Each guideline represents research studies usability test results and or general web design ideas that exist to help you determine how much validity to give to each guideline a score ranking the strength of the evidence for each guideline is provided this site does not represent ncis official web design guidelines or standards rather it is a resource to help you identify what web. Legal status and use of seals and logos the seal and logo of the us department of health and human services hhs and the us general services administration gsa authenticates the research based web design usability guidelines as the official codification of federal regulations established under the federal register act the hhs seal and logo displayed in this book are protected under the provisions of 42 usc 1320b 10 the gsa seal and logo displayed in this book are protected . The research based web design usability guidelines guidelines were developed by the us department of health and human services hhs in partnership with the us general services administration this new edition of the guidelines updates the original set of 187 guidelines and adds 22 new ones many of the guidelines were edited and numerous new references have been added there are now 209 guidelines the primary audiences for the guidelines are web site managers designers . The research based web design and usability guidelines aid in correcting this problem by providing the latest web design guidance from the research and other forms of evidence this unique publication has been updated from its earlier version to include over 40 new or updated research guidelines bringing the total to 209