Present components

	Jobs
	Travel
	Childcare
	Centres
	Talk
	Training
	Careers
	Learning

 

The Shipley Communities Online website functions as a focal point for the partnership of organisations involved in the project. It can be seen as a launching pad for the services outlined above, so that local people accessing the site are enabled to search for jobs, find out about childcare facilities in the locality, make travel arrangements and so on.

The bulletin board ('Talk') allows anybody visiting the site to leave a message and to talk with others. This function was originally envisaged to be part of an e-mail procedure inside the 'Member's Page', but came to be seen as requiring more directness, transparency and immediacy than allowed for there. This seems an open, democratic way of maintaining communication, making announcements, asking for information, etc. The development of this function demonstrates the responsiveness of the website - its adaptability to respond to new demands.

The jobsearch element of the website allows people registered on the project to investigate vacancies supplied by the local Job Centre in Shipley. New vacancies are regularly uploaded to the site. Jobsearch is normally preceded by a guidance session. Any visitors to the site can check on the vacancies supplied by the local authorities of Bradford and Leeds.

 

Development

The main website development was carried out by IMS Publishing through collaboration with the information development group of the project. A series of meetings took place where the main objectives of the project were analysed in relation to the functions available in web technology at that time. A rough schema was agreed giving the fundamental information architecture. Into this shell much of the content was added immediately such as contact details of the partners and general information about the project. Then a series of links was validated and these became incorporated. The aesthetics and visual impact of the site needed much work concerning typefaces, colours etc. This aspect of the site design is difficult to achieve democratically simply because of the wide range of tastes that emerges.

There was a trade off between project resources and what was required to assist the functional aspects of the project such as the hosting of a live jobs database and a secure client database. This was assisted by some resources, eg TAP the training opportunities database, being in the required format of a searchable database. As such this was simply a case of inserting a hyperlink from the main site. The web interface of the jobs database was designed for ease of use and gives the opportunity to search by full or part time work, SOC code and qualification level (from basic to high).

The desired live client database that was to be the main component of a passworded area of the website was shelved owing to potential security problems and cost. This in fact obviated the need for a passworded area.

With such a development there was a need for a balance between a consistent official presence seen to be achieved by the main site but also a more informal rapidly changing area where news items and the like might be aired. This latter requirement was met through the development of the members' page. The members' page contains items on local initiatives such as the Shipley LETS scheme and news concerning the project.

At the outset there was a need to enlist the professional design services of IMS Publishing; however it is possible that with the skills acquired by many members of the project any further amendments or upgrades might be undertaken by community members.