1530.0 - ABS Forms Design Standards Manual, 2010
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 25/01/2010 First Issue
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EXCEL FORM DESIGN STANDARDS - INTRODUCTION
Background The Excel Form Design Standards developed by Data Collection Methodology (DCM) include the standards common to all electronic forms as well as those standards specific to Excel forms. Other parts of the standards and guidelines within the Forms Design Standards Manual cover broad principles, and will eventually cover Web Instruments. Policy on use of Excel in the ABS for Electronic Data Reporting (EDR) Briefly, at present Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) policy is to:
Several Excel forms have been developed as part of the ABS' response to the Electronic Transactions Act (ETA) to accommodate businesses and people who insist or need to report to us electronically. To minimise costs for what is expected to be an interim low volume solution with a limited-life, these electronic forms will not include any validation, links to databases, or initial information about a provider such as contact information as is the case with many paper forms. Use of spreadsheets The details of spreadsheet construction for data capture have two audiences - areas that have instruments already in place and areas that have Electronic Transactions Act related requests from providers who insist on reporting electronically. Where spreadsheets are already in use the aim should be to incorporate as much of these Excel standards as practicable - this should be done in consultation with DCM, who have an approval role for all business electronic collection forms. In the case of unavoidable Electronic Transactions Act and other requests, the standards are for information only because the necessary spreadsheets for data capture will be constructed in line with these standards by the Collection Management Unit (CMU). Any question structures or paper form design elements that are not catered for by these standards will be developed by DCM, CMU and TA-ESG as necessary and then included in the bank of template forms. At present, spreadsheets should only be used in the limited circumstances where:
Broad Design Principles In addition to Excel-specific standards, Excel EDR instruments should also use and conform to the common standards for all electronic forms. See the remainder of the ABS Forms Design Standards Manual for principles and guidelines regarding layout, question construction and formatting. There are some departures from this, particularly for Multi-Unit forms, for example using smaller fonts. These are discussed in the relevant sections.
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