Accessibility: the ease with which a product or service can be used by any user no matter their ability. Find out more about accessibility on nsw.gov.au on the Accessibility for nsw.gov.au article.
Analytics: shortened for 'digital analytics'. The process of collecting and analyzing data from multiple digital sources, such as social media channels and website pages, to measure performance against customer needs. nsw.gov.au uses Google Analytics (GA) to do this.
Artificial Intelligence (AI): intelligent technology, programs and the use of advanced computing algorithms that can augment decision making by identifying meaningful patterns in data.
Call-to-action (CTA): a section on a webpage that encourages the end-user to perform a specific action immediately, such as subscribing to a newsletter, reading another page for further information, or downloading a file.
Component: shortened for 'web component'. Reusable features within a content management system (CMS) that allow users to create content for web pages. Find out about the components available for nsw.gov.au in the CMS Components Guide.
Content: information that is stored on a website. Shortened form of web content.
Content approver: a user of the content management system (CMS) responsible for approving content before it is published on a website. Shortened to ‘approver’.
Content author/editor: a user of the content management system (CMS) responsible for creating and editing content on a website. Shortened to ‘editor’.
Content Management System (CMS): a software that allows users to manage web content on a website without the need to write up code. nsw.gov.au is run on Drupal CMS.
Content publisher: a user of the content management system (CMS) responsible for making content available and visible on a website. Shortened to ‘publisher’.
Cookies: shortened for 'HTTP cookie'. Small pieces of data from a website that are stored in a user's web browser by web servers, allowing them to remember the user's device, browser preferences and associated website activity. As a result, cookies enable greater personalisation on a user's browsing experience. They also allow content on websites a user frequently visits to load faster as information is recalled from cookies instead of loading from the web server afresh.
Customer Experience (CX): the holistic perception or feelings a customer has towards a brand, team, company, or business from their interactions with them.
Cyber security: measures used to protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of systems and information.
Data: generally refers to facts and figures that can be represented as numbers, text, graphics, sound or video, as well as how these are interpreted. Data can also take different forms e.g. digital, and can pertain to a range of topics or areas e.g. people, systems and the environment. Data can further be broken down by type or purpose, for example transactional and operational data.
Data custodian: The agency, body or position designated with the custody of a specified dataset or information asset. The custodian is responsible for 1) developing, managing, care and maintenance of a specified dataset or information asset; 2) ensuring that all legal, regulatory and policy requirements are met in relation to the management of the specified dataset or information asset; 3) determining the conditions for appropriate use, sharing and distribution of the specified dataset or information asset.
Data owner: The data owner is in charge of the data in a certain data domain. A data owner must guarantee that the information inside that domain is correctly maintained across various platforms and business processes. Data owners are frequently represented on the executive committee as voting members or attending members with no voting powers.
Data governance: implementation of a set of policies, processes, structures, roles and responsibilities to ensure that an agency’s data is managed effectively and that it can meet its current and future business requirements.
Data privacy: a strategy concerning proper handling of data, encompassing how it is collected, stored, accessed and shared. Used interchangeably with information privacy. Find out more about privacy for nsw.gov.au on the I want to learn about privacy for nsw.gov.au article.
Data security: process of protecting digital information from unauthorized access, accidental loss, disclosure and modification, manipulation or corruption throughout its entire lifecycle, from creation to destruction.
Defect: an unexpected behaviour when using a product or service caused by a flaw in its code or design. This is used interchangeably with 'bugs'. You can report bugs/defects on the nsw.gov.au by submitting the details on the Bug or new feature request form.
De-identified data: data that no longer contains, or never included, identifiers about a person, such that their identity is no longer apparent or reasonably ascertainable from the data. Re-identification also needs to be either impossible, or extremely difficult.
HTML: short for HyperText Markup Language. It is the standard markup language for creating pages of a website. Find out more by visiting the W3 website on HTML.
Information: Knowledge concerning objects such as facts, events, things, processes or ideas including concepts that within a certain context have a particular meaning. Information is data that has been processed into a form (physical, oral or electronic) that is meaningful to the recipient. Examples: raw data, information that has been produced by combining or adding value to raw data, images, audio-visual material, web content, records, metadata, policies and procedures, methodologies.
Information architecture (IA): a model or concept of labelling, organizing, structuring, or categorizing web content to make information easier to find, navigate and understand. It is dependent on three factors: content, context and users.
Information privacy: see Data privacy above.
Information security: the protection of information and information systems from unauthorised access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction in order to provide confidentiality, integrity and availability.
Learning Management System (LMS): a web-based application where users can access training and development material, courses and programs for products and services they use.
Metadata: data or information that describes, defines and adds meaning to other data, to support its interpretation.
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): a security measure where users are required to provide two or more methods of verification before being successfully given access to an application.
Personal information (PI)/Personally identifiable information (PII): information or an opinion (including information or an opinion forming part of a database and whether or not recorded in a material form) about an individual whose identity is apparent or can reasonably be ascertained from the information or opinion. Find out more about privacy for nsw.gov.au on the Privacy on nsw.gov.au article.
Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA): a methodology for assessing the impacts on privacy of a project, technology, product, service, policy, programme or other initiative and, in consultation with stakeholders, for taking remedial actions as necessary in order to avoid or minimise negative impacts. Head over to Conducting a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) for more information on undertaking a PIA for nsw.gov.au.
Platform: a system or group of technologies.
Personalisation: a process of creating customised experiences tailored to the preferences of a visitor of a website. Shortened form of ‘website personalisation’.
Quality assurance testing (QA): a series of tests performed that ensures the product or service is delivered to the agreed standards and requirements.
Readability: the ease with which an end-user can understand written text. nsw.gov.au ensures all content is written in plain English, with a reading level grade of 8-9 (14 year olds).
Record: any document or other source of information compiled, recorded or stored in written form or on film, or by electronic process, or in any other manner or by any other means.
Risk: cyber risk is a possibility of financial loss, disruption, or damage to the reputation of an organisation from a failure or fault in its information technology systems.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO): the process of improving a website’s ranking in search engines with the goal of generating higher traffic and usage to the website. Head over to Making your page SEO friendly to learn more about making use of SEO for your agency pages.
Sensitive data or information: Per the NSW Government Information Classification, Labelling and Handling Guidelines (2020), sensitive information includes personal information, health information, information which could be subject to legal privilege, commercial-in-confidence information, law enforcement information, NSW Cabinet information. Head over to Using a Privacy Collection Notice for your form for guidelines on collecting sensitive data or information on nsw.gov.au.
Single Sign-On (SSO): an authentication service that allows a user to log in to multiplication applications and services using only one set of credentials. The nsw.gov.au CMS uses OKTA SSO to give users a seamless and secure login experience.
Social Media: communication-based websites or applications that allow users to create and share information in virtual communities or networks. NSW Government uses a range of social media channels to engage with NSW customers.
Taxonomy: a classification scheme used to organise data into groups, types or topics.
User: end consumer of a data, product or service; those who use data or information for reference, or as input to solve problems and/or make decisions.
User Experience (UX): the overall perception or impression an end-user of a product or service has from their interactions with it.
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG): an internationally recognised standard created by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) with a goal of providing a single shared standard for web content accessibility that meets the needs of individuals, organizations, and governments internationally.
Webform: a type of content on a website designed to capture data from the user inputting information on it. Read Creating a webform for information on using a webform on your agency page.
WYSIWYG: acronym for ‘what you see is what you get’. It is an editor that allows users to see and edit, in real-time, what their content will appear to be when published on a webpage as it is being created. Head over to Adding a WYSIWYG block on a page to use this on your agency pages.
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