- Reporting and workflow functionality enables all staff to contribute content whilst allowing the web team to authorise and amend content prior to publishing. This devolves content contribution but allows consistency of message and display to be retained.
- Time taken to update content reduced significantly thanks to easy to use Web Content Management system.
- Usability, accessibility and aesthetics improved, with 74 per cent of users surveyed preferring the new website.
- Number of unique visitors to the website doubled over 12 months.
Rural community engagement
Dumfries and Galloway is the third largest region in Scotland. It covers 2,380 square miles and has an estimated population of 148,030 - equalling around 60 people per square mile, compared with the Scottish average of 168 and the English average of 1,010.
In July 2006, the communications team at Dumfries and Galloway Council was asked by The Customer First Programme Board (CFPB) to lead a short life task group, evaluate the council's website and develop a strategy and action plan for the future. The purpose of this was to integrate the web elements of other important council strategies and provide a strategic plan to achieve those targets.
Following this, the task group presented an outline report to CFPB who then commissioned an external website usability audit and separate consultation with intranet users - to determine the effectiveness of the website and intranet as tools for communicating with citizens and staff.
Addressing the issue
The external usability audit of the public facing website, alongside the internal survey carried out on intranet users, identified 40 issues, which needed to be addressed. These issues were classified as high, medium and low priority.
The audit showed that the website, which was classified as a medium priority, was viewed as being text heavy but difficult for users to navigate and find the information they needed. As a result, the Council decided to renew the information architecture and improve consistency in its approach to guiding users to the pages they wanted to view. The Council also recognised that the incorporation of downloadable PDF documents, as opposed to the more user friendly method of inserting text into the web pages directly, posed the risk of alienating users. The Council also committed itself to improving user interaction and engagement.
The Council's web team, headed up by Web Co-ordinator Chari Laurie, recognised that the common problem behind many of the issues identified was the legacy Web Content Management system (CORE). CORE had been developed in-house and was considered outdated, cumbersome and time consuming by staff responsible for the maintenance of the website. Workflow and reporting functionality was non-existent which meant that members of staff from the wider organisation were unable to electronically inform the web team of content waiting to be published. Instead staff would email the web team to add or publish content - a very inefficient use of valuable resources.
The decision to move away from an in-house Web Content Management tool fitted in well with the Council's new ICT strategy, which places and greater emphasis on integrating externally developed technology solutions. This resulted in the Council taking a more strategic approach to its website, with long term planning for maintenance and upgrading.
Selecting GOSS iCM
As a result of the evaluation, the Council's communications team decided that it was necessary to replace the existing Web Content Management system as a priority. An invitation to tender was posted on the Council's website and after receiving fifteen tenders, a small number of companies, including GOSS Interactive were shortlisted. After an extensive procurement process including presentations and demonstrations, Dumfries and Galloway Council selected GOSS as their partner of choice to provide them with a new Web Content Management solution that would help manage the website and increase usability and engagement. GOSS iCM (intelligent Content Management) was selected for its ease of use and out-of-the-box functionality that would prove invaluable to the staff responsible for overseeing the website content as well as its outstanding value for money.
Chari Laurie, Corporate Website Co-ordinator at Dumfries and Galloway, comments, "We chose GOSS iCM because, after trying out the other products, we all agreed that it was the best tool for the job. The system is extremely straight forward so we could start using it straight away, which was a real plus."
"The editing interface is excellent as is the search engine and search tailoring capability, which has boosted our keyword index automatically. We were also impressed with the audit trail, workflow and reporting functions, which will enable all staff to contribute to the content of the website easily, whilst providing an holistic view and control of the process to the web team."
"The experience that Goss has of working with public sector organisations, and their commitment to working with organisations such as SOCITM were also a consideration in the decision making process. The team at GOSS understood our challenges and needs and were able to suggest ways for us to get the most out of GOSS iCM. They demonstrate a partnership approach and really understand our business and tailor their offering to match."
The benefits - proven results
In addition to investing in GOSS iCM, the website was also re-designed by a specialist agency. This delivered a new look and feel, along with a more focused and intuitive site navigation. Since implementation of GOSS iCM, a wider range of content has been made available. The information architecture is now based on the Scottish Navigation List, newly established by the Improvement Service. This will help deliver consistent information to citizens.
Feedback received so far has been very positive. All parties agree that the aims of making the re-designed public website welcoming, inspiring, versatile, cleaner and easy to read have been achieved.
The new and improved website, www.dumgal.gov.uk, went live on 13 November 2008. To guage user opinion, the web team added an online poll to the homepage - an interactive capability that was not possible prior to the implementation of GOSS iCM. The survey revealed that 74 per cent of respondents to the poll thought that the new website was better than the previous version.
As a result of this improved usability, the number of unique visitors to dumgal.gov.uk in December 2008 was twice as many as in December 2007, with over 142,420 individuals accessing the website.
Looking forward
Currently Chari and the rest of the web team at Dumfries and Galloway Council are the only members of staff who currently update the content on a regular basis. However, with the new workflow, reporting and audit trail capabilities available with GOSS iCM, this is set to change. The web team now has the technology available to enable staff from across all departments to become involved in communicating their expertise, and information specific to their role, to the citizens they serve.
After the successful implementation of GOSS iCM, Dumfries and Galloway is now in consultation with GOSS regarding the staff intranet site and hopes to deploy GOSS iCM for this project imminently.
Robert McCarthy, Managing Director at GOSS, adds, "At GOSS we understand and provide solutions specifically designed for organisations with citizen focused websites. By nature, such websites must contain huge amounts of information that if not clearly displayed and easily accessed, can cause a great deal of frustration to the user and render the website practically useless."
"GOSS iCM solves this problem and allows Councils like Dumfries and Galloway to easily manage and maintain information on their website and engage effectively with users. The results really speak for themselves."
