14.1 Periodical page auto-refreshing
New standards released
New standards were launched in March 2009 and replace the previous version, the New Zealand Government Web Standards 1.0. Note that, in order to ease transition to the new standards, version 1.0 (below) may still be used in web development until 31 September 2009. See Meeting the standards.
The Standard
14.1 Periodical page auto-refreshing is discouraged. However, if deemed necessary, pages must refresh at a refresh rate of 5 minutes or greater (>=5 minutes).
Guide to this standard
This standard covers the W3C WAI checkpoint 7.4 for NZ government agencies.
Rationale for this standard
It can be disruptive and frustrating for users if a page refreshes (particularly if the content and/or structure also changes) before they have had time to finish reading content of their interest on the page.
Screen readers also have difficulty with refreshed web pages.
If an auto refresh has been incorporated into the code (at a refresh rate less than specified in the standard), users who find the refreshing disruptive and/or frustrating have little control over this functionality.
If it is deemed necessary to auto refresh web pages, a period of 5 minutes has been determined as sufficient time for most users to have completed their interest in a page (including if they are utilising assistive technology), such that a page refresh would cause minimal concern to the user.
