The use of sub domains with illinois.gov
Release V2.0
Published by: CMS/BCCS/EBAS
This policy is in place to direct and facilitate standardization using illinois.gov for Illinois government web sites as outlined in this document. Illinois has adopted www.illinois.gov as the primary domain for the state’s main home page.
Consistent web site domain names (URL’s) enable people to locate information on the Internet more easily and effectively. The .gov domain has been made available by the federal government and offers the opportunity for standardization within the state of Illinois.
The .gov domain is overseen by the federal government and reserved for use by federal, state, and local governments. The State of Illinois via Central Management Services (CMS) Web Services as the administrator and as the technical contact has registered illinois.gov for use by state and local government and related interests in Illinois.
Third Level Sub domains of illinois.gov
Third level sub domains of the illinois.gov domains will help achieve consistent naming conventions throughout the various levels of Illinois government. This Standardization effort will enhance the accessibility of information and services provided by state and local government.
Primary Domain Designation
The third level sub domain of illinois.gov is to be used as the primary domain and should be conveyed as such at all times. This domain should be used on all advertising, correspondence, printed materials, signage, etc.
Entities eligible to register third level sub domain names are:
- Constitutional Officers
- State Agencies, Offices, Boards, and Commissions
- Counties
- Cities
- Municipalities
Eligibility Requirements
All entities are advised to maintain accessible web sites in accordance with the Federal "Section 508" and World Wide Web Consortium accessibility guidelines. Entities under the governor are required to comply with the Illinois Web Accessibility Standards (http://www.dhs.state.il.us/page.aspx?item=32765) in combination with the use of the official state templates. For more specifics on compliance to the IWAS Standards and the use of the templates contact Web Services at at 217-558-6404.
Federal .gov Program Guidelines
All entities using a .gov domain must comply with the federal guidelines, which can be accessed at http://www.dotgov.gov/program_guidelines.aspx. Entities that operate Web sites that are not in compliance with the .gov program guidelines may have their domain name terminated.
Eligible entities requesting third level sub domains for illinois.gov domain names will use the following naming conventions:
- Constitutional Officers will register their domain names at the third-level under the second-level state domain. The appropriate naming conventions would be (officename).illinois.gov. Acronyms or abbreviations may be appropriate. Examples: www.sos.illinois.gov, www.illinoistreasurer.gov or www.governor.illinois.gov
- State entities under the Governor such as agencies, bureaus, offices, boards, and commissions will register their domain names at the third-level under the second-level state domain. The appropriate naming conventions would be (agencyname) .illinois.gov. Acronyms or abbreviations may be appropriate. Examples: www.dnr.illinois.gov, www.dceo.illinois.gov or www.cms.illinois.gov
- County governments will register their domain names at the third-level domain under the second-level state domain. The appropriate naming conventions would be (countyname) county.illinois.gov or (countyname)co.illinois.gov. Examples: www.sangamoncounty.illinois.gov, www.cookcounty.illinois.gov or www.mcleanco.illinois.gov
- Cities, towns and other municipalities will register their domain names at the third-level under the second-level state domain. The appropriate naming conventions would be (townname).illinois.gov or (cityname).illinois.gov. Acronyms or abbreviations may be appropriate. Examples: www.springfield.illinois.gov, www.chicago.illinois.gov, www.warsaw.illinois.gov
- Appropriate efforts, initiatives or programs within state agencies, offices, boards, commissions and constitutional officers may request specialized domains based on the following criteria. The domain must reflect the name of the effort, initiative or program (Abbreviations or acronyms may be used). The associated site must have viability exceeding 90 days (Exceptions to this rule may be granted for re-occurring and or annual initiatives). Examples:(www.etcc.illinois.gov), (www.poetlaureate.illinois.gov), (www.benefitschoice.illinois.gov)
E-mail Naming Scheme
State of Illinois entities under the governor are encouraged to migrate to the following e-mail address-naming scheme of unique.user.name@Illinois.gov. Please contact Enterprise Email Support at 217-782-1102 for additional information.
Approval/Denial Considerations
As an eligible entity is granted each unique domain name, both the illinois.gov version will be reserved to avoid confusion. Examples: www.cms.illinois.gov and cms.illinois.gov
Any entity that receives an illinois.gov sub domain name must comply with current requirements set forth by the General Services Administration which can be found at: http://www.dotgov.gov
Central Management Services (CMS) reserves the right to limit or deny domain requests. For instance a domain that equates to one entity may not be requested by another. Long and or potentially confusing domains will also be scrutinized. The requesting entity will be notified of the decision.
Eligible entities may request sub domain names via the following process.
A Central Management Services (Domain Name) form must be filed out and submitted by an IT official from the requesting organization. The form and instructions are available at the following URLs.
FORM:
Domain Service Request
INSTRUCTIONS:
Instructions for Domain Name Service Request Form
Costs, Initial and/or Re-occurring
As of this writing there are no initial or re-occurring costs associated with the registration and maintenance of each domain name, however, CMS reserves the right to impose applicable processing and/or maintenance fees.
Use Verification
To ensure the appropriate and ongoing use of domains, CMS may initiate a periodic verification process that may or may not coincide with a re-occurring or annual fee.
Definitions Reference
Definitions have been provided to clarify specific references within the policy.