Agenda item

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee received the report of the Town Clerk (Director of Communications) on the design, build, support and hosting for new website.

The report was provided to keep the Committee updated on the progress of the website project, as agreed earlier on in the year. The Digital Publishing and Content Strategy Lead informed the Committee that the Department has so far completed the design phases and is proceeding through the build phases with the intention to launch the testing phase soon. 

The search facility is currently being built. Members will be invited to test out the search engine before going live.

At present, the Department is working towards early 2020 to have all the contents ready and to go live in April 2020. This provides significant tolerance for unexpected issues to be resolved before the site must go live. The customer journey will be easier ensuring that it will not take no more than 3 or 4 clicks for the user to get to their desired page.

A Member asked how easy it will be for a user to find the “Contact Us” button. Officers reassured the Member that the “Contact Us” link will continuously appear on the footer of the page, throughout the users experience on the website. 

There was a discussion around making sure that the website provides users with positive and easier experiences. 

A Member asked if past complaints about the website had to been factored in the new design phase. The Committee were informed that all the past issues and complaints regarding the websites were addressed.

A Member asked if there was a budget for post-go-live analysis and improvement. The Committee were informed that there was a small amount for such work. Members were informed that the project has a green status and currently is on time, on budget and within its scope.

RESOLVED – That the Members note the report and the oral update.