East Sussex County Council’s website has retained its ‘excellent’ rating from the Society of IT Managers (SOCITM) in a national survey of council websites. It has also been confirmed that the East Sussex site is the only County Council website in the country to receive accreditation from the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB).
Last year, the Council’s website was named as the best local authority website in England. It is one of only two websites (with Salford City Council) in the UK to retain an excellent rating overall for two years running. The East Sussex site met the standard in all nine of the SOCITM criteria – one of only eight council websites to achieve this high level of performance.
The SOCITM summary of the East Sussex site says: ‘What can I say? This site is a joy to use. So many ways to locate a school – download a print ‘pdf’ map, search by name, search by type plus map/complete list of type/find my nearest! Everything is so wonderfully set out and great to use.’
The RNIB has placed the site on the RNIB ‘See It Right’ list of accessible websites. The charity for blind and partially sighted people says that the site has been designed, developed and written with the user’s potential visual, physical and cognitive disabilities in mind.
Council Leader Peter Jones said: “This is a brilliant achievement and underlines our commitment to enhance services for all our residents. We’ve been working extremely hard over the last few years to improve the site and make it easier for people to use with relevant information, quick links and an increasing number of transactions that can be completed online. The SOCITM rating, together with the RNIB accreditation, means that we can proudly say we have retained our status as one of the best websites in the UK!”
The site allows people to access council services and carry out transactions online including:
- Take part in consultations
- Order copies of birth, death and marriage certificates
- Apply for jobs or school places
- Search and reserve library books and publish local events
- Find recycling centres or enquire about music lessons
- Register an interest in adoption and fostering
Reference:
2340
Contact the press team
East Sussex County Council