Understanding your council’s responsibility towards an accessible website

Every council, regardless of the domain it uses, has a legal obligation to ensure its website, and the information on it, is accessible to the whole community.

What does this mean? Ideally, your website and all of its content should be accessible for everyone regardless of any visual, hearing, cognitive, motor impairments or learning difficulties they may have.

However, it is rare to find any website that is 100% accessible.  And small councils – where there is little budget available to redesign a website –  may find this particularly difficult.

These councils can set aside their accessibility obligation if they can show that making all the necessary changes would be a ‘disproportionate burden’. In other words, if they can prove the council cannot afford to make the changes required to make its website accessible.

It is, however, important for every council to demonstrate that it is committed to accessibility.  At a minimum, you must include an accessibility statement on your website. This statement should include contact details for people to raise any concerns about your website’s accessibility.  It should also include links (if possible) to an accessible version of any published information – for example, a PDF document is not accessible so providing a link to a Word document would be helpful.

A website is an important communication tool for all councils reaching out to every section of their communities. Councils can complete their own basic accessibility check to see where improvements can be made.  Councils are also encouraged to read the guidance on GOV.UK on how to make your website accessible and publish an accessibility statement. 

More information

This is the last in a series of blogs from the Parish Council Domains Helper Service, other blogs include:

 

Why the question ‘how much does a .gov.uk domain cost’ is not easy to answer!

At the Parish Council Domains Helper Service, we are often asked ‘how much does a .gov.uk domain cost?’ and we always pause before answering.

On the surface, ‘how much does a gov.uk domain cost?’ appears to be quite a simple question but, actually, there are some complexities!  This is because the cost of moving over to a .gov.uk domain depends on two key factors:

  • The services that a council might need to buy in addition to the domain itself
  • The .gov.uk Approved Registrar that a council chooses to work with

Let’s look at these in turn – first up, services:

At a very minimum, a council will need to buy a .gov.uk domain from a .gov.uk Approved Registrar who will manage and monitor it on their behalf.

However, councils may also need to factor in the purchase of other services such as emails, a website or data storage and migration.  The cost of these services will vary – for example, a council buying 10 email addresses with a large amount of storage will pay more than a smaller council that only needs to buy one email address.  Similarly, a council that wants to completely redesign their website will pay more than a council who wants to keep their existing website, but connect this to their new domain.

Costs will also vary from one .gov.uk Approved Registrar to another.  An Approved Registrar is a company who buys and manages a .gov.uk domain on behalf of a council.  These companies operate in a commercial marketplace so the prices they charge will differ.  For example, some include the cost of a domain in a ‘bundle’; some offer a domain free of charge when purchasing other services; some add a small mark-up to the wholesale cost of a .gov.uk domain.  

So, in essence, costs will always vary:

  • From council to council, based on their service and support needs, and
  • From one Approved Registrar to another depending on their commercial offering

Sounds complicated?  It doesn’t need to be.  The Parish Council Domains Helper Service has established a shortlist of Approved Registrars for councils to select from.  All of these have experience and knowledge of working with councils and have committed to providing an enhanced level of support to councils as part of the Service. They also understand what kinds of services councils need and the kinds of budgets they are working to.

As a government organisation, the Cabinet Office is commercially neutral – we are not able to direct councils to any particular provider.  The shortlist helps narrow down the choice and makes clear what services each Approved Registrar offers.  However, we still encourage councils to research which of these companies can best serve their needs and are most competitively priced.  We suggest putting together at least three quotes to help councils make an informed decision. We also recommend that no decision is based on cost alone.

If your council is thinking about moving to a .gov.uk domain, you can register their interest by completing a short form or emailing parish-helper@domains.gov.uk.

Authors: Sandra Lowe, Will Christmas – Parish Council Domains Helper Service, Cabinet Office

More information

Please note that there is currently some funding available to help parish councils move to gov.uk. Read here for more details.

This is third in a series of blogs from the Parish Council Domains Helper Service, other blogs include:

Webinars to learn more!

Clerks Session

All clerks are invited to join this FREE networking session to find out more about moving to a gov.uk domain.

24 June, 10 – 11am

Read more and book your place here

Councillor Session

Councillors are invited to join this FREE networking event to find out more about moving to a gov.uk domain.

2 July, 12 – 1pm

Read more and book here!

Is a gov.uk domain mandatory?

It is a common misconception that owning a .gov.uk domain is a mandatory requirement for all councils.  This is not the case.  However, using a .gov.uk domain for council business, email, and your website is absolutely a sign of good practice, trust and professionalism.

Local (parish and town councils) considering a move to a .gov.uk domain but unsure of their obligations should refer to the latest Practitioners Guide 2024.  In strengthened language for the 2024 edition, the guide states that ‘community, suppliers and partners will now reasonably expect a local council to have a .gov.uk domain.’ Section 5.212 provides full details, and there is an important note in Section 1.26 about the use of email for council business.

Councils with a .gov.uk domain benefit from: 

  • Robust security measures and monitoring for cyber vulnerabilities by the Cabinet Office
  • Emails that are immediately recognisable as legitimate and trustworthy by the recipient
  • Separation of personal and professional communications – recipients will always understand the capacity in which you are emailing
  • Administrative control over email accounts for easy management of change (new joiners, leavers, sudden absences) as well as Freedom of Information / Subject Access Requests
  • Peace of mind that your council’s .gov.uk domain will never be sold to another organisation should it not be renewed on time

The Parish Council Domains Helper Service is available for local councils aspiring to use a .gov.uk domain. Tailored support is available at every step of the process, from initial decision-making and choosing the correct .gov.uk Approved Registrar to setting up your new domain and maintaining good practices. Virtual sessions are accompanied by guides containing checklists, templates, and detailed, practical information.

To register your interest, complete this short form, and the Parish Council Domains Helper Service will send you a welcome pack and an invitation to join one of our introductory sessions. Please note that attending the first introductory session does not obligate you to move to a .gov.uk domain. Councillors and clerks are welcome to come along to learn more; there is no obligation to move forward with a new domain by attending. Questions can also be directed to parish-helper@domains.gov.uk.

Authors: Will Christmas, Sandra Lowe – Parish Council Domains Helper Service, Cabinet Office

More information

This is the second in a series of blogs from the Parish Council Domains Helper Service, other blogs include:

Webinars to learn more!

Clerks Session

All clerks are invited to join this FREE networking session to find out more about moving to a gov.uk domain.

24 June, 10 – 11am

Read more and book your place here

Councillor Session

Councillors are invited to join this FREE networking event to find out more about moving to a gov.uk domain.

2 July, 12 – 1pm

Read more and book here!

There’s never been a better time to move to a .gov.uk domain

Thinking about moving over to a .gov.uk domain?  Here are four great reasons why there’s never been a better time to make the move:

Funding: 1000 eligible councils will receive a discount of £100 +VAT to offset the initial costs of setting up a new .gov.uk domain in this financial year.  It is extremely unlikely that this funding will be available in future years.   Funding is offered on a first-come-first-served, once per council basis; to date more than 280 councils have taken advantage of this

Step-by-step support: You’ll have access to useful, easy-to-use guides – including templates, checklists and good practice advice – to help you at each stage. Virtual workshops and drop-in sessions are also available for clerks, councillors and council staff alike

Technical hand-holding:  From managing the registration of your domain, to actively supporting device, service and email set-up there’s an Approved Registrar ready to help with the most technical aspects of the move to a .gov.uk domain

Flexibility: If you’re happy with your current website or email provider there’s no reason for you to change – your Approved Registrar can work with them to make the connection to your new .gov.uk domain

The Parish Council Domains Helper Service is offering a wide range of support to all councils moving over to a .gov.uk domain in the financial year 2024-25.  If you’re interested in finding out more please contact parish-helper@domains.gov.uk.

Authors: Khidr Suleman, Sandra Lowe – Parish Council Domains Helper Service, Cabinet Office

Using gov.uk domains

We encourage councils to consider switching to a gov.uk domain if you haven’t already, and now is a great time to consider that move for the reasons above. Please note that the wording in the Practitioners Guide 2024, which represents best financial practice in the sector as required by the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015, has been strengthened from previous years. It now advises gov.uk domains as being a sign of good professional practice:

5.210. All Parish, Town and Community Councils are eligible to use, and are advised to use, a .gov.uk domain for their websites and email communications. Your community, suppliers and partners will now reasonably expect a local council to have a .gov.uk domain name. Note that Parish meetings are exempt from the requirement to have a website.
5.211. To assist with compliance with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), it is advised that clerks provide official .gov.uk email accounts to their councillors, which must only be used for official council business.
5.212. When choosing a domain name all councils must follow the rules set out by the Cabinet Office to choose a .gov.uk domain name, for example, ‘ourparishcouncil.gov.uk’ with email addresses linked to that domain.
5.213. Using a .gov.uk domain for your council website and email accounts gives Parish Councils the following advantages:
           5.214. Increased professionalism and trust from members of your community, partners and suppliers because your email address and website domains are a trusted government brand.
          5.215. Separation of your personal life from your professional life, ensuring members of your community, partners and suppliers understand what capacity you are emailing them in – whether a Councillor or Clerk.
          5.216. Increased control for the Responsible Officer over email accounts and documentation when managing new joiners, leavers, sudden absences or Freedom of Information and Subject Access Requests.
          5.217. Peace of mind that your .gov.uk Parish Council domain will never be sold to someone else if it is not renewed on time, which can happen with .co.uk, .org.uk and other commercial domains.
          5.218. Additional security measures, as all .gov.uk domains are checked for any cyber vulnerabilities by the Cabinet        Office and reported to the Responsible Owner, or your technical point of contact, so they can be fixed.
          5.219. You can read more about the benefits of getting a .gov.uk domain on the GOV.UK website.

More information

We are working with the Parish Council Domains Helper Service to run some events for our members; these will be announced in our e-bulletin when they are available for booking.

This is first in a series of blogs from the Parish Council Domains Helper Service, the upcoming blogs in the series include:

Webinars to learn more!

Clerks Session

All clerks are invited to join this FREE networking session to find out more about moving to a gov.uk domain.

24 June, 10 – 11am

Read more and book your place here

Councillor Session

Councillors are invited to join this FREE networking event to find out more about moving to a gov.uk domain.

2 July, 12 – 1pm

Read more and book here!