The next stage of our web estate audit
The University of Edinburgh is in the process of carrying out a Web Estate Audit to better understand our online presence, and the project is now moving on to its next stage.
The audit is being conducted by Information Services Group and the first stage of the audit, an internal survey of websites across the institution, has been completed. We now have an interim register of websites – thanks to all who have participated.
Next stage
The next stage of the audit is a technical scan of websites which is being carried out by an external supplier and will start on 14 August. The purpose of this stage is to build an in-depth picture of the University’s websites and better understand the technologies in use.
This will be achieved through passive data gathering (using information already available online) and active data gathering (in much the same way as the Google bot collects information). Colleagues in IT Infrastructure and Information Security have been consulted on this activity to ensure alignment with relevant policies and processes.
Important information for website managers
In some cases, permission may be requested to scan websites hosted externally and the project team would appreciate your assistance with this. Equally, if there are any urgent issues discovered during the activity, these will be communicated to website owners.
Outputs of the audit
The technical audit is scheduled to finish by mid-September, at which point the results, database and draft report will be made available to the project team.
When the outputs have been validated and approved, the project team will then approve a plan for wider distribution. There will be a communication issued at this stage on how the results will be made available to website owners.
Questions?
In the interim, if you have any questions, feedback or concerns, please contact me.
