New beta website launched

You can find these services on the new beta website:

• Adult community learning

• Adult social care

• Births, deaths and ceremonies (registrars)

• Building control

• Coastal management

• Fostering

• Parking

• Planning

As a council, we are committed to being digital first. The way we communicate with people needs to move with how people access information and we recognised that our existing website needed to improve. To help us, we are following Government Digital Standards for our new beta website. These standards guide us on how to build a website, in particular, a website that focuses on you, the user.

We have built it based on your needs. Working with local partners and individuals, we found out that you want a website that is:

• easy to navigate

• has a good search function

• accessible from any electronic device, such as laptop, mobile phone or tablet

• has clear content, information and action functions

• has fewer 'clicks' to find information easily

• can be logged into easily.

We have reviewed the language used on our website to make it short, clear and simple. We have used both Government Digital Standards and a plain English approach to achieve this.

We have built the structure of our content around a clear user journey, making it easier for you to navigate to the information that you need more quickly.

We've included 'action buttons' where you can complete a task, such as, booking an appointment or completing a form.

Our website can be viewed on a wide array of devices and is designed for modern web platforms (such as Edge or Chrome) without the need to zoom in or scroll left to right. The site is responsive so it will fit the screen type that you are using. Out of date browsers such as Internet Explorer 11 (IE11) are not supported.

We have a new search function that will recognise simple search terms to help you get to the information you need quickly and easily.

Please visit our new beta website and let us know what you think.