Council unveils new website

The website was driven by a partnership between the Council and site developers Jadu, a nationally renowned web provider with many years experience providing custom built sites for local authorities, boasting outstanding accessibility ratings and cutting edge innovation.

And, just as importantly, the initially financial outlay will be recouped and lead to year-on-year savings for the Council when compared to the ongoing maintenance costs of the old site.

This has been a real team effort throughout, with teams around the council ensuring their own web areas are up to date and transferred to the new site. In total there are approximately two and a half thousand pages on the website, each of which has been uploaded to the new site individually.

Additionally, the expertise and professionalism of Jadu have helped ensure we now have an excellent website, developed with the sole intention of making it easier for our customers to find out about council services and carry our transactions.

This means that, on top of the headline cost savings we can also save money by ensuring that more transactions and services are delivered electronically.

Among a raft of changes, some of the more obvious are worth noting. First, and most obviously, the design and appearance of the site has been dramatically changed and improved. The home page utilises much bolder sections and clearer menus to help users find what they are looking for and is led by tabs at the top which are designed for the different types of 'customers' who may visit our site - residents, businesses and visitors.

Other homepage innovations include a vastly improved search engine powered by Google, a 'what's on guide', to events around the district, links to our new twitter feed and a new drop down menu to take users to the most important sections.

Then within the site itself, each page promotes other different pages to assist users on their 'journey' around the site. 'Information on' and 'topics related to' are important additions.

This is all part of the enhancement to the 'customer experience' and the steps we are taking to provide customers with greater opportunities to conduct any or all of their council business online. Waveney wants this website to be 'transactional'; however the Council also want it to be a destination for the community of Waveney, a way to find out about news, events and activities delivered by the council and beyond.

And there are many more fantastic advances to follow in due course. Registration and other flexibililties will also allow users, in due course, to choose what they see and how they see it - a bespoke service for individual customers' needs.

Additionally, as 'social media' begins to play a greater role in how councils deliver information and conduct consultations and 'conversations', the new site is ready and better prepared to play a key role in the Council's delivery of these modern and important tools.

If you have any questions or comments, please let us know. You may find things you are unsure about. You may not be able to find things that you could before. This is only natural when such a change takes place.

There may also be some very minor glitches at the changes take place. Please be patient and let us know if there is something you think is not working properly.

The Communications and Web Team is here to help. Please email your questions to web@waveney.gov.uk