Annex C
DEVELOPMENT OF THE PARLIAMENTARY WEBSITE:
2006-09
2006-07
(a) Design & navigation: A new navigational
structure and design was launched across the website, including
a new-look home page, in response to a survey of 800 website
visitors and one-on-one user testing with a further 50 website
visitors.
(b) About Parliament: A new section
of the site, of over 100 pages, was created to explain how
Parliament works, in a web friendly style. These pages were then
cross-linked to procedural and business areas of the site to provide
an on-line glossary/help facility for users who wanted an explanation
of the terms used. This has proved a very popular addition to
the site and usage continued to grow after launch—with an
average of over 95,000 visits each month during the first
six months of 2008 (approximately 10 per cent of all visits
to the site as a whole).
(c) Bills: The first iteration of
the new bills pages was developed by pulling together the disparate
information about Public Bills across the website to form a single
page for each Bill.
(d) Content Editors: Dedicated content
editors were recruited to work with business users to assist departments
and offices to generate and update content for key areas of the
website, such as committees, education, and public information.
One example of the success of this approach is the steady growth
in the use of the committee pages by the public with an average
of 75,000 visits per month in the first half of 2008, 26
per cent higher than the same period in 2007.
2007-08
(a) Audience research: Further research was conducted
by Optimum Web, which led to a much more accurate definition of
website users' needs. Interviews were conducted with a range of
users including students, journalists, researchers, lawyers, government
officials, Members of both Houses, and the general public.
(b) Members' details: Biographical
information that was previously only available via the Dod's website
available to all users of the Parliamentary website.
(c) E-Consultations: A new system
was implemented that enables Committees to set up and conduct
online consultations simply, quickly, and cheaply. In the past,
Parliament commissioned Committee consultations from the Hansard
Society under the banner www.tellparliament.net.
With an enlarged editorial team in the Web Centre, these can now
been run internally at a greatly reduced cost.
(d) Slave Trade microsite: A wealth
of archival material is available from this section of the website
which marks the bicentenary of abolition of the slave trade. It
includes the work of students as part of the Education Service's
first Writer-in-Residence programme as well as encouraging users
to contribute their own views with feedback received from as far
afield as USA and Australia.
(e) Act of Union microsite: This
microsite focuses on the critical period from the Glorious Revolution
of 1688 to the passing of the Act of Union in 1707. Combined
with the Slave Trade and earlier Gunpowder Plot microsites, this
content will form the basis of a new history and living heritage
area of the site, showcasing Parliament's role in history.
(f) Translations: The About Parliament
pages were made available in Welsh and Scots Gaelic.
(g) Search engine: In response to
findings in user testing which found that the quality of searches
conducted on the site was poor, a new search engine was implemented.
The quick search function (available at the top of all pages across
the site) was replaced with a new tool based on Google technology
which delivers quicker, more accurate results. Independent user
testing revealed the success rate for searches using the old tool
was 22per cent. With the new tool this figure rose to 86per cent.
Whilst work continues to bring this figure still closer to 100per
cent, the changes made so far have seen a dramatic improvement
to user satisfaction with the website.
(h) Virtual tours: The first in a
series of virtual tours of the Palace, focussed on the House of
Commons Chamber, Members' lobby, and Noes lobby with information
hot-spots on features of interest, such as the Speaker's chair
and despatch boxes. These tours were developed both as a guide
to the general public unable to visit Parliament and as an educational
tool, in response to the findings of research with teachers. The
range of panoramas was subsequently expanded during the year to
include the Lords Chamber, Lords Library and a historical recreation
of Westminster Hall, demonstrating the development of the Hall
since it was first built.
(i) Lords of the Blog: The Lords
of the Blog website was launched in March 2008, receiving over
150,000 views and over 3500 comments from the public
in its first year.
(j) Homepage news: The homepage is
now updated five times a day when Parliament is sitting with website
highlights and latest news including new Committee reports. While,
for the first time over a summer recess, the homepage was updated
at least daily with links to educational material, archive material,
and new features and services.
(k) Bills: The second development
phase involved the creation of a Bills Knowledge Base, based on
input from the two Information Offices, which automatically generates
both the Bills pages on the website and content for the Weekly
Information Bulletin, reducing duplication of effort in the production
of information on Bills for the public. The new Bills Online pages
are now receiving between 60,000 and 70,000 visits each
sitting month, compared to 3,000 to 5,000 visits for
the previous bill pages.
(l) Calendar: The first version of
a calendar of parliamentary business allowed users to check the
business of the House of Commons and House of Lords from a single
source. The system includes public business for both Chambers,
Westminster Hall and Committees. This development also automated
the production of further pages of the Weekly Information Bulletin.
Calendar is now attracting between 10,000 and 13,000 visits
per month.
(m) EDMs by subject: In response
to a recommendation of the Modernisation Committee, the Early
Day Motions database was modified to allow users to find EDMs
by subject.
(n) Historical Hansard: The digitised
Parliamentary Debates from 1803 to 2004 are now available
as XML files downloadable from the Publications and Records section
of the site. A prototype site has also been set up to test and
demonstrate user interfaces for the historic data, along with
other functionality and to encourage user input into how these
interfaces are developed in the future.
(o) E-Deposits: Deposited papers
that were formerly only available in the two Libraries are now
published on the website, improving access and supporting obligations
under FOI. This development has improved the process of receiving
deposited papers from government departments (now by email) and
has resulted in the creation of a single, shared sequence of deposits
covering both Houses.
(p) Image Library: A new image management
system has been implemented that will make it easier to manage
Parliament's collection of photographic images and their use on
the website.
(q) Podcasts: A pilot project run
by the Web Centre to provide downloadable talks on parliamentary
services, events and issues that Parliament will be debating.
The current series of podcasts are averaging around 27,000 page
views each month, including subscribers accessing the RSS version.
(r) Other improvements: It is now
easier for website users to ask questions and leave feedback through
the "contact us" pages. The A-Z Index has been improved
and updated, the Glossary has been largely rewritten, and the
FAQ pages were substantially reworked. A regular programme of
independent usability and accessibility testing was established
that feeds into the development of new services.
2008-09
(a) Search: Building on the work carried out on
the website, Google technology has been used to provide an improved
quick search tool on the Intranet, allowing users to search both
the Intranet and Parliamentary website simultaneously, replacing
the previous Autonomy-based facility. Procurement started to replace
the existing advanced search facility on the website. If successful,
the new search solution could be extended to cover the Intranet
and the PIMS repository.
(b) Content Management Framework:
Outline requirements document drafted and supplier profile established
for the procurement of a new content management framework for
the web and Intranet.
(c) Visual Guides: A series of visually
rich educational guides (slides/Flash animations) to what Parliament
does and how Parliament works.
(d) Current Issues: the first iteration
of a facility allows users to navigate through the latest parliamentary
material by subject.
(e) News: a dedicated news section
(and archive) featuring Parliamentary business and publications,
including Committee Reports, and provide RSS feeds on what is
going on in Parliament.
(f) Information Architecture: Building
on the new design implemented in 2006, a new structure and navigation
for the website has been designed that incorporates all the new
services and planned developments that should be intuitive for
different categories of user. The design is being rolled out across
the site in stages starting in April 2009.
(g) Works of Art: Virtual tours of
the contemporary art collection (displayed on the 1st floor of
Portcullis House) and the Scarfe Exhibition, Hung, Drawn and
Slaughtered, were launched in Autumn 2008.
(h) UK Parliament YouTube channel:
A pilot YouTube channel for Parliament has been set up to show
short films promoting and explaining the work of Parliament. Alongside
this, Parliamentary presences have been set up on Flickr and Twitter
to attract audiences from these social networks.
(i) Virtual tours: The next round
of virtual tours in building up a series of online panoramas covering
the full Visitor Route (to be completed in 2009/10), as well as
a tour Covering the Clock Tower in advance of the 150th anniversary
celebrations. The current range of virtual tours are averaging
around 14,000 page views each month and, from Summer 2008,
the BBC have linked to them from the BBC Parliament website.
(j) Bills & Calendar: The next
of iteration of the Bills and Calendar applications delivered
(including provision of RSS feeds and inclusion of Committee sittings
information, further reducing duplication of information).
(k) Alerts: The current email alerting
service was extended to cover all areas of the site (including
changes to individual bills) from September 2008.
(l) 1958 Life Peerages Act:
This microsite explores the background to women in Parliament,
traces the passage of the Act, and explores the significance of
life peers and women in the House of Lords over the last 50 years
and will form another component of the History/Living Heritage
section of the main site.
(m) Hansard: Development of a prototype
database to hold and re-purpose Hansard XML feeds for improved
presentation on the website (including improved "chunking"
of content, easier-to-read layout, cross-linking of Bills information).
(n) Education: Delivery of a new
education sub-site within the main website, replacing Explore
Parliament.
(o) Standards: A set of standards
for future developments have been agreed and documented, along
with guidance for internal developers and external suppliers.
(p) Analytics: There is ongoing work
with Optimum Web, TSO and Web Trends to review website usage statistics
to determine how to extract the most meaningful information from
the raw data to assist us in developing the site.
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