Renfrewshire and East Dunbartonshire Councils are leading the project, in partnership with the Improvement Service. The simple aim is to help citizens access services and find, in a consistent way, what they are looking for on council websites and help take councils closer to the Scottish Executive's goal of 75% of citizen enquiries being answered at the first point of contact.
A draft Scottish Services List – a comprehensive list of customer facing services delivered by Scottish councils – is currently out to consultation. Designing a navigation structure for a complex topic such as local government involves, of necessity, a degree of compromise between the competing constraints and maxims of web design and usability. A balance, too, must be sought between the breadth of the navigation structure and its depth. The SNL is designed to optimise the trade-off between breadth and depth and comprises 11 top-level headings.
The SNL’s purpose is to provide a structured means of access to knowledge on council websites using ‘ drill-down ‘ techniques and to promote a user-centric focus for Scottish council websites which is not hide-bound by departmental structures.
SNL’s 11 Top-Level Headings
The 11 top-level headings proposed are:
- Business and Trade
- Council and Government
- Education and Learning
- Housing
- Jobs and Careers
- Law and Licensing
- Community life and Leisure
- Planning and the Environment
- Social care and Health
- Tourism and Visitor Attractions
- Transport and Streets
The SNL is in draft format and will only become fit-for-purpose with input from a wide range of local authority practitioners. Comments or queries can be directed on or before 31st October 2006 via the forum at: http://www.esd.org.uk/forums/viewforum.php?f=169
Alternatively, should you wish to discuss the SNL informally, please contact Don Martin or Peter English at East Dunbartonshire Council by telephone on 0141-775-4529 or 0141-775-4574 at don.martin@eastdunbarton.gov.uk or peter.english@eastdunbarton.gov.uk
A copy of the report setting out how the concepts in the SNL have been organised, setting out the rationale behind the selection of 11 top-levels headings and, finally, highlighting some changes - additions and deletions - to the top-level headings compared to the Local Government Navigation List ( LGNL ) is available from info@improvementservice.org.uk
Further information
For more information or if you have any queries, please contact Martin Brown, CRM Programme Manager, on martin.brown@improvementservice.org.uk, tel. 01506-775558, mob. 07789-500-280
