Example community site

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Developing your website

Easy access for eveyone

Accessibility is about making it easy for all members of your community to access your services and information.

Making your website accessible to all is mostly common sense. For you as a community group the main things to think about are:

Make your text visible to all, this includes making it large enough to be seen by the visually impaired and also using colour combinations that do not exclude colour blind viewers. People with colour deficiencies may have difficulty distinguishing certain colours (e.g., a red/green colour deficiency means that reds and greens are more difficult to distinguish). There is a website dedicated to helping overcome colour-blindness issues with more detailed information: http://www.vischeck.com
Make sure that you explain things in clear, simple terms. The Plain English Campaign (www.plainenglish.co.uk) provides helpful guidance on the use of plain language and terminology. You can join the Plain English Campaign’s Internet Crystal Mark scheme to show that you are committed to plain English throughout your website
Make sure that you don’t overload your pages with graphics or images that will make access slow for anyone with a slow connection speed
Only underline links to other pages or areas of the website. If you use underlining for headings or for emphasis it will look like a link and people will be confused when they try and click on it
Don’t use fixed font sizes, as these stay the same even if the page size is enlarged, making it hard for partially sighted users to read the page.
Keep pages consistent in format. Users will rely on the look and feel to know if they still are on your website, so your design should be consistent throughout.
Think about the size of downloadable files and images. If a user has a slow connection, for example a dial-up connection, it can take a long time for web pages to appear on their screen. There is a legal requirement for all organisations to provide accessible websites as laid down in the Disability Discrimination Act. (You can get hold of a copy on the Internet by going to the Directgov website: www,direct.gov.uk or from HMSO). The government uses a set of standards laid down by an organisation called the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) as the criteria to judge website accessibility.

More about the W3C

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international consortium where member organisations, a full-time staff, and the public work together to develop standards for the World Wide Web. W3C's mission is: "To lead the World Wide Web to its full potential by developing protocols and guidelines that ensure long-term growth for the Web".

W3C also engages in education, develops software, and serves as an open forum for discussion about the Web. The Consortium is headed by Tim Berners-Lee, the original creator of the World Wide Web and primary author of the URL (Uniform Resource Locator), HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) and HTML (HyperText Markup Language) specifications, the principal technologies that form the basis of the Web.

Most accessible websites are designed to meet standards set out by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). The WAI is a product of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and is an effort to improve the accessibility of the World Wide Web (WWW or Web), especially, but not only, for people with disabilities.

Getting technical

Quick tips for an accessible website

You can find detailed information on how to make your website accessible on the WAI website at http://www.w3.org/WAI, but here are some essential guides:

Images & animations: Use the “alt” attribute to describe the function of each visual
Image maps: Use the client-side map and text for hotspots
Multimedia: Provide captioning and transcripts of audio, and descriptions of video
Hypertext links: Use text that makes sense when read out of context. For example, avoid “click here”
Page organisation: Use headings, lists, and consistent structure. Use Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) for layout and style where possible
Graphs & charts: Summarise or use the “longdesc” attribute
Scripts, applets, & plug-ins: Provide alternative content in case active features are inaccessible or unsupported
Frames: Use the “noframes” element and meaningful titles
Tables: Make line-by-line reading sensible. Summarise.
Check your work. Validate. Use tools, checklist, and guidelines at http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG

Security - Tips for securing the content of your site

Frequently-used methods for securing the content of your website include:

Password protection for administrators

Administrators are the people who can enable content to be published on the site. They usually gain access by having a special password that no one else knows. Most Community sites have one administrator that posts all of the content. The advantage of this is that the administrator can check the content before it is posted so that nothing libellous is posted and that all content is posted in the right way. Other community groups give administrator access to more than one person to spread the workload. Either way, it is important that all content is checked before posting it on the website, that the number of people with administrator access to the site is minimised and that all passwords are kept safe.

Approval mechanisms for uploading content

If you choose to allow more than one person to upload content, but you still want all content to be checked by one individual, then it is possible to include an approval mechanism on the site whereby new pages and updated content does not appear on the site until it has been signed off by the main administrator.

Ensuring downloadable documents cannot be altered

Some Communities post minutes and agendas on their website for users to download. If these are posted in Microsoft Word format, users can make changes to the documents. One way of avoiding this is to post all documents onto the site as pdfs, so that they cannot easily be modified.

Note: Portable Document Format (PDF) is a file format developed by Adobe Systems for representing documents in a manner that is independent of the original application software, hardware, and operating system used to create those documents. A PDF file can describe documents containing any combination of text, graphics, and images in a device independent and resolution independent format. These documents can be one page or thousands of pages, very simple or extremely complex with a rich use of fonts, graphics, color, and images. PDF is an open standard, and anyone may write applications that can read or write PDFs royalty-free.

In addition to encapsulating text and graphics, PDF files are most appropriate for encoding the exact look of a document in a device-independent way. In contrast, markup languages such as HTML defer many display decisions to a rendering device such as a browser, and will not look the same on different computers.

Free readers for many platforms are available: the free Adobe Reader by Adobe Systems and several free open source readers.

Copyrighting your content

Many central government websites are covered by Crown copyright. Local government websites are not. If you want to protect your site against use without your permission, include a copyright statement on the site. This doesn’t mean that people cannot use your content but they will have to ask your permission first.

Here is a good example of a copyright statement from the Salford Council website (www.salford.gov.uk/copyright.shtml), however it is advisable to seek your own legal advice on copyright

All text, photographic images, icons, artwork, graphic images or other materials within the www.salford.gov.uk, www.new-prospect.org and www.trisalford.info domains unless otherwise stated are © Copyright Salford City Council or other third parties under Section I of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Salford City Council owns the copyright in its logo, coat of arms and all other promotional logos which appear on this website or elsewhere. The Salford City Council logo is a registered trademark. Unauthorised use of these by others is prohibited.

Re-use of textual content of this website

The council has no objection to the use of the text for the purposes of any personal or educational use or private research (You may find our printer-friendly page facility useful for this purpose.)

If you use any of our web pages (in full or in part) in any documentation or report, we would appreciate appropriate recognition of the origin (that is, to Salford City Council) be documented, together with a link to our home page at www.salford.gov.uk.

Any use of these pages for any commercial purpose is not authorised unless a licence is first obtained from Salford City Council by applying to webmaster@salford.gov.uk. Unauthorised use may constitute an infringement of the council's or a third party's right.

The Copyright Acts (Section 47, 1988 Act) protects plans, drawings and material submitted to Salford City Council for the purpose of obtaining planning consent.

You may only use material that is downloaded and/or printed from this web site for consultation purposes, to compare current applications with previous schemes and to check whether developments have been completed in accordance with approved plans.

Further copies must not be made without the prior permission of the copyright owner (which may not be Salford City Council).

Why copyright is important

those who create
those who invest in creativity
Additional information available from the United Kingdom 's Copyright Licensing Agency or International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organisations.

Copyright of other people's content

Don't forget to ask permission before you use content written by other people. This includes content from local newspapers, books and information you find on the Internet.

Data protection. intellectual property and privacy

Please note: This section provides general guidance only, and is not intended to provide a substitute for professional legal advice.

The Data Protection Act 1998

The Data Protection Act gives people certain rights over the personal information that is held about them.

What is personal information?

The definition of personal information includes information such as the person's name and address, and also less obvious information such as photographs of that person, and opinions about them.

Here are some types of content you may wish to use on your site which will have Data Protection implications:

Guest Books and surveys

This constitutes obtaining and holding personal information and you should make clear to users both the purpose of the collection of the data and how the data will be stored and used.

For example: if users can enter their email addresses into an online guest book, they should be made aware that their email address will be visible to all other visitors to the site, and that it is possible to add an entry to the guest book without contributing their email address

Using Cookies

These are computer programmes which sit on the visitor's computer and track the movements of individual visitors to your site.

Cookies contain personal information so you should always inform your visitors if your site uses cookies and give them the option of browsing your site without using cookies.

Sending out newsletters and emails

You may wish to collect the email addresses of people who want to receive newsletters or similar communications from the Community. You should make it clear to users how their data will be used when they sign-up for the service. You should tell them how often they will receive emails from you, and state that you will not pass their details on to any third parties.

Opt in, opt out

It is good practice to operate an "opt-in" policy - where users must pro-actively tick a box to state that they want to receive emails - rather than an "opt-out" policy, where users must remember to tick a box to state that they don't want to receive emails. You should also include information on how users can unsubscribe from the email service with every email that you send.

Photographs, videos and webcams

If you want to post a photograph or video on your website, you must first get the permission of everyone who appears in it. You must make it clear what the image will be used for, and who might want to look at the pictures.

If you're taking a photograph yourself for inclusion on the website, it makes sense to ask permission before you take the photograph.

If you're taking photographs of a large crowd at a public event, you don't need to ask permission, but you might want to inform people in the foreground that you're taking a photograph to appear on the Parish website, so that they can move away if they don't want to be in it.

Privacy policy

Many websites include a link to the organisation's privacy policy from all pages that collect personal information from users, which summarises:

What personal information is collected
How that information is used
Who the information is shared with
Security measures taken to protect the information

This is a good exaple from the Westminster Council website (http://www.westminster.gov.uk)

Web Site Privacy Policy

WESTMINSTER CITY COUNCIL will use its best endeavours to safeguard the privacy of its website visitors. This policy explains the website data processing practices of WESTMINSTER CITY COUNCIL.

What information do we collect?

In some areas, we may ask you to register your name and email address. We will also collect information from you if you complete any other forms on our site or if you contact us with comments or specific requests.

What do we use personal information for?

If you choose to complete any of our on-line forms, WESTMINSTER CITY COUNCIL will not use the personal information you provide us with for marketing purposes or between council services unless you agree that we may do so. We may pass your details on to third party service providers who are contracted to WESTMINSTER CITY COUNCIL in the course of dealing with your request. These third parties are obliged to keep your details securely, will use them only to fulfil the request and will dispose of the details when the request is complete.

Allowing your details to be used across other council services

We at the Council are in the process of transforming our services in line with the Civic Renewal Programme and have committed to significantly improve the quality of our Customers' experience when they contact us.

We are all frustrated on occasion when we have to repeat the same basic information about ourselves, such as name and contact details, each time we contact an organisation or, even worse, within the same contact with that organisation.

In recognition of this we are focussing on making it easier for people to do business with us, whenever and however they choose, and with the ability be able to complete a range of different sorts of transactions with the council, all through a single contact - but we can only do that with your help!__

By agreeing to allow your details to be used across other council services, we will be able to capture this information when you first contact us and then re-use this information to minimise the length of time each future contact will take.

The information we gather will also enable us to better understand your needs and how you use council services so that we can continue to improve our performance over time.

Please note that in agreeing to share these details you have not forfeited your rights as prescribed under the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Council will continue to apply the same level of care to safeguard your privacy and use of your information across all our services. Your service entitlement from the Council will not be affected should you decide not to allow your data to be shared in this way or you change your mind at any time in the future.

Email Messages

You may receive occasional e-mail messages from WESTMINSTER CITY COUNCIL on matters that we consider may be of interest to you, if you have provided your email address to us for this purpose.

Information to improve our site

We collect web statistics automatically about your visit to our site. This information is used to help us follow browsing preferences on our site so that we can regularly improve our web site. These statistics do not contain personal data and cannot be traced back to an individual.

Subject Access Requests

Under the Data Protection Act 1998, you can make a formal request for the following information

clarification that your personal data are being processed by the Council
a description and copies of such personal data
he reasons why such data are being processed
details of to whom they are or may be disclosed

Please download and complete the Subject Access Pack in either MS Word or Portable Document Format, and return to the address below.

Data Protection Act Subject Access Pack (504KB)

Data Protection Act Subject Access Pack (52KB)

You may view the Council's Data Protection Notification (registration number: Z5674504) by visiting the Data Information Commissioner's Web site.

Contact

If you have any comments or concerns regarding this policy please contact the Webmaster by email or contact the council's Data Protection Officer by email the Data Protection/FOI Team or in writing at the following address: -

Data Protection Officer_Information Services_16th floor_Westminster City Council_City Hall_64 Victoria St_London_SW1E 6QP

Set up costs

How much will it cost us?

Like any type of communications, the price label on a website will vary according to your requirements and what you already have in place. Websites are a very cost-effective means of communicating with your community but naturally there will be some financial outlay to set it up.

When planning how to build your website, think about:

The budget you have available
The size and complexity of the site you want
The IT equipment and skills that your Community has already

There are three main options:

Local authority templates
Designing and hosting your own site
Using an external supplier
Local Authority templates

This is always going to be the cheapest, easiest and most tried and tested method if it is available in your area. It is well worth contacting your Local Authority to see if they have their own template system or if they are able to make available the e-Community Publish system. You will be able to set your website up quickly at no cost. The only outlay will be acquiring a computer and access to the Internet if you don’t already have it.

The following table outlines the approximate financial and resource costs associated with this option.

Requirement	Initial outlay	Recurring yearly costs	Internal resources required - set up	Internal resources required - ongoing
Hardware and Internet access	£1000	£0	Minimal	None
Register your domain name	£19-£62	£19-£62	Minimal	Minimal
Register on search engines	£0	£0	Minimal	Minimal
Testing	£0	£0	4 days	Minimal
Site maintenance and updating	£0	£0	0 days	2-3 days per week
Training (in house)	£100	£0	5 days	0.5 days per member of staff
Promotion/marketing	£0-100	£0-50	0-5 days	0-2 days

Doing it yourself

If you decide to create your own website you will need to:

Purchase required hardware (computer, scanner, possibly digital camera)
Register your domain name
Register on search engines
Purchase a website design tool to create the content
Purchase an image editor to create and edit graphics
Spend time writing the content for the site
Spend time designing the look and feel of the site
Find a hosting company and arrange terms and conditions
Test your website before it goes live (usually done by the hosting company)
Maintain and update your site regularly
Train others on how to update the site

The following table outlines the approximate financial and resource costs associated with this option.

Requirement	Initial outlay	Recurring yearly costs	Internal resources required - set up	Internal resources required - ongoing
Hardware and Internet access	£1000	£0	Minimal	None
Register your domain name	£19-£62	£19-£62	Minimal	Minimal
Register on search engines	£0	£0	Minimal	Minimal
Testing	£0	£0	4 days	Minimal
Site maintenance and updating	£0	£0	0 days	2-3 days per week
Training (in house)	£100	£0	5 days	0.5 days per member of staff
Promotion/marketing	£0-100	£0-50	0-5 days	0-2 days
Website design and initial development	£0-100	£0	15 days	None
Hosting by external supplier	£0	£50-100	2 days	None

Using an external supplier

Commissioning a professional company to design and develop your site should take away much of the hassle of doing it yourself. If you're prepared to spend £2,000 or more on your website, you can commission a professional web design company to do the work for you.

You'll need to:

Pay a one-off cost for design and development
Pay an annual hosting fee
Arrange for content to be uploaded on a regular basis

The following table outlines the approximate financial and resource costs associated with this option. Please note: all the costs provided do not take into account salary costs.

Requirement	Initial outlay	Recurring yearly costs	Internal resources required - set up	Internal resources required - ongoing
Hardware and Internet access	£1000	£0	Minimal	None
Register your domain name	£19-£62	£19-£62	Minimal	Minimal
Register on search engines	£0	£0	Minimal	Minimal
Testing	£0	£0	4 days	Minimal
Site maintenance and updating	£0	£0	0 days	2-3 days per week
Training (in house)	£100	£0	5 days	0.5 days per member of staff
Promotion/marketing	£0-100	£0-50	0-5 days	0-2 days
Website design and initial development	£2000-10000	£0	3 days	None
Hosting by external supplier	£300-1500	£300-1500	2 days	None

Tips for dealing with external suppliers

Look for designers and developers with experience of producing websites for groups like yours – community groups for example or Local Authority sites.

If you decide to use a designer, rather than a developer don’t forget to check that they are capable of building as well as designing your website.

To get the most for your money you should provide the company with a clear brief. Even companies who have produced websites for groups like yours before will need to be told about the particular character and requirements of your community. In your brief, you should cover the following as a minimum:

Your objectives for the website
Your target customers
Your budget
Your time scales
The image and culture of your Community
Current Community designs, type faces, logos and colours
Any site statistics you require (e.g. unique page visits)

To get an accurate quotation and help the designer to understand what you want, it might also be useful to provide the designer with:

Screen shots or web links to sites you like elsewhere
Your input during the construction process so you can catch errors at an early stage
You may also want to consider what pricing structure suits you most - a flat fee or a daily rate. A flat fee may be better if you think there will be changes during development. However, you should expect to pay extra if you decide to move away from your original brief.

Content management and approval

Putting in place procedures for content management and approval will help you to ensure that information on your website is of a consistent quality, up-to-date and meets any legal requirements.

If the website is hosted or supported by the local Council, the Community website will probably have to conform to the council’s protocol for approval of online content. Otherwise, you should set up your own process for checking content before it is uploaded.

Setting standards

Set up your standards for the website before it goes online, even if they are very broad. Make these available to contributors.

Examples of considerations for standards are:

Decide on a policy of attributing opinion and separating it from fact
Decide on what type of material or language you would consider offensive
Set guidelines for your standards of English
Have a policy on linking to other sites (what kind of site)
Making someone responsible for the content

A good idea is to give one person overall responsibility for the content, performing the role of a site editor. The editor can then check all articles, news items and other postings for compatibility with the guidelines you have set up.

Keeping up

Keeping your content fresh, contemporary, and current will make your site a relevant and valuable asset to your community. Keep a check-list of areas of your site that need regular updates such as news — this will help you keep on top of things.

Make new postings prominent on the home page

This will increase traffic to these items and give the site a topical and current feel.

Simple links

If you link to other sites, it’s a good idea to link to the home page or one level down on the site as people have a tendency to move content around on their sites. Every so often, check that any links from your site are still working.

Approving information that is copyrighted

Don’t forget to ensure that you have permission to use other people’s material.

Sustainability

Developing a successful website doesn’t stop when you launch it. Like a magazine or newspaper you will need to keep it fresh and relevant to your audience.

Steps to sustainability

Try to balance your resources with the needs of your audience and come up with the best and most interesting content within the amount of time and money that can be spent on it.

Things like news, minutes of meetings and issue-based documents will need to be kept up to date — and you want to make sure that your main content is up to date. So, start things off at a sustainable level and add more as you are able to increase resources.

Consider which features will have the greatest impact for the time you have to put into development and maintenance. Start the website with these features and add more complex and time consuming items later.

Keep a constant watch over how well different parts of the website are working — you can gauge how popular different elements of the website are by using web statistics (which are always broken down by page) and by getting residents involved.

Use the website to get visitors’ opinions of the site or arrange meetings to get users’ input.

Get other people in the community to contribute and use things like “Useful links” to connect to information that already exists somewhere else on the Internet