Unless the site is a short-term project, maintenance requirements should be taken into consideration when the site is being designed and hosted. Rigid design structure or customized graphic elements can make your site difficult to update. Have your site designed in such a way that you can easily accommodate change.
At a minimum, the site should be hosted in such a way as to allow NIH staff access to the files for minor edits and updates. Hosting a site on a contractor-owned server may restrict access so that it can only be updated by contract employees. Web users expect that electronic information will be current and correct. A Web site should not be launched unless and until the appropriate plans have been made for its update and maintenance. Web sites require ongoing review and edit to keep posted information up-to-date, add new content, repair broken links, and respond to users' requests. The URL of the site should end in "nih.gov" not .com."
Ensure that the technical details of the site design and operation are well documented. This is critical if your site includes interactive features that involve programming.
Any source material used to create the site should be retuned.
Ask the contractor to use accepted industry tools and applications when developing a site or database. Sites developed using non-standard tools can be difficult to manage if the contract changes hands. As part of the overall development process, it is advisable to test your site before it launched is launched will help to identify problems with design, navigation, and operation and will afford your team the opportunity to fix them before inviting your audience to use the site. Usability testing is very effective in ferreting out problems.
For more information, see this URL: http://www.nih.gov/od/ocpl/wag/resources/pubs/develop.html
Dennis Rodrigues
Chief, On-Line Information Branch
NIH Office of Communications and Public Liaison
31 Center Drive
BG. 31, RM. 5B58
Bethesda, MD 20892-2094
301 435-2932 office
301 402-0395 fax
dr3p@nih.gov
www.nih.gov