Tools
There are a wide number of tools and platforms available to use to meet the government’s expectation of engagement with citizens and stakeholders through allowing them to comment or submit ideas.
Tools, platforms and services include those supplied by third party and in-house government services as well as the use of open source tools that are easy to implement. The choice should be appropriate to the aims, the intended audience and comply with the requirements laid out in this guidance. In particular it is important that a archived public record is kept by The National Archives and any service should ensure that this happens.
Use a spam filter
Implementation of a reputable spam filter is advisable on all commentable platforms. Especially where post-moderation is employed.
Implementation
The online commentable document and associated platform should validate against current World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommendations.
The service used should be compliant with the government’s guidance on Accessibility in TG102 Delivering inclusive websites, which can be found at http://www.coi.gov.uk/guidance.php?page=129
Separate document structure from presentation and behaviour to ensure cross-platform compatibility. (i.e CSS and JavaScript externally to HTML)
Monitoring volume
The service should be monitored for volume of response. Regular reports should be sent to the senior responsible officer.
If the volume is lower than expected, then some additional facilitation/promotion work may be appropriate. If higher than planned, then increasing technical and moderation capacity may be required.
