Our information is a key service we provide and one of our main assets. The content strategy will help the Parliament make a positive difference to the lives of the people of Scotland by providing information:
that can be easily found
in language that everyone can understand
in formats that everyone can use
that works across our channels
that performs well on different devices
This will make our information service efficient, effective, compliant and reach further.
What’s included (and excluded) from this strategy
The content strategy applies to information we communicate using words, including data, videos, social media, documents and offline materials like leaflets.
The benefits of the content strategy apply to all content that the Parliament produces apart from some specific types of content, such as information provided to us by the Scottish Government.
Content strategy
The Scottish Parliament’s content strategy is centred around 4 principles. Content that is:
We put the needs of the people who use our information at the heart of what we create.
How it links to Parliament’s wider goals and values
Values: Excellence and Inclusiveness
Strategic Plan’s goal of ‘informing, involving and being accountable to the people of Scotland.’
Commission on Parliamentary Reform point on making the language used closer to ‘everyday language’ and about language used being meaningless outside the ‘Holyrood bubble’
How we’ll meet this principle
staff understand who they’re creating information for and working across teams to deliver a positive user experience
all content has verified user needs and goals
decisions are driven by performance data and findings from user research
we stop creating information that people don’t need
move from ease of putting information into PDFs to better understand format needs
organisation knows what information it’s creating and how it impacts the existing content ecosystem
How we’ll measure success
a reduction in the information we create and the channels we use
goal completion testing – users can complete what they came to the website to do
regular user needs audit of content
Our content is findable
We prioritise helping people who want our information to find it as quickly and easily as possible.
How it links to Parliament’s wider goals and values
Values: Stewardship
Strategic Plan’s strategic goal of ‘being accountable to the people of Scotland’.
How we’ll meet this principle
content specialists managing the structure of our web services and our information
content checked by specialists for findability good practice and our Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) standards
adherence to archiving policy to ensure that content is removed when it’s no longer needed
design content around what people are searching for
regularly test where users expect to find information and put content where people expect to find it
move away from using PDFs for our information
How we’ll measure success
check time spent for users completing tasks
check that content can be found on website search and is found on the first page of search engine results
check content has unique, clear headings
review how many times users have to search to find what they were looking for
monitor the number of people that ‘bounce’ on our website – who leave after just 1 page
Our content is consistent
We implement a consistent quality, style and tone for all online information.
How it links to Parliament’s wider goals and values
Values: Excellence and Stewardship
How we’ll meet this principle
content specialists working with teams across the Parliament to ensure all content:
meets the style guide and is written in Plain English as far as possible
meets readability standards
is written to be easily read online
Digital Communications and Content Team staff managing our content across channels and using governance to deal with content that does not meet prescribed content standards
content is written to be understood by all of our users and, where technical language must be used, we give Plain English explanations
How we’ll measure success
regular reviews of web pages to make standards are being met and providing training if required
roll out and development of style guide
explanation of technical terms in Plain English
content is created once and used across channels
Our content is accessible
We ensure our information is open and understandable for anyone who wants to look at it.
How it links to Parliament’s wider goals and values
Values: Inclusiveness and Respect
Public Engagement Strategy goal of ‘improving awareness of the relevance and accessibility of Parliament, particularly in under-represented groups.’
How we’ll meet this principle
testing content for accessibility with users who have accessibility requirements and with tools such as screen readers
publishing process where content specialists check accessibility of content
training for staff across the organisation to ensure accessibility is being considered when creating content and what’s required to make content accessible is understood
How we’ll measure success
regular checking that our content complies with the WCAG 2.2 standards (recognised accessibility standards)