The document outlines quality principles for cultural websites. It states that a quality website should celebrate European cultural diversity by providing access to digital cultural content for all. It then lists 10 principles a quality website must meet: be transparent; select, digitize, author, present and validate effective content; ensure quality of service; be accessible; be user-centered; be responsive; be multi-lingual; be interoperable; respect legal issues and state terms of use; and adopt strategies to preserve the website and content long-term. The document was presented at the European Minerva Conference in Parma, Italy in November 2003.

1. Presidenza Italiana
del Consiglio
dell’Unione Europea
Minerva European
Conference
eEurope
Cultural Website Quality Principles
A quality cultural website celebrates
European cultural diversity by providing access
for all to digital cultural content.
A quality website must:
• be transparent, clearly stating the identity and purpose • be responsive, enabling users to contact the site and receive
of the website, as well as the organisation responsible an appropriate reply. Where appropriate, encourage
for its management questions, information sharing and discussions with
• select, digitise, author, present and validate content and between users.
to create an effective website for users • be aware of the importance of multi-linguality by providing
• implement quality of service policy guidelines to ensure a minimum level of access in more than one language
that the website is maintained and updated at an • be committed to being interoperable within cultural
appropriate level networks to enable users to easily locate the content
• be accessible to all users, irrespective of the technology and services that meet their needs
they use or their disabilities, including navigation, • be managed to respect legal issues such as IPR and privacy
content, and interactive elements and clearly state the terms and conditions on which
• be user-centred, taking into account the needs of users, the website and its contents may be used
ensuring relevance and ease of use through responding • adopt strategies and standards to ensure that the website
to evaluation and feedback and its content can be preserved for the long-term
transparent • effective • maintained • accessible • user-centred
responsive • multi-lingual • interoperable • managed • preserved
design francesca pavese srl
© 2003 Minerva Project
Draft presented in the occasion of the European Minerva Conference, Parma, Italy,
WP5 20-21 November 2003, produced by the Minerva Quality Working Group
WP5 - Identification of user needs, content and quality framework for common access points