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_____________________________________________________________________________ 

Annual Report on SEC Website Modernization

_____________________________________________________________________________ 

Pursuant to Section 3(d) of the 

21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act. 

__________________________________ 

December 2021
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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

II. Methodology Used....................................................................Page 3 

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

IV. Modernization Schedule.............................................................Page 6 

V. Fiscal Year 22 Compliance Prioritization..........................................Page 6 

VI. Fiscal Year 22 Implementation Goals.............................................Page 6 

 
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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). 

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. 

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.

II. METHODOLOGY USED

 In 2019, the SEC’s Office of Information Technology conducted a cross-agency inventory of 
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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 requirements, 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 except their usability on mobile 

devices.

III. WEBSITE MODERNIZATION

 The table below provides additional information on the four websites identified for 

modernization. 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. Table 1 below identifies the 

websites and digital services that are highest in traffic and/or most important for public engagement. 

Table 1: SEC Domain Information 

Website or 

Digital 

Services

Background URL FY21 

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.edgar

filing.sec.gov/Wel

come/EDGARLog

in.htm

903,226 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.online

forms.edgarfiling.s

ec.gov/Welcome/E

DGAROnlineForm

sLogin.htm

208,298 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.filerm

anagement.edgarfil

ing.sec.gov/Welco

me/EDGARFilerM

gmtMain.htm

293,689 3 3 3 
5

Website or 

Digital 

Services

Background URL FY21 

Page 

Views

Final 

Ranking

Importance 

to Public 

Ranking

Usage 

Ranking

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.edgar

company.sec.gov/

139,971 4 4 2 

Table 2 below displays a mapping of these EDGAR websites against the criteria in section 3(a) of the 

Act. This information has been updated for 2021, with the updates shown in bold. 

Table 2: Compliance Overview 

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

No 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, web-based 

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
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In addition to the EDGAR website modernization, the SEC is planning to upgrade EDGAR’s

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 one-sixth 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. 

IV. MODERNIZATION SCHEDULE

As previously reported, the SEC is engaged in a multi-year, multi-phase effort to modernize 

the EDGAR system, including both internal and public-facing components. Security and modernization 

enhancements were deployed in June 2020, focusing on technology upgrades internal to the system. 

Multi-factor authentication and other safeguards for filer access to EDGAR are currently in 

development and testing. A detailed requirements assessment is planned for FY23 to develop the 

requirements for modernizing the user experience. This system redesign work is expected to be 

completed in FY 2024, subject to the availability of funding. 

These projects are 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. 

 

V. FISCAL YEAR 22 COMPLIANCE PRIORITIZATION 

Below is the SEC’s prioritization among the four websites for modernization. 

Table 3: FY22 Prioritization List

Prioritization Domain

1 https://www.edgarcompany.sec.gov/

2 https://www.edgarfiling.sec.gov/Welcome/EDGARLogin.html

3 https://www.onlineforms.edgarfiling.sec.gov/Welcome/EDGAROnlineFormsLogin.html

4 https://www.filermanagement.edgarfiling.sec.gov/Welcome/EDGARFilerMgmtMain.html

VI. FISCAL YEAR 22 IMPLEMENTATION GOALS 

The section below explains how SEC will comply with 21st Century IDEA requirements. 

• Section 3(a)(1) Ensure Accessibility for Individuals with Disabilities:

 The SEC is committed to the principle that people with disabilities should have comparable 

access to information and communication technology. The SEC’s plan to support this

requirement includes the following for priorities #1 and #4 mentioned in Table 3: 

- The SEC will prioritize Section 508 Compliance Testing on the premise that 
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accessibility is part of each domain requirement and must be addressed up front as 

part of the system development life cycle (SDLC). 

- The SEC will leverage the current Section 508 Governance board that provides 

agency-wide coordination and oversight to ensure compliance with federal 

accessibility requirements. 

- The SEC will develop a baseline from which to measure improvements and provide a 

framework to focus on Section 508 efforts over the next few years. 

- The SEC will use the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to ensure 

compliance. 

- The following will be mandated to developers and testers for Section 508 

Compliance Testing: 

o Hybrid approach of Automated and Manual Testing approach for Section 

508 Compliance Testing

o Accessibility testing tools, such as Job Access with Speech (JAWS) and 

Accessibility Name & Description Inspector (ANDI)

o Browser plugins to test and ensure Section 508 Compliance 

o New Angular UI components developed with Storybook, which will provide 

an accessibility add-on that will display the accessibility compliance for that 

component, so Section 508 Compliance issues can be caught and fixed early 

in development of new features.

• Section 3(a)(2) Ensure a Consistent Look and Feel Across Websites

Consistent look and feel across all websites is currently one of the focus areas for the EDGAR

front-end redesign initiative. The SEC plans to conduct a requirements assessment on the 

front-end redesign work in FY23. 

• Section 3(a)(3) Eliminate Redundancy 

Identifying and eliminating content that is redundant, outdated or trivial (ROT) is an important 

part of regular review. The SEC will continue to assess the Web domains to look for 

opportunities to consolidate. In FY22, the SEC will work to replace the following two SEC 

login domains with GSA’s login.gov: 

- Edgar Filing Website Login: 

https://www.edgarfiling.sec.gov/Welcome/EDGARLogin.html (Priority #2 

mentioned in table 3) 

- EDGAR On Line Forms Login:

https://www.onlineforms.edgarfiling.sec.gov/Welcome/EDGAROnlineFormsLog

in.html (Priority #3 mentioned in table 3) 

 

The Commission is receiving and considering comments on instituting multi-factor 

authentication through login.gov, and then will consider the appropriate timeframe for 

implementation of a final rule. 

In addition to eliminating redundancy by replacing the two login domains, the SEC will obtain 

the following benefits offered by login.gov:

- Reduced user support issues and troubleshooting

- High availability and uptime

- Secure two-factor authentication (2FA) backed by a FedRAMP Moderate ATO

- Reduced costs through economies of scale across government

- Enhanced fraud detection and monitoring

- Access to a platform that is up to date with current authentication and identity 

policies, technologies, and standards, without additional effort 
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• Section 3(a)(4) Make Information Searchable and Discoverable:

The SEC understands that search functionalities are important to improving the web visitor 

experience and for supporting users who primarily rely on search functionalities to find 

information. To comply with this requirement, SEC is planning to develop a proof of concept in 

FY22 to modernize the Company Database website (priority #1 in Table 3) and potentially 

migrate it to cloud. The proof of concept would provide a user friendly interface that allows 

filers to search, query and view information more efficiently. The SEC will refine the proof of 

concept with the goal of implementing a solution in FY23. 

 

• Section 3(a)(5) Use Secure Connections:

The SEC has taken steps to ensure that all domains mentioned in table 3 above meet the 

minimum-security requirements defined in the Federal Information Processing Standards 

(FIPS) Publication 200. 

- The SEC’s Information Security Program currently oversees and coordinates 

implantation of policies, procedures, standards and guidance to ensure that SEC’s 

website meet minimum security management requirements

- The SEC plans to measure the compliance with HTTPS requirements in FY22 and 

remediate where needed

• Section 3(a)(6) Data Driven Design 

The SEC understands that this requirement is designed to address user needs with data-driven 

analysis influencing management and development decisions using qualitative and quantitative 

data. The SEC understands that the data collected should be used to determine user goals, 

needs, and behaviors. 

To satisfy this data-driven design requirement, SEC currently uses Google analytics to:

- Collect metrics 

- Identify needed refinements

- Identify popular search items 

In addition, the SEC currently uses Akamai to collect metrics for filer web applications and is 

considering expansions for:

- Caching the right data with real-time visibility into SEC cache hit rate and offload 

rate

- Collecting, visualizing, and alerting on key Akamai metrics such as request traffic, 

response times from the edge, fetch times, load times, and a breakdown of HTTP 

status codes

- Detecting proper Content Distribution Network (CDN) mappings, so the SEC can

easily identify misconfigurations with end user experience monitoring and 

application performance monitoring

These metrics will help inform the SEC’s efforts to develop requirements for modernizing the 

user experience, expected to commence in FY23 as described above. 

• Section 3(a)(7) Customization

The SEC understands the need to provide 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. In order to fulfill this requirement for priority #4 in Table 3, the SEC plans a twopronged approach. The first approach will be focus on a modernized, streamlined graphical user 
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interface, consolidating multiple portals into one. The second approach will focus on 

programmatic interfaces with EDGAR through public deployment of Application Programming 

Interfaces (APIs). Requirements development for both approaches have begun and expect to be 

refined collaboratively with the filing community in FY23. The SEC has a goal of 

implementing this new solution by FY24. 

• Section 3(a)(8) Provide Access to Government Information on Multiple Devices; MobileReady

The SEC plans to meet 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act (IDEA) 

recommendations for Section 3(a)(8) by following the Mobile Web App Standards and Hybrid 

App Standards recommendations laid out in United States Web Design System. The SEC will 

work on standard templates that will provide a responsive design so that web content can be 

displayed on a variety of devices. The work will start as the SEC conducts a requirements

assessment for the EDGAR front-end redesign in FY23.