15 May 2024
Over the last couple of years we have been working on a project to redesign our main website; making it easy to navigate and accessible, and our information clear and easy to understand.
The work on the website highlighted that our digital forms looked dated and had some usability issues, especially on mobile devices. This was a problem as we know over 65% of visits to our website are on a mobile.
We wanted to create a more seamless, consistent journey for our users, so they can easily find information on our website and go on to complete a report or application.
The website is built on the Government Digital Service (GDS) design system. We know that a significant amount of user research and testing has gone into this, and it means our website is accessible, and familiar to users of sites such as GOV.UK and NHS.UK. We wanted to extend that experience to forms.
Browsing other local authority websites, we noticed some that some used the GOV.UK styles for their forms. We were able to take this styling and with some added custom work were able to make it fit our needs.
More accessible
Our online services need to meet accessibility standards. The standards have recently been updated to include WCAG 2.2, and we’re currently working through what this means for our us. Implementing the new styling will help us to achieve the new standard across our website and forms.
Go live
The styling was added to our test system and went through testing using a variety of browsers and devices. When we were confident that everything worked, the change was made on the live system, meaning our users can now benefit from this work.
We will monitor analytics and any feedback we get, both from users and Council staff.
Work continues, both internally and with our suppliers to improve the digital experience for users.
Anyone interested in helping us to improve our online services can join our Digital User Panel.