The House should embrace structured information (XML, etc), standardize formats across different agencies (this effort has been underway for some time), and utilize non-proprietary filetypes.
Preservation: House data is historically significant, so issues regarding archiving and permanence should be considered.
Availability: Balancing the requirements for informed participation in a democracy with the privacy rights of individuals and the pragmatics of a funcitoning legislature lead to proper levels of disclosure.
Accuracy: Standards for accuracy and completeness preserve meaningful access.
Usability: Information should be presented in a fashion that encourages use.
Interactivity: Appropriate levels of user input should be considered.
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