The Government Digital Service (GDS) has updated relevant pages on GOV.UK with metadata created in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Rosalie Marshall, its lead technology adviser, and Simon Hughesdon, senior developer, said it has used new details from the schema.org standard to make it easier for users to find important content on the outbreak.
Among the changes is that GDS has begun using the SpecialAnnouncement collections of tags to highlight the most useful public service updates.
It said that local authorities could do something similar with the publicTransportClosuresInfor diseasePreventInfo and travelBans properties. Schools could use the schoolClosuresInfo tag.
External links
Marshall and Hughesdon also emphasised that schema.org makes it possible to put in links to other pages with relevant web content. This makes it possible for users to find the relevant GOV.UK pages followed by relevant content from elsewhere.
“The benefits of using the updated schema.org tags will, like the rest of the schema.org tags, help us provide trusted information to users and make sure other useful and trusted content from others is surfaced,” they said.
GDS added that it is keen to hear from other government organisations, along with healthcare bodies and schools, on how the new updates can be improved.
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