Fully accessible local authority website achieving (triple A) W3C standard

London, UK, 18th February 2004. - Haringey Council (www.haringey.gov.uk), one of the most socially diverse boroughs in the country, has today unveiled the first phase of its ambitious online strategy. Proving that an e-government project can be built to the highest level of accessibility without compromising the website’s usability.

Created by leading digital design company Nomensa, together with Deloitte, which was responsible for implementing the Obtree 4 Content management system, the new Haringey Council website is one of the first online local authority services to achieve W3C’s Triple A (AAA Priority Level 3) standard. As such, all people of Haringey, including disabled residents, can access the service fully. Over the next 10 months, Haringey Council will bring all of its priority services online, allowing residents to pay bills, request council repairs as well as access a host of customer services.

Councillor Narendra Makanji, Executive Councillor for Community Involvement said:

"As more priority services go online, the number of inbound enquiries to our call centre will be reduced, which will free up extra resource that can be channelled back into the community. Likewise, by implementing an accessible and usable templated design into the content management system, we will substantially reduce the financial commitment normally required by councils to meet the December 2005 e-government targets."

The new Haringey Council website acts as a primary communications channel, delivering information and services in six languages, to one of the most socially diverse populations in Britain - 225,100 people speaking no less than 193 different languages. Developed by Nomensa, the website uses a customer-centric structure, whereby the people of Haringey were consulted to ensure that the new service is intuitive to use.

The Haringey Council website is built on an accessible templated framework, integrated into the Obtree C4 content management system, so that as the portal grows, and new interactive services are added, its usability and accessibility will not be compromised.

Simon Norris, Managing Director of Nomensa, commented:

"The associated cost of delivering priority services online for many local authorities has spiralled out of control. It is now thought that the total cost of implementing an e-government project is 66 per cent greater than first predicted. The problem occurs when local authorities introduce new functionality in order to meet their 2005 deadline. Their existing interfaces and content management systems are often unable to cope with the new interactive services. Only by introducing a robust and solid framework at the pre-build stage, can a platform be created that is nimble enough to adopt new services and government legislation quickly and cost effectively."

He continued:

"We are confident that Haringey’s new web strategy will be able to deliver local government services online to the highest standard, benefiting both the council and the local population."

Local authorities are receiving £675 million in support grants from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) to help them to achieve their targets. Councils will receive a further £500,000 over the next two years subject to submitting satisfactory IEG reports. Of the 33 London boroughs which currently provide online local government services, only two councils, Camden and Brent, meet basic website accessibility standards for the disabled.