New Alderney government website launched

Submarine has collaborated with the island of Alderney to create a new government information website.  The website is primarily an information portal and news hub for the support of local residents.

The website requirement was directed by former chief officer Chris Brock and the key deliverables was to provide an up to date and responsive official 'communication' i.e. one source for the most up to date information, whether that be a current event affecting the island. legislation or details of a forthcoming policy change.

The first challenge was to provide the Alderney government staff with an accessible content management system in order that they could manage the content and process themselves. The States of Guernsey function ICM was adopted in order to leverage existing technology - to reduce cost and time to build. The system also had the benefit of being maintained and secured by SoGs official IT partner.

Submarine built the templates and adapted the public facing pages to fulfil Alderney's particular needs. A good example of this is the News function which automatically generates a headline and summary paragraph to the home page of the website. This empowers staff to publish updates in 'real time' which is a significant advantage in a time of crisis such as COVID-19. 

Similarly, the team can create content sections, pages and documents within the website navigation in order to support an event or promotion, thereby reducing further, the burden on the tax payer as on-going website cost is minimised. 

The website is flexible and structured in a way that it can be 'built-out' in future to encompass wider information on all aspects of island life including services, job vacancies, marketing, online payments, working in Alderney and much more. Links are provided to the tourism website Visit Alderney which has the more specific brief or promoting the island externally.


Design and an 'accessible' interface
The design and user interface are clean and direct in order to present information in the simplest fashion. Information is categorised and channelled supported with a 'flat' design matrix on the home page to short cut popular content to one click - especially useful on tablet and smart phone. This is similar to the Microsoft Windows (and X Box console) interface which immediately develops an association with the user - I recognise this, feel at ease. 

A site wide search function and site map add further content short cuts for seasoned internet users, and mega menus in the navigation bar provide multiple links to sub sections within two clicks.

High levels of accessibility and legibility have also be provided, another improvement on the previous website. These work irrespective of desktop computer, tablet or smart phone. 

As with all new websites that Submarine creates, 25 trees have been planted though our carbon offsetting scheme Ecologi.  

Links
States of Alderney: www.alderney.gov.gg/
Submarine and Ecologi:   https://ecologi.com/submarineltd

Websites
Further recent GOV, island and community projects designed and fulfilled by Submarine.

Financial Intelligence Service
Guernsey Water
Guernsey Harbours
Government House
Itchyfeet Recruitment
Channel Island Ceramics
Guernsey Police
Guernsey Walking Football
Cardiac Action Group