During the course of the Internet Services Testbed, many organizations requested information about how to get started with a Web site. Since the guidelines were planned as an end product reflecting the full experience of the Testbed agencies, the CTG project staff created an interim deliverable called “A WWW Starter Kit” which presents the essential first steps in the Web site development process. The Starter Kit is available as a hypertext document on the CTG Web site.

The Starter Kit is designed to help agencies at the very earliest stage of WWW exploration when they often know little more than that they need to “be on the Internet.” The WWW Starter Kit was designed to help agencies avoid false starts and ineffective shot-gun approaches by offering a way to organize the exploration process. It contains information and links to selected resources for WWW site beginners that the Testbed agencies found very helpful in getting off to a good start. They were not chosen as the result of exhaustive analysis, but they were generally recognized as good, solid resources that are helpful in mastering the fundamentals.

The Starter Kit focuses mostly on the definition and design stage of Web site development, with some introduction to Web technologies. Its primary purpose is to help agencies begin to address these critical design questions:

• What information or information-based services of your agency are suitable for electronic delivery over the World Wide Web?
• Who wants this kind of information or service? Are these potential customers likely to be connected to the Web?
• Who will benefit from a Web-based service and how will they benefit?
• Who in your agency is responsible for the information resources you want to put on the Web? Are they on your team?
• What kind and level of skill and effort will it take to turn existing information resources into Web-friendly ones? Are those resources available?
• What will it cost in terms of dollars, people, and technology to build and operate an effective Web site?

The Starter Kit encourages agencies to become WWW content providers by first becoming active WWW users. It takes advantage of the fact that most of the information needed to develop and maneuver around the Web actually lies within it. Users are encouraged to visit and evaluate existing sites to see how similar organizations are using the WWW to deliver online information and services. They are directed to style guides and tutorials that help them understand that effective sites combine a clear purpose, thoughtful organization, substantive content, graphic arts, good writing, and ease of navigation. The Starter Kit encourages users to become involved in the online community by joining electronic discussion groups and listservs devoted to Web development topics. Finally, it identifies some government sites that have done a good job of identifying and presenting policy guidance on the use of the Internet and the WWW.