Tags: Parish Council Websites
New accessibility regulations for public sector websites
Posted: Fri, 17 Aug 2018 16:00 by Ray Smith
New website accessibility regulations are coming into force next year. You can read all about the new regulations on GOV.UK.
Why Web Accessibility is Important
The Internet is an increasingly important resource in our lives including: education, employment, government, commerce, health care, recreation, and loads of other things. It's important that it's accessible to everyone in order to provide equal access and equal opportunity to people with disabilities. An accessible website can help people with disabilities participate more actively in society
You can find further information about accessibility on the W3C website: "Social Factors in Developing a Web Accessibility Business Case for Your Organization".
2commune already work to the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and as such you can be assured that our websites will meet the new regulations. You will also need to have an 'Accessibility Statement' on your website. We will produce a generic statement and add it to our customers websites as we did with GDPR.
A great evening at County Hall
Posted: Tue, 10 Jul 2018 13:52 by Ray Smith
It was great to see so many of our customers at the Leicestershire County Council Annual Parishes Liaison Event on Monday evening (9th July 2018). Thanks to all of you that came over to our stand for a chat.
An informative evening, started with a networking session and buffet. The formal session held in the council chamber commenced with an opening speech from Guy Jackson (pictured) followed by an update from LRALC. Ivan Ould (LCC cabinet member) then presented the idea of a single enlarged 'Leicestershire Council' and how this could save taxpayer's money. Nigel Grundy from Enderby Parish Council then conducted a fascinating presentation on how they hold community surgeries in the library. The evening concluded with facilitated workshops to look at joint working between parishes and the County Council.
The picture shows Guy Jackson (LRALC Chairman) with Ray Smith (2commune's Strategy & Development Director).
2commune supporting the Local Council Award Scheme
Posted: Mon, 08 Jan 2018 08:30 by Ray Smith
Many of our customers have started their LCAS journey with several already having reached the coveted 'Gold' status.
Tina Britt, our Managing Director is a member of the Leicestershire and Rutland LCAS assessment panel (pictured here with Andy Ellis - Lutterworth Town Clerk). This helps us to be at the forefront of the requirements and to actively contribute to process improvement. The picture was taken when the panel sat recently to consider an application from Stoney Stanton Parish Council.
John Kay from Dursley Town Council in Gloucestershire said "The UK Local Councils (UKLC) website is very easy to use and is structured in a way that made it simple for the assessment panel to locate the necessary documents and to meet the accreditation requirements. Our intention to gain LCAS gold status was a very important consideration when making the decision to select 2commune as our website provider".
Here's some of our customers that have already achieved gold; Raunds Town Council, Dursley Town Council, Anstey Parish Council, Painswick Parish Council and Skegness Town Council. More information on the Local Council Award Scheme including a full list of councils and what stage they are at can be found on NALCs website here.
Sara Atkinson from Ashover Parish Council said: "The document management system means that all documents can be viewed in one place which makes finding documents a piece of cake".
We would like to congratulate all councils that have risen to the challenge and achieved an LCAS award - Well Done!
UKLC User Conference 2017
Posted: Thu, 30 Mar 2017 09:15 by Ray Smith
This year's UKLC User Group Conference was held at the King Power Stadium in Leicester on Wednesday, March 22nd.
The theme of the conference was 'Simplify, Standardise and Share'. Sessions were varied and included best practice, case studies and the use of social media. UKLC users were updated on new functionality and features. Delegates were given an opportunity to help shape the future of the product by assisting us to prioritise future developments from our 'wish list'. UKLC users will shortly be receiving a 'My Notice' which will include handouts and the results of the vote.
There were plenty of opportunities for networking including round table discussions. The added bonus this year, was a directors box being freely available throughout the day for delegates to view the pitch which proved to be a hit!
Roger Harrington - Whittlebury Parish Council said: "I thought the whole day was excellent and couldn't have been bettered. The presentations were top-notch, helpful and informative and your encouragement of audience participation right from the off was a very important part of the conference's success. There was a spectrum of competencies among the users from the new recruits like us to the very experienced, and you skilfully catered for all abilities. Of course, the networking is always such a useful part of such meetings and there was plenty of opportunity for that at coffee, lunch and tea.
The catering was of a very high standard and I couldn't fault the food and beverages. So, overall, 100% brilliant and I would encourage any UKLC website user to seriously consider attendance at future conferences which, personally, I hope will be annually."
Thank you to all that attended.
Government Launches New Digital Strategy
Posted: Mon, 13 Feb 2017 15:30 by Ray Smith
The Cabinet Office has launched the new digital strategy.
Delivering the keynote speech at the Reform think tank's annual conference in central London, Ben Gummer MP, Minister for the Cabinet Office, outlined the government's commitment to build on the Digital by Default services developed under the previous digital transformation strategy.
Gummer said: "I want to see a revolution in the way we deliver public services – so that people up and down our country feel that government is at their service at every single stage in the journey.
"That is why we are today (9th February 2017) publishing our Government Transformation Strategy, outlining our commitment to reshape government by ensuring millions of people are able to access online the services they need, whenever they need. We will deliver these changes while driving efficiencies wherever possible, making considerable savings for the taxpayer.
"Only by transforming the relationship between the citizen and the state – so that the latter serves the former – will we deliver the Prime Minister's commitment to build a country that works for everyone."
Watch Ben Gummer's keynote speech in the video below.
Shake Off Those Winter Blues!
Posted: Wed, 18 Jan 2017 14:33 by Ray Smith
Last night we visited the home of 'The Blues' to check out the facilities for this year's user conference. We actually got a chance to hold the premier league cup! Wow what an experience, to think of all the famous players and managers that have held it over the last 24 seasons.
The next user group conference will be held on March 22nd, 2017 at the King Power stadium. Have you booked your place yet? If not why not book it now and have something to look forward to? It will be a great day, with plenty of time to meet us and to network with other members of the UKLC family. There will be loads of interesting topics and a chance to vote on new features to be included in the product.
Book your place and shake off those winter 'blues'. If you are a UKLC user and have not yet received your invite then please contact us for further details.
