Website service standards
This website helps the council meet its corporate priorities around customer access and providing online services. These service standards explain what goes into providing the website, what services we offer and what standards you can expect from us.
Our standards
- The website is available over 98% of the time
- The website should be correct and up to date
- The website should be easy to use
- Web pages must meet Level AA of the W3C guidelines
- We will acknowledge online enquiries within 1 working day
- Visitors can give feedback
The website is available over 98% of the time
We test the website over a variety of line speeds to identify any problems with download times. We use a site monitoring service to make sure our website is technically online and available. The website is generally available for over 98% of the time. Whilst we expect that this website should be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, it's possible that sometimes it may be unavailable for very short periods of time to allow maintenance or other development activity to take place.
The website should be correct and up to date
West Lancashire Borough Council is committed to the highest standards of quality of information. If you think that there are any errors or out-of-date information please contact us using the website feedback online form, saying which page is in error. Once we've been alerted, we aim to update incorrect information within one working day. Our copyright, privacy and disclaimer statements are available from every page.
Data protection is important to us. Information on how we handle and protect your data including our Corporate Privacy Policy can be found here.
The website should be easy to use
We try to ensure navigation is clear at all times and within all levels of the site, with easy to understand section names. We continually monitor navigation of the website in light of new sections being added and developments being made, to make sure that people can easily find what they are looking for. We also try to ensure:
- content is presented as clearly as possible, using plain English
- pages are not more than 600 words long
- there is consistent design and layout across the website
- contact details are featured on every page
Web pages must meet Level AA of the W3C guidelines
The website has been designed with accessibility in mind. As far as is possible, we try to ensure that it works across different platforms and browsers and is accessible to everyone who wants to use it. Here are a few of the website's accessibility features:
- The site complies with Level AA of the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative standards on website accessibility using the Bobby site checker. Some pages are AAA.
- Page layout is fluid and users can resize text etc to their preference.
- For people with learning disabilities, the site has been speech enabled by using a screen reader called Browsealoud. Browsealoud reads the text on our website if you download the free Browsealoud software (external link).
We will acknowledge online enquiries within one working day
Customer Services aims to acknowledge emails and online forms within one working day of their receipt. Visitors can give feedback There are clear links to enable you to give feedback about the website from the Your Views section and also through the Help section. We welcome feedback and find it very useful.
