6.1 Access to information
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→ Accessing your digital content must be possible for anyone.
You need to:
- Take accessibility into account;
- Avoid displaying certain functions or content that is conditional on the user inputting information;
- Work on the interoperability of network services.
Avoid displaying certain functions or content that are conditional on the provision of information
By conditioning access to content, users are pushed to provide personal information. This infringes on the user's freedom and carries risks of exclusion, particularly for individuals without email addresses. The same applies when access to your site is subject to accepting cookies.
This practice should be avoided, especially when the goal is to gather information about users.
Document requiring personal information from the user
To access the whitepaper, the user must provide personal information. The interface asks for:
- surname;
- first name;
- e-mail address;
- company;
- company size;
- job title.
If the user needs the document, they will be required to provide this information.
Best practices if it can’t be avoided:
If you can’t do otherwise:
- Be transparent:
- Explain what the personal information will be used for.
- Explain how the information will be used;
- Request the bare minimum of information.
- Add a brief summary of the document. This allows the user to understand the exact nature of the document.
Special case:
Conditional display is acceptable if access to the article is subject to financial payment by the user, such as in the case of certain newspapers or research articles, which operate under this economic model. It will be necessary to explain why the article is not visible without payment and to adhere to good practices.
Article with conditioned access
In the case of the magazine i2D, access to the article is conditioned upon payment. This serves as the main source of revenue for the magazine. However, we have access to a visible summary of the article, allowing us to determine if the article aligns with our search before committing to payment.
Working on network service interoperability
Interoperability refers to the ability of different hardware, software, and protocols to:
- work together
- share information
This capability is achievable without any particular action required from users.
Examples of interoperability
Telecommunications
Regardless of whether a user employs Bouygues, Orange, SFR, or TeleCoop as their operator, they can contact a user using a different operator.
Mail service
User A using Gmail can send an email to user B using Outlook. Both users, even if they use different messaging services, can communicate with each other.
These two examples of interoperability are invisible to users. No additional effort is required from them.
Why choose interoperability?
Interoperability allows users to choose the service that best meets their needs in terms of:
- accessibility;
- price;
- reputation;
- aesthetics;
- etc.
| Without interoperability | With interoperability |
|---|---|
| The service prioritises improvements and pricing. For example, Kindle, an e-book reader, supports only one format. It does not support the EPUB format (an open and standardised format). | Healthy competition is possible. New players can come in and address elements (functions, needs, etc.) in a different and innovative way. There is no network effect. The user can switch services without losing their work. The service allows for seamless transfer of data and (for a communication service) enables continued communication with the same people as before. |
Interoperability of services is part of the Digital Service Act. (point 4).
Examples of services practising interoperability
Fediverse
The term 'Fediverse,' derived from 'federation' and 'universe,' refers to a federation of servers forming a social network. This network includes numerous services such as:
- Mastodon (Microblogging);
- PeerTube (Video streaming);
- WordPress (Website).
The various services within this network utilise common exchange protocols or bridges between protocols. This enables seamless communication between them for the user.
One of the protocols used is ActivityPub (W3C recommendation 2018), an open standard. It is employed to facilitate exchange between services. Thus, users can interact between Mastodon (microblogging) and Pleroma (microblogging), for example.
Another way is peer-to-peer with WebTorrent, BitTorrent, or other peer-to-peer (P2P) protocols. These allow you to share blog posts (via Write Freely, WordPress), research articles (from Okli), etc., within a discussion thread (on Mastodon or Pleroma).
Passerelles
Passerelles is a digital platform that focuses on collaboration among various stakeholders on a specific topic. The platform aims to be a digital commons, adapting to users' needs through, among other things, several interoperable digital tools.
6. Design and build