User Experience Task Force
Introduction
During the 2014 Legislative session, the Florida Legislature enacted CS/HB 5401, which was approved by the Governor.
Chapter 2013-54, Laws of Florida. The law modifies and amends the Transparency Florida Act, section 215.985, F.S. In
addition to making many changes and updates to existing transparency websites, the legislation also created a User
Experience Task Force.
The key purpose of the Florida Transparency Act, as modified, is to require specified government fiscal and contract
information to be publicly accessible through a website or management system. The Act requires the Executive Office of
the Governor to establish and maintain a single Web portal that will provide public access to state transparency
websites relating to the state’s budgeting and financial planning data, and requires the Chief Financial Officer to provide
public access to information relating to contracts executed by state agencies.
Section 2 of the CS/HB 5401 created the User Experience Task Force. The Task Force, consisting of four members, is
charged with reviewing all relevant state-managed websites, providing options for reducing the number of websites
without losing detailed data, and providing options for linking expenditure data with related invoices and contracts. The
Task Force must submit a recommended website design that provides “an intuitive and cohesive user experience that
allows the users to move easily between varies types of related data” by March 1, 2014.
Authority
The User Experience Task Force was created in Section 2, Chapter 2013-054, Laws of Florida, to develop and recommend
a design for consolidating existing state-managed websites that provide public access to state operational and fiscal
information into a single website.
Members
Appointed by Governor Rick Scott
Jason Allison, Information Technology Policy Advisor, Executive Office of the Governor (Chair)
Appointed by Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater
Charles Ghini, Chief Information Officer, Department of Financial Services
Appointed by Senate President Don Gaetz
Barbara A. Petersen, President, First Amendment Foundation
Appointed by Speaker of the House Will Weatherford
Jordan Raynor, Co-founder and Partnerships Director, Citizinvestor
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Deliverables
By October 1, 2013, a work plan must be submitted to the Governor, Chief Financial Officer, President of the Senate, and
the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The work plan must include a review of all relevant state-managed
websites with options for reducing the number of websites without losing detailed data, as well as options for linking
expenditure data with related invoices and contracts.
By March 1, 2014, a complete recommendation must be submitted to the Governor, Chief Financial Officer, President of
the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The recommended website design must provide an
intuitive and cohesive user experience that allows users to move easily between varied types of related data. The
recommendation must also include a cost estimate for implementation of the design.
Benefits
Section 2, Chapter 2013-054, Laws of Florida, identifies multiple websites that currently provide state operational and
financial information to the general public. The Transparency Florida Act directs that transparency websites be designed
for public access that, to the extent possible, provide an intuitive user experience. To accomplish this goal, all state
transparency websites should provide a consistent visual design, standard interaction or navigation design, and
consistent information display or presentation of data. These websites must be developed and deployed in compliance
with the Americans with Disabilities Act. In addition, these websites should be compatible with all major web browsers,
such as Internet Explorer, Apple Safari, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, and Google Chrome, to provide broad public access.
Communication
The User Experience Task Force is subject to Florida’s open government laws. All Task Force meetings will be held in
compliance with sections 286.011 – 286.012, F.S., better known as the “Sunshine Law,” and s. 286.26, F.S. All
documents, minutes, and other material related to the work and mission of the Task Force are public records subject to
disclosure pursuant to Chapter 119, F.S., Florida’s public records law. To the extent possible, all Task Force records will
be posted to a publically available website at:
http://www.myfloridacfo.com/division/dis/transparencytaskforce/default.html
The link is accessible via navigation from the home page of the Chief Financial Officer http://www.myfloridacfo.com/ .
Out of Scope
The Task Force will not initiate or implement any modifications to existing or proposed state transparency websites.
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Assumptions
The Task Force will have access to staff and facilities for the purpose of providing administrative and meeting support.
State agencies will be available to provide subject matter expertise on their transparency websites and transparency
initiatives. Additionally, state agencies will be engaged to provide costing information related to the implementation of
the recommended design of the Task Force.
Definitions
A Web portal is a web page at a website which brings information together from diverse sources and displays the
content in a uniform way. Typically Web portals (such as Google) include search functionality to assist in locating the
desired content across the diverse sources and a site map to identify the various web pages accessible by the Web
portal.
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