Our new Beta website
Welcome to our new beta.herefordshire.gov.uk website, which is the first step in a programme of work to modernise our online services. Throughout 2012 we will be moving towards a single Herefordshire Public Services website, which will enable us to offer a full range of online self-service transactions, a new mapping solution and a single citizen account across both local government and health.
"Together making Herefordshire a digital county with 24/7 online services for people who live, work and visit Herefordshire - delivering excellence, fairness and value"
What is a beta?
A beta is a pre-release version of a new website or technical
service, which is made available for public review and feedback
over a period of time.
Why are you changing the site?
We have an improvement plan based on feedback gathered during
user surveys and focus groups, from emails that we receive and from
regular external audits. From these, you told us that:
- It is difficult to find information
- There is a lot of duplication of information
- The site doesn't meet your expectations compared to other
modern websites
- The site doesn't offer fresh, accurate and up-to-date
information
- It is unclear who does what and how to get in touch
This has led us to change a number of areas where you have told
us that we can do better, such as making it easier to request and
find information. We also need to simplify the way we present our
information so that the key points are easily visible. We are also
improving the search facility.
Overall, we aim to make the site easier and more enjoyable to
use.
What is complete on the website, and what is still to come?
We are still working on a number of things during the beta, but many features are complete. We are re-writing and refreshing all website content and as sections are complete they will go live on this website. If you have any feedback and/or suggestions about anything that you notice on the new pages, please email us at digitalchannels@herefordshire.gov.uk.
What technology are you using?
To bring our websites and online services up-to-date,
we need a web platform that is:
- proactive and 'cutting edge'
- interactive and easy to use
- compliant with all requirements, policies, directives and best
practice for public websites
- enables re-use and re-purposing of information
After an in-depth analysis and trial of various software
packages, we have chosen to use an open source .NET content
management system called Umbraco. This cutting edge CMS allows
us to tailor and create modules to suit our particular needs whilst
at the same time reducing support and maintenance costs.
How does the search work?
We have used smart search technology to make it easier for you to find the information you are looking for. Some of the clever features we have used are:
- Predictive searching - This guesses what you are looking for as you start typing. For example if you start typing 'recycl' the search will offer you a range of results based around 'recycling' as it believes that is what you are looking for. The more letters you type, then the more refined you results become.
- Related or alternative words - We try to tag each page with other words that are commonly used. For example if you search for 'fridge' you are presented with the large item collection page because the two could be related.
- Boosted results - As the search gets used, each result that is clicked on is given a rank. This constantly changing scale moves more commonly used pages up the ranking so they will appear at the top of the search results list, above pages that are not frequently selected.
- Icon identified results - As you use the search, you will notice that there are different icons for various results. We have identified frequently asked questions, pages, news articles and documents with their own icon so you can see what page you are expected to land on before you select the result. For example, searching for 'recycling' will show you a list of results and you can see different icons for pages and frequently asked questions.