NHS Education for Scotland Knowledge Services Design and Development Framework In support of Invitation to Tender: Technical Development of Technical Development of a Platform supporting Communication, Collaboration and Co-Creation (3Cs) Contact: Lynn Caldwell (Lynn.Caldwell@nes.scot.nhs.uk) 2 nd December 2011 Version No. Summary of changes Date 0.1 David Dougan 2nd November 2010 0.2 Faiyaz Shaik, review and 4th November 2010 amendments 0.3 Faiyaz Shaik, review and added section 3.7 and 4.2 10 th November 2011 David Dougan Page 1 05/12/2011
Contents 1. Background...3 2. User Interface Design...3 2.1 The Knowledge Network Header...3 2.2 The Knowledge Network Footer...4 2.3 Additional Design Elements...4 3. Tools and Functionality...5 3.1 Umbraco Content Management System...5 3.2 FAST Enterprise Search...5 3.3 Widget Library and Widget Panels...6 3.4 Save & Share...6 3.5 My Resource Space...6 3.6 Community Builder Toolkit...7 3.7 Taxonomy Database...7 4. Standards...7 4.1 Browser compatibility...8 4.2 Cookies...8 4.3 Mobile Devices...8 5. Technical Architecture and Development Approach...8 5.1 Development Approach...8 5.2 Hosting...9 5.3 Authentication and Single Sign-On...9 5.4 Testing...9 6. Information Architecture...9 7. Summary Requirements Checklist...10 David Dougan Page 2 05/12/2011
1. Background This document sets out the design and development framework for working with NHS Education for Scotland Knowledge Services. The aim is to provide systems developers and suppliers with an overview of the underpinning framework and to identify which elements are in scope for a specific project. There is a checklist at the end of the framework to summarise which elements are to be included within the scope of a particular project. Technical documentation describing our infrastructure will be made available to successful suppliers. 2. User Interface Design 2.1 The Knowledge Network Header The header should be used across all Knowledge Network websites to ensure consistency of branding and access to core services. The key header elements for sub-sites are: The Knowledge Network (TKN) logo (linking back to The Knowledge Network homepage) Login/Register My Resource Space Help and Training Confirmation of these elements will be discussed and agreed with a developer/supplier. Example 1: The Knowledge Network Header Example 2: Evidence into Practice Header Example 3: Social Services Knowledge Scotland Header David Dougan Page 3 05/12/2011
2.2 The Knowledge Network Footer The footer should be used across all Knowledge Network websites to ensure consistency of branding and access to standard policy information. The key footer elements for sub-sites are: Privacy Policy Terms & Conditions Accessibility Policy Site Map Additional footer elements, e.g. the addition of logos, etc. will be discussed and confirmed with a developer/supplier. Example 1: Evidence into Practice Footer Example 2: Social Services Knowledge Scotland Footer 2.3 Additional Design Elements Knowledge Services follow a user-centred approach to website design and development. Users must easily establish where they are and where they want to go using a breadcrumb. The branding, colour scheme, font and layout of a website or system should help attain a consistent look and feel across all pages. The layout should be optimised for screen width: 1024x768 but usable with higher and lower resolutions. Layouts should be uncluttered with liberal use of whitespace. David Dougan Page 4 05/12/2011
Fonts should be simple and widely supported. CSS should be used for layout instead of tables. A print style sheet should be developed. Web pages will employ the use of external stylesheets not inline or embedded styling. Non java script approaches to be made available for critical functions for users who have Java script disabled. Custom error pages should be developed for a website. 3. Tools and Functionality 3.1 Umbraco Content Management System Umbraco is the preferred CMS for use within NES Knowledge Services. It is an open source free download product built around C# ASP.Net. It supports both SQL Server 2005 and 2008 as the back end database. It requires IIS 6.0 or later as the webserver. Umbraco support.net 4.0 but all our installations are.net 3.5 Umbraco elements like Datatypes, Document Types, Templates, CSS, macros, media files, XSLT files already existing in current instances could be packaged and imported into new instances. The Umbraco user management could be used to give the users admin and content management roles. 3.2 FAST Enterprise Search NES Knowledge Services portals and systems are powered by FAST Enterprise Search Engine for its search needs. It is an enterprise search technology from Microsoft that enables local harvesting of the metadata of the resources from disparate data sources into a single repository. This empowers KSG systems to search across multiple data sources to leverage on features like content aggregation, ranking of search results, post search filtering using facets. There are a number of key tasks to harvest content into FAST repository. S.No Task Responsibility 1 Content definition and mapping NES Knowledge (taxonomies, dictionaries). Services Information 2 Search configuration details like search profiles, data sources, post search filters, ranking and sorting Management Team NES Knowledge Services Information Management Team David Dougan Page 5 05/12/2011
parameters. 3 Harvesting Content. NES Knowledge Services Development Team 2 Search UI and Integration into web sites. Developers/Supplier See also Save & Share below. The search UI integration is powered by XML configuration files and XSLT files. These could be reused with some tweaks to cater for other websites and future developments. The configurations could be obtained from the TKN framework as a base and could be tailored upon. 3.3 Widget Library and Widget Panels The widget library is a set of reusable components that enable functionality and content to be packaged in individual widgets that can be shared and reused across websites including the Community Builder Toolkit. These widgets are build using C#, ASP.NET, XML, XSLT, JQuery and AJAX technologies. The widgets implement castle Windsor IoC (Inversion of Control) and DI (Dependency Injection) pattern. They are controlled using a back office web based user interface built in plain vanilla Umbraco. The web administrators control and configure the metadata, content and access permissions of the widgets that could be cited on the widget control panels of the web sites. Currently widgets could be moved across and with in TKN and CBT frameworks via the Widget Library. Any third party widgets built for compliance with KSG widget framework could also be imported into this widget library. This framework allows the web administrators to build websites just using an Umbraco instance and widgets selected from a wide range of widget types like Rich text, Links List, tabbed content, pod cast etc. from the widget library. 3.4 Save & Share Save & Share is part of the Widget Library and enables search results to be marked for specific actions, e.g. tagging, email or download results. 3.5 My Resource Space My Resource Space is a central location for individual users to manage their own resources within The Knowledge Network and related websites, e.g. Evidence into Practice. It is accessible via The Knowledge Network Header. David Dougan Page 6 05/12/2011
3.6 Community Builder Toolkit The Community Builder Toolkit enables groups of Knowledge Network users to build their own website or community space using a pre-defined combination of Umbraco templates and widgets (see Widget Library) which have been overlaid with a front-end web admin interface. The Toolkit allows the uploading of various document and file types to a searchable Resource Library, and this library in turn interacts with The Knowledge Network FAST ESP search. The Toolkit also incorporates wiki, blog, comment and discussion forum style functionality. A simple website could be easily setup using a CBT Toolkit wizard that takes the administrator through a series of screens to choose templates, features and skin of the website. 3.7 Taxonomy Database NES KSG has a centralised Taxonomy database that is maintained by information managers. All NES KSG websites and toolkits that are developed under the framework need to integrate with this taxonomy database via an API. The administrators of the websites and toolkits would be given a back office interface to navigate through the taxonomy structure and choose appropriate terms to describe a resource. 4. Standards As part of NHS Education for Scotland, Knowledge Services complies with the NES Website Guidelines. These are comprehensive guidelines which outline a wide range of mandatory requirements and compliance standards for all NES website developments. A full copy of the guidelines can be made available to suppliers on request (still in development). The following list summarises the key standards and compliance required for any development: Web pages will use a consistent Document Type Definition (DTD) throughout all HTML pages, XHTML 1.0 Strict. Markup will be validated using the W3C Markup validation tool. The use of HTML frames is to be avoided. Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) will be validated using the W3C CSS Validation Service (CSS 2.1). The system will meet all the requirements of the W3C WCAG 2.0, Level AA as a minimum. Metadata to be e-gms and Dublin Core compliant. David Dougan Page 7 05/12/2011
All files should have the same extension. Clients should not be required to download plugins. All links should open in the same page unless opens in a new window text or image is included. For the consideration of certain visually-impaired users, the foreground/background text colour and combinations should contrast sufficiently in terms of colour and brightness. A hierarchical structure should be used for system folders using meaningful names for files and folders. 4.1 Browser compatibility Firefox 3.0 and above Internet Explorer 6 and above Apple Safari 4 or above Opera 9 or above Chrome 4 and above 4.2 Cookies All NES KSG websites must comply with the 2011 EU cookie and privacy laws which require websites to take users consent before they can set most cookies. 4.3 Mobile Devices Standards for mobile development and delivery platforms will be discussed in advance of any development. 5. Technical Architecture and Development Approach Technical documentation describing our infrastructure will be made available to successful suppliers. 5.1 Development Approach The following tools and technologies are used to develop and maintain NES KSG systems. David Dougan Page 8 05/12/2011
Umbraco CMS version 4 ASP.NET 3.5 with C#, MVC Visual Studio 2008, 2010 SQL Server 2005 LINQ to SQL XML, XSLT, CSS Agile, SCRUM development methodologies. Windows Server 2003 IIS 6.0 Subversion and Cruise Control for Continuous Integration NES KSG maintains UAT and Production environments. Developers deploy on to UAT for user acceptance testing and when signed off is rolled over to live. 5.2 Hosting NES Knowledge Services host all web applications and services through a dedicated managed hosting service. 5.3 Authentication and Single Sign-On All NES KSG websites provide Athens authentication for the users to authenticate before they can access protected resources. There is a reusable Athens authentication control that can be used by the developers when developing new websites. This control interacts with AAS (Athens Authentication Service) and NES Authenticator. NES Authenticator checks whether the requests are coming from within NHS network users or outside. The requests from within the NHS network automatically get passed through authentication for subscription resources without the necessity for the users to login. This also takes care of Single Sign On across the websites. 5.4 Testing A test plan and test cases will be produced for all systems under development. This will include core usability, functionality and standards compliance. Non functional testing like performance, load and scalability testing is also done by the developers/suppliers. 6. Information Architecture All systems and web pages will integrate metadata values aligned to the NES KSG taxonomy model, e.g. MESH, IPSV, Caredata. Metadata will be e-gms and Dublin Core compliant. David Dougan Page 9 05/12/2011
An XML Sitemap will be produced for the website 7. Summary Requirements Checklist Note: Compliance with standards, technical and information architecture is mandatory and any deviation would need to be agreed in advance. We accept that our information and technical architecture will continue to evolve and are happy to discuss any improvements that could be made as part of any agreed project. Project: Framework Element Required for Project Notes Umbraco Content Yes/No Management System FAST Enterprise Search Widget Library and Widget Panels My Resource Space Save & Share Community Builder Toolkit The Knowledge Network Header The Knowledge Network Footer Authentication Metadata/taxonomy integration NES Knowledge Services November 2011 David Dougan Page 10 05/12/2011