Digital Service Standards

Date adopted: 
May 1, 2016
Last update: 
November 17, 2023

These standards are best practice principles for designing and delivering government digital services and websites that are simple, clear and fast.

They are for vendors, departments, corporations and agents of the Government of Yukon.

eServices staff conduct service maturity assessments throughout the development of your service or website. We work with you through these assessments to make sure your service or website meets these digital service standards.

1. Understand user needs

Demonstrate you have conducted research to develop a knowledge of a service’s users and their context for the service.

How you meet this standard:

  • Learn everything you can about the people who will use your service. 
  • Follow the guidance in the UX 
  • Develop a list of specific users from different target groups and write user need statements.
  • It's important to include users who:
    • have disabilities or use assistive technologies;
    • have limited digital skills or poor literacy; or
    • may need help to use your service.

How we confirm you’ve met this standard: Share your findings with eServices. We'll review your research and confirm you've met this criteria.

eServices has a user research pool made of citizen volunteers whom you can ask to assist with testing.

2. Do ongoing user research

Conduct user research and usability testing. This is key to delivering and maintaining a digital service or website. The results of this research inform how we can make immediate and future improvements.

How you meet this standard:

  • Develop a plan to conduct user research and usability testing before launch. Leave time to identify and correct any issues you uncover after testing.
  • Develop a plan to collect user feedback once the service or website launches. This provides users with a way to share their thoughts on their experience during or after they have used it. One way to do this is through a feedback form.

How we confirm you’ve met this standard: Share your plan and the results of user research and usability testing with eServices. We'll review your plan, offer suggestions and confirm you've met this criteria.

3. Have a multidisciplinary team

Get a suitable multidisciplinary team in place. Your team should be able to design, build, and operate the service. It should be led by a suitably skilled, adequately resourced senior service manager with decision-making responsibility.

How you meet this standard: Ensure you have a multidisciplinary project team in place for each phase of developing your service or website. Share your project roles with eServices.

How we confirm you’ve met this standard: We'll confirm you have a suitable team in place and that you've met this criteria.

4. Use agile methods

Build your service using agile and user-centred methods. Make sure you continue to iterate and improve the service or website frequently.

How you meet this standard: You have a project plan and timeline that uses agile and user-centred methods. Your plan shows how you'll collect feedback and test your service or website and how you'll continue to refine your service or site.

How we confirm you’ve met this standard: Share your project plan and timeline with eServices. We'll confirm you've met this criteria.

5. Understand security and privacy issues

The Government of Yukon has requirements around privacy and security. You may need to complete some of the technical and legal assessments before your service or website can be public.

How you meet this standard: Work with eServices to find out what assessments you are required to complete. We'll provide you with contacts and options to complete the appropriate assessments.

How we confirm you’ve met this standard: Share your final assessments with eServices. Once the assessments are complete and any issues addressed, we'll confirm you've met this criteria.

6. Use open and common standards

Build your service or website using open standards and common government technology platforms. This includes the eServices platform.

How you meet this standard: Work with eServices to identify if there are any common government technology platforms or open standards you should use. Demonstrate how you plan to use open and common standards in your project plan.

How we confirm you’ve met this standard: One you've shared your plan, we'll review it and confirm you've met this criteria.

7. Deliver a bilingual service

Create a service or website available in both English and French.

How you meet this standard: You've worked with the government's French Language Services Directorate to create a plan:

  • to have your content translated in time for your public launch; and
  • you have an agreed-upon plan for continued translation.

How we confirm you’ve met this standard: Share your plan with eServices. We'll review it and confirm you've met this criteria.

8. Test the end-to-end service

Test the end-to-end service in an environment identical to that of the live version. Tests should include all required web browsers and devices. Use test accounts and a representative sample of people from your different target groups.

Include pre-scripted tests run by a computer (sometime called unit tests) and user acceptance tests (refer to criteria 1 and 2).

How you meet this standard: You'll have opportunities to test the service or website in the User Acceptance Testing (UAT) environment.

How we confirm you’ve met this standard: eServices will also conduct testing in UAT.

9. Make it accessible

Ensure your service or website is accessible to all users regardless of their ability and environment. Government of Yukon websites and digital services must comply with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2.

How you meet this standard: Make sure your developer is aware of this criteria. Ask them for a report to verify they have tested and confirmed your service or website passes or exceeds the WCAG accessibility guidelines.

How we confirm you’ve met this standard: Submit your report to eServices. We'll confirm the findings with additional testing and we'll let you know if you've met this criteria.

10. Have a plan for being offline

Users expect that a digital service or website is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. You need to know how people will be affected if it goes offline and how to get it back online.

How you meet this standard: Create a plan to describe the action you'll take if your service or website is temporarily offline or unavailable.

How we confirm you’ve met this standard: Submit your plan to eServices. We'll review it and confirm you've met this criteria.

11. Encourage everyone to use the digital service

Once the service is live, it’s important to let people know it’s there and they can use it.

How you meet this standard: Develop a communications plan to encourage people to use the service or website once it launches. You should also develop a plan to phase out non-digital channels and services. Until the non-digital options are phased out, ensure these channels and services can be used without repetition or confusion.

How we confirm you’ve met this standard: Share your plans with eServices. We'll review them and confirm you've met this criteria.

12. Collect and report on performance data

Use recommended tools to collect performance data and establish benchmarks in order to measure the success of the service or website. Use this data to analyze the service or website. Translate this data into features and tasks for the next phase of improvements.

How you meet this standard: Check with eServices to make sure your service or website has Matomo, the government’s analytics software in place. We also use Siteimprove to measure the quality of our content on Yukon.ca.

How we confirm you’ve met this standard: We'll set you up with the recommended Matomo reports. We'll also publish service performance information to internal staff. This is how we show continued improvement over time.

13. Test with senior stakeholders

Test the service from end-to-end with senior stakeholders, such as directors and deputy ministers, before it goes to public beta and live. These people are responsible for the delivery of the service and are accountable for what’s their department produces.

How you meet this standard:

  • Plan to schedule a demo for your senior management so you can walk them through your service or website.
  • If you are not able to meet, you can also share the link with them so they can test it out and provide you with their approval via email.

How we confirm you’ve met this standard:

  • eServices will attend the demo to support the project team and confirm senior management have seen how the service works and approve it before going live.
  • If you conducted a remote demo, you can email senior management approval message to eServices.

14. Make the user experience consistent

Create a consistent user experience. Build your service or website using the government's design patterns, Style Guide and common platform components.

How you meet this standard: eServices will help you identify what components you should use. You can demonstrate how you've made the user experience consistent at each stage of development.

How we confirm you’ve met this standard: eServices will provide feedback on your demonstration and confirm you've met this criteria.