Introduction
The Council’s website is here to help people do things or find answers. It does not need to show everything about the Council. We only put up the information people need to get something done or learn about a topic. We try not to include too many details or things the Council isn’t in charge of.
There is a helpful guide called the The LocalGovDigital content standard. It gives us questions to ask when we are making or checking a page:
- Is this something new?
- Does it answer a question people are asking?
- Can people find it using words they would type into a search box?
- Is it easy to read and understand?
- Do pictures help explain things? (We usually don’t use pictures.)
We also follow Plain English rules. That means we write in a way that’s simple and clear. You can learn more about this on the Plain English Campaign website.
Our Style Guide
We have a style guide for content on our website. It helps us write clearly and plan good web pages.
It includes how to use things like:
- Abbreviations
- Numbers
- Specific words and phrases
- Spelling
- Hyphens
- Capital letters
We check and update the guide often. We also follow the GOV.UK style guide to help us get it right.
Content Structure
We write our website pages in different ways. The two main types are:
Task-focused pages
These help people do something.
- The page title says what to do (like “Report an abandoned vehicle”).
- At the top, we explain what the person needs to know to do the task.
- There is a clear button or link to take action.
- We add extra helpful information if needed.
- We do not include anything that isn’t needed to finish the task.
Information pages
These help people learn something.
- The first paragraph gives a short summary so people know if the page is useful.
- We split longer information into sections with clear headings.