1.0 What Is Web-Based Technical and Regulatory Guidance?
Web-based ITRC Technical and Regulatory Guidance (Tech-Reg) is any Tech-Reg that is housed and maintained on a server and is available to users on the Web. The user can navigate the text and all associated figures, tables, graphics, and appendices using various linking mechanisms built into a Web-based Tech-Reg.

Any ITRC Tech-Reg can be transformed into a Web-based Tech-Reg (ITRC 2009, "Framework document," Table 3-3). The information in a Web-based Tech-Reg is identical to that in a printed Tech-Reg but is displayed and accessed differently. It can be accessed through intuitive navigation, links to supporting documentation, and definitions of terms without losing the page the user is viewing. A team may also choose to include calculators or streaming video, for example, which cannot be incorporated into a paper document. At this writing, ITRC has two very different Web-based Tech-Regs (Table 1-1).

Table 1-1
Examples of existing Web-based Tech-Regs

Decision tree(s)	Mining Waste Treatment Technology Selection: www.itrcweb.org/miningwaste-guidance
Flow diagram(s)	Incorporating Bioavailability Considerations into the Evaluation of Contaminated Sediment Sites: www.itrcweb.org/contseds-bioavailability

Unlike printed documents, there is no waste associated with regularly revising the information in a Web-based Tech-Reg. External links can be checked, errors can be corrected, and, with team approval, material can even be edited and added.¹

Much of the subject matter in ITRC Tech-Regs is difficult to clearly communicate. Simply transforming a printed Tech-Reg to a web-based navigation system does not SOLVE this problem. It can only offer a more intuitive view and streamline access to information supporting the solution.