Manchester City Council has launched a new accessible website - powered by Jadu - providing online features and enhanced public services to the community.
Following a full audit and end user testing, 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 UKs leading accessibility experts.
Working with content management system (CMS) specialist, Jadu, the Council site also features a range of Web 2.0 features such as advanced Google Maps, social book-marking of content, dynamic A-Z services and a simplified navigation structure. Residents will have capabilities to search for their local councillor by postcode, and access a range of information, such as local events and education information, quickly and easily using the search.manchester.gov.uk feature - an accessible 'Google-like' search website.
Powered by the Jadu CMS with Google Enterprise Search, the new system will also enable Council employees to publish information quickly, and monitor which areas of the site are the most used and adapt online content accordingly to fulfil the needs of the community.
Annette Hartley, Senior Project Manager at Manchester City Council, comments, "The Jadu CMS provides a range of benefits for both the residents of Manchester and the staff at the Council. One of the key things for us about the system is the simplicity and ease of use. It also enables us to meet compliance issues, national standards as well as the latest accessibility requirements."
Robin Christopherson, head of accessibility services at AbilityNet, adds, "The Manchester City Council site was praised by end users and found to be 'highly accessible' with a range of impairments for its ease of use. The results of the testing have been implemented in the site to further improve accessibility and make it an extremely usable site for all citizens in Manchester."
Suraj Kika, CEO of Jadu, adds, "manchester.gov.uk is a milestone in Local Government websites. We spent a great deal of time ensuring the new site 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."
