EPA's Information Architecture and Web Taxonomy
Web Information Architecture
Information Architecture (IA) for the Web is the art and science of organizing and labeling Web content so that users can navigate a site and easily find the information they need. A Web IA is essentially an organization schema for the content on a Web site.
EPA Information Architecture
The agency-wide Information Architecture (IA) functions as an over-arching top layer for EPA's web content.
The IA provides a framework for EPA to present topically-related web content from various offices and regions via a unified interface. This unified top layer co-exists with, not replaces, the multiple discrete web areas that comprise the EPA web site. The IA starts with these three main information areas:
- Environmental Topics
- Laws & Regulations
- About EPA
The three areas identified in the IA are used as global navigation for the entire EPA.gov website.
How the IA Corresponds to Metadata Channels
- In the WebCMS channel metadata, Environmental Topics content is subdivided into Learn the Issues and Science & Technology. These categories are used in dynamic search and dynamic lists to help differentiate between
- non-technical content written for a broader audience including consumers and concerned citizens (Learn the Issues)
- and technical content written for scientists and researchers (Science & Technology).
- Channels are meant to correspond to target audiences, in keeping with One EPA Web's goal of focusing content on user needs.
EPA Web Taxonomy
The EPA Web Taxonomy allows audiences easy access to relevant information from EPA programs, by using a common vocabulary to describe EPA web content.
The Web Taxonomy is closely tied to the IA, in that the selected terms help feed the content to the IA. IA is the structure and organization of the content. Taxonomy is how content is tagged for search and retrieval in the CMS and the website.
The Goal of EPA Information Architecture and Web Taxonomy
EPA.gov is made up of many individual web areas created by its various offices and regions. While these web areas might provide the best information possible regarding each office's particular perspective and resources, they do not do a very good job aggregating or linking to related web content that has been produced by other EPA offices or regions. Providing this aggregated, topical access to EPA’s web content is the focus of the agency-wide IA.
The Information Architecture does not replace the existing pages that comprise the EPA.gov web site. It enhances them by adding more topically-defined entry points for our users, many of whom are not familiar with EPA organizational structure.
How can EPA Web Editors help?
EPA Web Editors can make sure all of their pages have adequate metadata. Metadata is defined as data that describes other data, as in labels and summaries that help you locate items in a collection. Filling in the required fields will allow content to be more easily found by both our web site users and our topical editors. See the Metadata page for more details.