Inform

The Local Authority should provide tools to ensure good quality content.

This is not just about creating content but ensuring that, that content is easy to find and use. There should also be tools designed to find related content on partner/associated sites so it can be referred to. All content should be web content created using strict, but easy to apply, design guidelines and be machine-readable. Proprietary formats which hinder sharing and reuse should be avoided. All creators should be trained in content quality and given access to a ‘style guide’.

Educate

Education in this context means explaining to citizens and businesses what the Local Authority does.

In order to fulfil their mission, Local Authorities must engage with their citizens. The website should show citizens not just what the council does and how it does it. It also needs to show citizens exactly what they can do to change it.

The web needs to be a key resource for mapping out the most appropriate avenues for involvement both offline and increasingly online.

How do parts of the Local Authority fit together?

Knowing who is responsible for what is a fundamental need of the community.

There should be a clear map showing lines of management through the authority and where democratic accountability is placed. This should include an indication of how engagement systems such as petitions tie in, which committees have oversight of which services, what powers are vested in which posts and the like. The democratic process including information on election frequency, ward boundaries etcetera will also need to be shown on the map.

How can people get involved?

The Local Authority website should power the involvement process.

Educating citizens about how they can engage with the Local Authority is fundamental. This starts with  comments on content and develops into further use of communication mechanisms.

The Local Authority web service should also act to enable grass roots digital services. This could be through providing a platform or by enabling the use of low barrier to entry services. This growth of community based activity is key to getting maximum buy-in.

How does the community work?

The Connected Community is not a monolithic entity with a centralised command and control structure.

The Local Authority’s web presence should explain what other institutions and partner organisations there are and how they all fit together. Co-operation agreements should be sort that will allow for these relationships to be reflected in the information architecture and search results. Digital channels are ideally placed to allow for low cost provision of links between the Local Authority and other websites so that citizens confused about which agency is responsible for a service can still find it.

What does the Local Authority provide?

Understanding what services are available is fundamental to the website.

But first there needs to be effective explanation of which services are provided by the Local Authority and how to find any run by others. This may mean having sign post pages on the Local Authority that point to the appropriate agency or allowing partner content to appear in search results.

Service channels on the the Local Authority website should be:

• easy to find
• accessible
• robust

Visibility

Content that is currently hidden from the public must be made visible in the most useful way.

All portfolios/directorates should be on the constant lookout for things to make usefully visible to the public, to help citizens understand and help the staff to make the community better.

The design guidelines that apply to the website should include recommendations on the use of visualisation techniques including:

• diagrams
• maps
• infographics

Real-time Information

The power of real-time information to engage citizens is enormous.

It can potentially change the perception of the Local Authority’s data from that of a staid library to a busy TV news station. Some examples of real-time information are: conversations going on right now on the council platform, council-related topics elsewhere or information that is published in response to an emergency.

This shift in perception of the purpose of the Local Authority’s websites from being narrowly focused to a broader remit, engaged with the life of the community, will embed the Local Authority in citizens minds as being a relevant source for much real-time information. It will also act as a tool to help influence changes in citizens’ behaviour.

Writing is as important as reading

It is essential that staff are given excellent tools to create content.

These tools must remove the toil and frustration from creating and managing content. The process should be easy, have low cognitive load and be fun. Specifically the tool box should allow staff and in appropriate cases citizens to:

• create content
• manage content
• see what’s going on
• engage with people

Good content is crucial

It is essential that all content is up to date, consistent and accurate.

There should be a focus on empowerment and responsibility over approvals and editorial control. Good content is informative and engaging, it is in the most appropriate accessible format and is not hidden in attached documents. Content should be well tagged with easy-to-use taxonomies by readers as well as editors and have embargo and review dates. Readers should be able to feedback directly on the content they are reading with further levels of participation available to readers to help improve the content. There should be to-do lists for information that has been identified as missing.