--- title: 'Informative Web Content Guidelines (IWCG)' url: 'https://jessica.digital/projects/iwcg' markdown: 'https://jessica.digital/projects/iwcg.md' date: '2026-10-24' description: 'My doctoral thesis focused on the identification of the Informative Web Content Guidelines (IWCG), an analogue to the WCAG focusing on how to ensure textual content is accessible to users online.' --- [ Projects](https://jessica.digital/projects) # Informative Web Content Guidelines (IWCG) In today's digital age, many organizations publish extensive knowledge bases online, providing crucial information to stakeholders, customers, and service users. While national laws mandate universal access to information, focusing on accessibility, the informativeness of content often gets overlooked. Existing frameworks for assessing information systems primarily concentrate on system facets or task completion, rather than content quality. This interpretive study, my PhD project, addresses this gap by identifying key attributes that significantly impact information quality. Using four action case studies, the research examines these attributes and highlights areas for content improvement. Each case study involves observations using task scenarios and the concurrent think-aloud protocol to gather user perceptions and cognitive understanding of website information. The findings lead to the development of the **Informative Web Content Guidelines (IWCG)**, a new model for practitioners aimed at enhancing web content quality. These guidelines align with existing industry standards mandated by national governments to improve online accessibility. The study introduces three new attributes—fallback, information usability, and interactivity—integrating them with established academic information quality frameworks. By synthesizing general literature with focused online studies, the IWCG offers a practical approach for refining web content. This model empowers practitioners to create more informative and user-friendly online content, ultimately improving the user experience. The guidelines are available below for those interested in implementing these best practices. ## Links - [**Practitioner guidelines**](https://jessica.digital/projects/iwcg/guidelines) for implementation on existing websites, including explanation of application - [**Full PhD thesis**](https://salford-repository.worktribe.com/output/1327167/informative-web-content-guidelines-a-practitioner-model-for-online-content-effectiveness) ## In this project - [IWCG Guidelines](https://jessica.digital/projects/iwcg/guidelines) ## Related articles 29 Jul 2024 [Doctoral studies](https://jessica.digital/articles/category:doctoral-studies) ### [The Evolution of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)](https://jessica.digital/articles/evolution-of-wcag) Tracing the evolution of WCAG guidelines from 1.0 to the upcoming 3.0, highlighting how each version expands accessibility standards and tackles emerging technologies. This article discusses the link between WCAG and user experience and how the UK's legislation has responded to the need to improve accessibility for public sector websites. [WCAG](https://jessica.digital/articles/tag:wcag) [Accessibility standards](https://jessica.digital/articles/tag:accessibility-standards) [Public sector regulation](https://jessica.digital/articles/tag:public-sector-regulation) 28 Jun 2024 [Doctoral studies](https://jessica.digital/articles/category:doctoral-studies) ### [Understanding the Concept of Information in Information Systems](https://jessica.digital/articles/concept-of-information) Exploring the complex concept of information in information systems, distinguishing between data, capta, information, and knowledge. It highlights the ambiguity and subjectivity of information, especially in digital contexts, and emphasizes the importance of understanding how information is processed, interpreted, and used to generate knowledge. [Information theory](https://jessica.digital/articles/tag:information-theory) [Information quality](https://jessica.digital/articles/tag:information-quality) [Artificial intelligence](https://jessica.digital/articles/tag:artificial-intelligence) 10 Jun 2024 [Information systems](https://jessica.digital/articles/category:information-systems) ### [Navigating the Future of Web Accessibility: The Transition from WCAG 2.2 to WCAG 3.0](https://jessica.digital/articles/wcag-2-2-to-wcag-3) The latest draft of the W3C Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 3.0) has been published, and demonstrates a large shift in the way accessibility is accommodated for in both web and mobile apps. Building on my doctoral research, this blog post summarises they key changes. [WCAG](https://jessica.digital/articles/tag:wcag) [Accessibility standards](https://jessica.digital/articles/tag:accessibility-standards) [Public sector regulation](https://jessica.digital/articles/tag:public-sector-regulation) 31 Jul 2022 [Doctoral studies](https://jessica.digital/articles/category:doctoral-studies) ### [PhD thesis complete ✔](https://jessica.digital/articles/phd-thesis-complete) I successfully passed my viva and submitted my PhD thesis on improving online informational content quality. My research led to the development of the Informative Web Content Guidelines (IWCG), enhancing web content accessibility and usability. [PhD](https://jessica.digital/articles/tag:phd) [IWCG](https://jessica.digital/articles/tag:iwcg) [Information quality](https://jessica.digital/articles/tag:information-quality) --- ## Navigation - Parent: [Projects](https://jessica.digital/projects.md) - Previous: [Academic Study Skills](https://jessica.digital/projects/academic-study-skills.md) - Next: [Online Age Assurance](https://jessica.digital/projects/online-age-assurance.md) - Children: - [IWCG Guidelines](https://jessica.digital/projects/iwcg/guidelines.md)