Jadu COVID-19 Community Podcast

We feature the Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ), the not-for-profit association serving the state's local authorities, and which manages many of their websites. Jadu is a market-leading CMS and e-forms provider to Queensland Councils, and we talk to Brett Johnson, who is the digital member services manager, about COVID-19 being a catalyst for channel shift amongst many of its members. Transcript for this episode: https://docs.google.com/document/d/14gT5JVuNr3SqvPwKwNGPfdTosq3Ifu4euVmQqKZZClw/edit?usp=sharing

The London Borough of Newham went live with its new website and Content Management System (CMS) during the height of the COVID-19 outbreak in the UK. We talk to the council about pushing ahead amidst challenging circumstances, and ask how it had to change its content migration strategy to make things work. We also look back to pre-COVID times when the council undertook extensive user testing, getting out and about testing with real users and using eye tracking with Jadu Creative to get granular with design choices. Transcript of recording here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BpggQJMVVQNvF6DUVKjsjBV86YuyR14EPM0yLxaYGl4/edit?usp=sharing

Over 100 days into the pandemic in the UK, Europe’s largest local authority Birmingham City Council tells us about the changing role of its website, the importance of combining national and local data to proactively outreach to those in need, its ‘online book of memories’, which is collecting experiences to mark this significant moment in the city’s history, and explains that the council is keeping a close eye on the local lock down in Leicester. Transcript of recording here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lB6uizIk75DxUqtIdg0_dkZtzkRvEKfFv_-bV-nHFQA/edit?usp=sharing

Although 99% of councils are now providing household waste recycling services, 42% of them are experiencing “moderate or severe” levels of disruption at waste and recycling centres. We talk to Gloucestershire County Council about the highly successful approach it has taken to managing visits to its Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC), its Office365 integration and how other services might benefit from similar approaches to bookings and appointments. Transcript of recording here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/17UNRO9nYDZujMpeUzSEUgnavpfcXndV1pZEB8jArySg/edit?usp=sharing '42% of councils reporting “moderate or severe” levels of HWRC disruption' (Circular.)https://www.circularonline.co.uk/news/42-of-councils-reporting-moderate-or-severe-levels-of-hwrc-disruption/

Many Councils are, for the first time since the beginning of all this, having the odd opportunity to step-back and assess the situation, from a long term perspective. We talk to Socitm about this 'RESET' phase, where Local Authorities are asking “which services do we want to keep, which do we want to change and which do we want to get rid of?” Transcript of recording here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-hGbI8ZYyfvEoKeIh4ozFp9yMU2rjZAgsIm-aCOCu6k/edit?usp=sharing

Braintree District Council talks to us about placing accessibility at the very core of its website redesign amidst a global pandemic. We also ask Shaw Trust Accessibility Services whether local government in general is doing enough to meet September deadlines, which are now confirmed to be set in stone regardless of disruption caused by the Coronavirus. Transcript of recording here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jULhRX1amAQjeQD0PqHqg0PgXmyKUFWKxAZrA7RtX8s/edit?usp=sharing

Sarah talks about the emerging technology work that the council has been doing amidst this pandemic. She tells us about improving efficiencies around management of processes, those such as free school meals, which has seen a 2,000% increase in applications. Transcript of recording here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QsNFFXGZNKrqyC12jm0q5HWPdZz-ZYYk1klRxg6AZFI/edit?usp=sharing

Today’s episode features Catherine Iles who is Head of Digital at Medway Council. Catherine and her team produced a clean, crisp, easy to navigate Coronavirus page that brings everything together in one place. Transcript of recording here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fQimMk-4G9Hnu8GhbKFtp4By0dpabFI0LqWOXH4coEY/edit?usp=sharing