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Our content design principles

We want our online services to be easy to use and helpful.

We start by learning what people need to do—like paying Council Tax or getting support. We make sure the most important things are easy to find.

  • Show the most important tasks and information clearly.
  • Learn what people do by watching how they use the site and checking data.
  • Make things simple, even if it takes extra work.
  • Keep testing and improving to make sure it works well for everyone.
  • Follow web standards, so everyone can use it, including people with disabilities.
  • Make sure the content is useful and up to date.
  • Put information where people expect to find it—do not assume that content should be delivered in the same manner online as offline.
  • Be consistent, but allow some differences when needed.
  • Share good ideas and reuse things that work well.
  • Make sure all main services are on the www.somerset.gov.uk website.

Knowing our audience

We write better when we know who we are writing for.

Before we start writing, we think about:

  • What people are interested in, so the page grabs their attention and answers their questions.
  • What words they might use, so we use the same ones to help them find what they need.
  • If the page is for more than one group of people, we keep the writing simple, so everyone can understand it.

Writing for specific groups

Some people know complicated words, but they still prefer simple writing. That is why we always try to make our writing clear and easy to read for everyone.

What we publish

We try to share the information people really need.

People read differently online than they do on paper. So we keep things clear and easy to understand. We use short sentences, simple words, and break things into sections with headings. This helps people find what they need quickly.

Types of content we use:

  • Information content – gives clear advice and helpful facts.
  • Task content – helps people do something, like filling in a form, with step-by-step instructions.
  • Data content – shows details like numbers, places, dates and times. We call these “records” and get them from other systems.
  • Documents – explain rules and how things work. Even though they are separate, they still need to be clear and helpful like the rest of our content.

Where we get our information

We get information from different places:

  • Our services – The teams that deliver council services send updates when something changes or when a new page is needed.
  • Customer feedback – People tell us what is good or bad about a page using the feedback form. This helps us make our information better.
  • User testing – We test pages before and after big changes to make sure they work well for everyone.

If the information is already written somewhere else, like on the NHS or GOV.UK websites, we link to it instead of writing it again. This helps people find the best and most up-to-date information quickly.

How we write for our website

There is no rule for how long a page should be. But we try to:

  • Get to the point quickly, so people see the most important information.
  • Write clearly and keep things focused.
  • Put the most important information at the top.
  • Use headings to break up the text. The writing should still make sense without the headings.

What we avoid

We try not to use:

  • Questions as headings.
  • Complicated words unless we explain them.
  • FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions). If we write based on what people need, we don’t need to use FAQs.

You can find out more on our How we write page.

When and why we use banners on the website

Sometimes we need to show a banner at the top of the website to share important or emergency information. This helps people know what is going on and where to find more details.

We use banners when:

  • Something affects lots of people
  • A service has a problem or changes
  • There is a big event or warning

If the issue only affects a small group, we might show the banner only on that part of the site. We can also add alert boxes to specific pages.

The banner is a yellow strip at the top of the page. It gives a short message and usually has a link to more information.

Examples of when we use banners

  • Changes to bin collections
  • Problems with online forms
  • Flood alerts
  • Phone line issues
  • Road and transport problems
  • Bank holiday opening hours

Last reviewed: August 15, 2025 by Jennifer

Next review due: February 15, 2026

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