This document summarizes the requirements of NJ law A3908 regarding content that must be provided on government websites. It discusses the types of organizations the law applies to, compliance deadlines, and required content including mission/responsibilities, budgets, audits, rules/policies, meeting notices/agendas, minutes, contact info, and a list of those paid over $17,500. It also provides guidance on information architecture, accessible web formats like PDF and HTML, search functionality, and handling signatures digitally. Government agencies must comply with the transparency requirements by posting this information online by certain deadlines.

1. NJ Web Content Requirements
A3908 Mandates
Carol A Spencer October 11, 2012
Digital & Social Media Manager Morris County Office of Public Information

2. Today, we’ll discuss
 Applicability
 Compliance Deadlines
 Content Requirements
 Information Architecture
 Web Content Formats
 Search
 Q&A

3. Applicability
 Soil Conservation Districts
 Workforce Investment Boards
 County Park Commissions
 Joint Insurance Funds
 Fire Districts
 Regional Health Commissions
 Authorities
 Subject to the provisions of chapter 5A of NJSA Title 40A
 Municipal Zone Development Corporations

4. Applicability
 Any “environmental authority, board or
commission […] owning real property assets or
providing services in more than one county,
including but not limited to, those subject to
oversight pursuant to the “Local Authorities Fiscal
Control Law” or appointed pursuant to R.S. 40: 62-
109 regarding joint water commissions.”
 This includes any “authority, board, commission, or other
public body authorized by law to provide water, sewer, or
other utility service, or to engage in the zoning of facilities
for, or the planning for, the provision of such services.

5. Morris County Applicability
 Morris County Soil Conservation District
 Workforce Investment Board
 Morris County Park Commission
 Authorities
 Municipal Utilities Authority (MUA)
 Improvement Authority
 Morris County Housing Authority
 Planning Board

6. Compliance Deadlines
 Act was signed January 5, 2012
 Requires each entity to post certain
information on its website
 Sets two deadlines
 Effective date of the Act: Feb 1, 2013
 Fiscal year following Feb 1, 2013
 July 1 – June 30 fiscal year: 7/1/2013
 Jan 1 – December 31 fiscal year: 1/1/2014
 Increasing content requirements over time

7. Content Requirements
 Mission and Responsibilities
 Budgets
 CAFR: Comprehensive Annual Financial Report
 Audits
 Rules, regulations and official policy statements
deemed relevant to the interests of county
residents
 Meeting Notices & Agendas
 Board & Committee minutes, including resolutions
 Contact information
 List of those paid $17,500 or more

8. Mission & Responsibilities
 Location: “About Us” section
 Due: February 1, 2013

9. Financials: Budgets, Audits
 Location: a “Financial” subsection
of “About Us”
 Due: February 1, 2013
 Initial requirement for budgets / CAFR / audits
is current adopted and prior year
 For next fiscal year, 3 consecutive years
budgets / CAFR / audits are required
 Requirement for CAFR “or other similar
financial information”
 Contact your financial people for an opinion
about content needed to meet this requirement

10. Financials: Budgets, Audits

11. Rules, Regulations, Policies
 Location: “About Us” section unless this is
a significant amount of information
 Due: February 1, 2013
 Rules, regulations and official policy
statements deemed relevant by the Board
to the interests of affected residents
 This can’t be “nothing”…
 Examples: application, use, eligibility policies

12. Rules, Regulations, Policies

13. Meeting Notices / Agendas
 Location: “About Us” or “Public Meetings”
section
 Due: February 1, 2013
 Decide if you want to keep agendas live
after minutes are adopted.
 No requirement to keep past agendas
 Disk storage space issue
 Notice requirement is time, date, location
and agenda
 Ask your legal counsel about actual notice

14. Meeting Notices / Agendas

15. Minutes
 Location: “About Us” or “Public Meetings” section
 Due: February 1, 2013
 Initial requirement is current fiscal year
 For next fiscal year, 3 consecutive years
 Minutes from official board meetings
 Minutes from board committee meetings
 If Board meeting minutes include committee
minutes, the webpage should so indicate
 Minutes must include verbiage of any adopted
resolutions

16. Minutes

17. Contact Information
 Location: “Contact Us”
 Contact Us typically includes physical address and GPS,
mailing address, general email, phone, fax, standard
hours of operation
 Should also include a feedback form
 Could include links to staff list and directions
 Location: “Staff”
 Name, mail & email address, phone number of every
person “with day to day supervision or management over
some or all of the operations”
 Due: February 1, 2013

18. Contact Us

19. Staff

20. The $17.5 List
 Location: a “Financial” subsection of
“About Us”
 List of “attorneys, advisors, consultants, and
any other person, firm, business, partnership,
corporation, or other organization which
received any remuneration of $17,500 or more
during the preceding fiscal year for any service
whatsoever rendered” to the agency
 Due: February 1, 2013

21. Information Architecture
 Web Standards  Public Expectation
 About Us
 Consistent placement  Who you are
of information  What you do
 Makes information  Goals & Objectives
easy to find  Contact Us
 How do I reach you
 Enhanced user  Phone, Email, Auto,
experience Public Transportation,
Mail, Packages
 “Don’t Make Me Think”  Public Meetings
 When, where
 Transparency  Discussion items
What happened
Cost-effective design


 My input

22. Web Content Formats
 Web documents must be
handicapped accessible
 Do not use:
 MS Word documents (doc/docx)
 Scanned documents
 Image format documents
(jpg, tif, png)
 Use these: PDFs created
from other originals, or HTML
 Create a PDF using the full
version of Adobe Acrobat or
an equivalent program.

23. About Accessibility
 Federal government mandates
Section 508 compliant handicapped
accessibility on all its websites.
 USDOJ is considering a similar mandate
for state and local government websites.
 Section 508 requires text alternatives to all graphics.
 Scanned PDFs are typically images and are thus
not handicapped
accessible.

24. About Accessibility
 Adobe Acrobat includes a “read out loud” feature.

25. Handling Signatures
 Documents on the web are not official copies
 Signatures can be replaced in several ways
 (Original Signed)
 /s/ name
 Create a graphic of the signature. Add to original prior to
creating PDF. (not highly recommended)
 Replace signature in original; then create PDF
 Secure PDF prior to publishing
if adding a graphic signature

26. Search
 20% to 25% of web visitors use search to
find the page or document they want
 Once they reach the document, they again use
search to save time
 For long documents, search
capability is a must. Minutes, audits,
bill lists are very long documents.
 Images are not searchable, documents scanned
to an image format are not searchable
 Image formatted documents frustrate visitors
and defeat the purpose of transparency

27. In Summary
 A3908 takes effect February 1, 2013
 Specific information is required on your websites
 If Morris County OPI maintains your website:
 Provide this information before December 1
 Provide it in PDF format that is searchable, accessible
 We will create PDFs if you provide us the original
 If Morris County OPI does not maintain your site:
 Remember Information Architecture principles
 Comply with Section 508 Accessibility guidelines
 Use the checklist or email us if you have questions

28. NJ Web Content Requirements
Questions?