With the help of the SDL Tridion Content Management System, Liverpool Direct Limited [LDL] has transformed Liverpool City Council's Web site into one of the top performing Local Authority Web site in the UK. The site has recently been ranked as the leading Local Authority Web site in the UK by SiteMorse - a nationally recognised Web site testing service that measures code standards, functionality and accessibility.
The accolade has come after LDL [a joint venture partnership between BT and Liverpool City Council] finished a major project to upgrade the site's content and renew and redevelop its infrastructure.
Background
Before the project, the Council's Web site was non-transactional and cluttered - the aim of the project has been to transform it into a clean, easy-to-manage site that people want to use. SDL Tridion was selected as a supplier of the Content Management Solution because it supported devolved content management across the enterprise; single branding with sub-brands; blueprinting across multiple channels; and centralised control. It was also the leading Web Content Management system on the market.
Liverpool City Council is committed to delivering all possible services electronically. To support this aim, the Council needs a fully accessible, transactional Web site that allows citizens to pay bills, access Council services and interact with the Local Authority online. The aim of the project has been to deliver a site that meets the needs of Liverpool's citizens:
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It is fast, reliable, enjoyable and easy-to-use
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Enables the delivery of e-Government services
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Delivers cost savings to the Council
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Meets all relevant Web site quality and accessibility standards
- Can be scaled, managed and developed easily.
LDL has moved the entire content of the old Web site to a new, faster and more stable infrastructure. The new platform includes editorial and design tools that help content editors to manage the site more easily.
What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) content editing
- Time-specified publishing and spell-checker
- Accessible Web content for people with visual or physical disabilities
- Easy navigation on the site
- Sharing of content with other sites.
Content on the site has also been improved by training more than 170 editors across the Council to ensure content is managed by people closest to the information, adding more e-services, and restructuring the Web site based on nationally recognised standards and guidelines.
Benefits
Usage of the site has increased dramatically from around 73,000 visitors in January 2005 to 150,000 visitors in January 2007. Content has expanded by over 100%. More than 80% of visitors surveyed said they were either very or fairly satisfied with the clarity of information presented, and over 80% said they would use the site as their first port of call for similar information in the future.
100% of the site has met level AA Web accessibility guidelines: an exit survey found that 40% of visitors would have telephoned and 5% of people would have visited in person if they had not been able to use the site.
As a consequence of deploying SDL Tridion, our hosting and support costs have reduced by £62k per year. In-house changes are now made immediately from taking two days before the upgrade. The time spent developing a site has reduced from five weeks to only five days. There has also been a significant impact on training costs and time to train.