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_____________________________________________________________________________ 

 Annual Report on SEC Website 

Modernization 

_____________________________________________________________________________ 

Pursuant to Section 3(d) of the 

21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act. 

__________________________________ 

December 2020
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Introduction............................................................................Page 3

II. Methodology Used....................................................................Page 4 

III. Website Modernization...............................................................Page 4 

IV. Modernization Schedule.............................................................Page 7 
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ANNUAL REPORT ON SEC WEBSITE

MODERNIZATION

Pursuant to Section 3(d) of the 21st Century 

Integrated Digital Experience Act

I. INTRODUCTION

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) is providing this report 

regarding existing SEC websites or digital services pursuant to Section 3(d) of the 21st Century 

Integrated Digital Experience Act of 2018 (“Act”). 

Section 3(a) of the Act provides that an executive agency that creates a website or 

digital service that is intended for use by the public, or conducts a redesign of an existing 

legacy website or digital service that is intended for use by the public, shall ensure to the 

greatest extent practicable that any new or redesigned website, web-based form, web-based 

application, or digital service:

(1) is accessible to individuals with disabilities in accordance with section 508 of the

Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d); 

(2) has a consistent appearance; 

(3) does not overlap with or duplicate any legacy websites and, if applicable, ensure 

that legacy websites are regularly reviewed, eliminated, and consolidated; 

(4) contains a search function that allows users to easily search content intended for 

public use; 

(5) is provided through an industry standard secure connection; 

(6) is designed around user needs with data-driven analysis influencing management 

and development decisions, using qualitative and quantitative data to determine user 

goals, needs, and behaviors, and continually test the website, web- based form, webbased application, or digital service to ensure that user needs are addressed; 

(7) provides users of the new or redesigned website, web- based form, web-based 

application, or digital service with the option for a more customized digital 

experience that allows users to complete digital transactions in an efficient and 

accurate manner; and 

(8) is fully functional and usable on common mobile devices. 

Under Section 3(c), the head of each executive agency shall ensure, to the greatest extent 

practicable, that any Intranet established after the date of enactment of this Act conforms to the 

requirements described in subsection (a). 
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Section 3(e) provides that any website of an executive agency that is made available to the public 

after the date of enactment shall be in compliance with the website standards of the Technology 

Transformation Services of the General Services Administration.

Section 3(d) provides that the head of each executive agency shall, not later than one 

year after the date of enactment and every year thereafter for four years, report to the 

Director of OMB on the progress of the executive agency in implementing the 

requirements described in Section 3 for the previous year, and include that information 

in a publicly available report that is required under another provision of law. 

II. METHODOLOGY USED

 In 2019, the SEC’s Office of Information Technology conducted a cross-agency 

inventory of external public websites for purposes of compiling this report. For each website, the 

SEC identified those websites “most viewed or utilized by the public or otherwise important for 

public engagement” and assessed each website’s compliance with the requirements delineated in 

Section 3. 

 Our inventory identified 21 SEC-managed external public websites. Eight of those sites 

represent approximately 99.5% of the website traffic associated with the 21 sites. The top four 

websites from the perspective of usage – SEC.gov, XBRL.Sec.gov, Investor.gov, and EDGAR 

Full Text Search site – are already compliant with Section 3(a) of the Act. The remaining four 

high-usage websites are non-compliant with one or more requirement, and have been identified 

for modernization as outlined in the next section. 

Of the low traffic external public websites, six are already compliant with Section 3(a) 

and the remaining seven are compliant with Section 3(a) in all respects, save their usability on 

mobile devices.

III. WEBSITE MODERNIZATION

 The table below provides additional information regarding the four websites that have 

been identified for modernization updated for 2020. In short, the four websites identified for 

modernization are part of the SEC’s EDGAR electronic filing system, and provide a means for 

public companies, SEC registrants, and other filers to access EDGAR and submit required 

filings for agency and public review. 
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Website or 

Digital 

Services

Background URL FY20 

Page 

Views

Final 

Ranking

Importance 

to Public 

Ranking

Usage 

Ranking

EDGAR Filer 

Login

The EDGAR Filing website 

is used to submit or complete 

a majority of forms via the 

EDGARLink Online Form 

Submission.

https://www.edgarfil

ing.sec.gov/Welcom

e/EDGARLogin.htm

640,540 1 1 1 

EDGAR 

Online Forms 

Login

The Online Forms 

Management website is used 

to complete Ownership 

forms, Form D, transmit 

XML tagged submissions, 

retrieve submission 

information, or update 

company information.

https://www.onlinef

orms.edgarfiling.sec.

gov/Welcome/EDG

AROnlineFormsLog

in.htm

179,511 2 2 4 

EDGAR Filer 

Management

The EDGAR Filer 

Management website is used 

to apply for EDGAR access, 

update passphrase if 

password has expired, or 

generate a new set of access 

codes.

https://www.filerma

nagement.edgarfilin

g.sec.gov/Welcome/

EDGARFilerMgmt

Main.htm

249,170 3 3 3 

EDGAR 

Company 

Database 

Search

The EDGAR company 

database is a subset of the 

data maintained by the 

EDGAR system and contains 

over 500,000 records. Filers 

may search for and view 

company information about 

various EDGAR filing 

entities.

https://www.edgarco

mpany.sec.gov/

441,434 4 4 2 
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The following is a mapping of the EDGAR websites against the criteria in section 3(a) of 

the Act. This information has been updated for 2020. Updates are shown in bold. 

Section 3(a) Compliance Criteria

(updated for 2020)

EDGAR 

Filer Login

EDGAR Online 

Forms Login

EDGAR Filer 

Management 

EDGAR 

Company 

Database 

Search

508 Compliant No No Yes No

Has a consistent appearance (consistent across 

SEC external websites) 

No No No No

Does not overlap with or duplicate any legacy 

websites

Yes No No Yes

Contains a search function that allows users to 

easily search content intended for public use 

Yes Yes No Yes

Is provided through an industry standard secure 

connection

Yes Yes Yes Yes

Is designed around user needs with data-driven 

analysis influencing management and development 

decisions, using qualitative and quantitative data to 

determine user goals, needs, and behaviors, and 

continually test the website, web-based form, webbased application, or digital service to ensure that 

user needs are addressed

No No No No

Provide users with the option for a more 

customized digital experience that allows users to 

complete digital transactions in an efficient and 

accurate manner

No No No No

Is fully functional and usable on common mobile 

devices

No No No No

In addition to the EDGAR modernization, the SEC is planning to upgrade their legacy

content management platform to ensure the external public webpages have a consistent 

appearance, are accessible to individuals with disabilities, and are fully functional on mobile 

devices. About 1/6 of all SEC.gov traffic comes from mobile devices and the percentage is 

increasing every year. 

This will enable SEC to be compliant with the Act as well as the General Service 

Administration’s new U.S. Web Design System version 2.0 (USWDS 2.0), while expanding their 

ability to share data, analyses, and other information with the public, market participants, 

academics, analysts and others. The SEC will leverage the newer technology and architectural 

design to increase the viewable space on SEC.gov pages to enhance the dissemination of their 

materials to the public and other market participants. 
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IV. MODERNIZATION SCHEDULE

Last year, the SEC reported that it was engaged in a multi-year, multi-phase effort to 

modernize the EDGAR system, including both internal and public-facing components. The 

most recent security and modernization enhancements were deployed in June 2020, focusing 

on technology upgrades internal to the system. An assessment was started in September 2020 

to develop the requirements for modernizing the user experience associated with the EDGAR 

system,,with front-end redesign work expected to be completed in FY 2022, subject to the 

availability of funding. 

This project is being undertaken as part of the SEC’s strategy for EDGAR 

modernization and would fulfill other important objectives, including improving the overall

security posture for EDGAR. Consistent with agency policy, prior to commencing each 

upgrade phase, staff finalizes the project details and plans, including an estimated cost for 

approval at the agency level. 

The SEC will be pursuing migration of its legacy content management platform in FY 

2021, subject to the availability of funding.