Connecting to Manchester City Council
21 September 2007
Residents, businesses and visitors will benefit from a new design and structure for Manchester City Council's website www.manchester.gov.uk
Now you can
Report it… There are user-friendly forms that you can fill in to report things like fly tipping, potholes and graffiti. You can also use online forms to send us an enquiry about things like council tax, benefits and education.
Say it… Ask us a question and get answers online. You can also find the contact details of your local Councillor and comment on Council services.
Do it… Apply for Council jobs, join the library, renew your library books and order a Council house repair.
Pay it… Pay your council tax, business rates, parking fines and other Council bills online. You will get an instant receipt and the peace of mind that your bill has been paid swiftly.
Search for it… Find out latest news, planning applications, council minutes and events happening across the city! You can also look for part time adult education courses and children's services.
The site has a new navigation structure that is based on topics and it has a comprehensive A-Z of services, making it easier to find the information you are looking for first time. Try the A-Z at www.manchester.gov.uk/atoz
Accessibility has been vastly improved on the new website. You can view the pages in a way that meets your individual needs by changing the text size, colour and background contrast. The site has also been designed to make it accessible to those who use assistive technologies such as text readers.
The new website - powered by the Jadu content management system - represents a significant step towards making more information and services available to our customers online.
Councillor Sir Richard Leese, Leader of Manchester City Council said:"People will be able to access Council services at a time and place that suits them, either at home, from their local library or by using their mobile. We also want to hear what people think of the site and how they would like to see it develop in the future."
Following an accessibility audit and testing with a range of disabled users, the site was found to be 'highly accessible' for a range of impairments including motor control difficulties and sight and hearing impairments by AbilityNet, one of the UK's leading accessibility experts.
Suraj Kika, CEO of Jadu, adds, "This is a milestone in Local Government websites. We spent a great deal of time ensuring the new www.manchester.gov.uk was accessible and we are delighted to have achieved this. Along with the additional new Web 2.0 features, it is very user friendly and enables the Council to provide a great service to the people of Manchester, who will benefit from the web 'mash-ups' we have developed - linking into other government sites such as NHS Direct. Designed to increase the user experience, the CMS will allow Council employees to maintain consistency across all areas of the site and keep content and the public, up- to-date and informed about the region."
You can try the new website at www.manchester.gov.uk and there is an online feedback form to tell us what you think.
Media contact:
Janine Watson, tel 0161 234 3337
