National Assembly for Wales
General page and site layout
The website has been designed and built based on information gathered through consultation with Assembly Members, National Assembly for Wales staff and the public. During consultation, three initial designs were produced, and a final design chosen on the basis of comments received. The final design has been structured as follows:
- Left Hand Navigation
- Header
- Breadcrumb Trail (site location)
- Footer
- Main Window
- Printing
- Site Structure
The information below explains how to use the detailed features and how to navigate the site.
To ensure that it is easily viewable by as many users as possible, the website been designed to work to a minimum resolution of 800x600. Further information in relation to the accessibility standards that have been applied to the site can be found within the accessibility section.
Left Hand Navigation
The left hand navigation provides access to the main sections of the website. These sections expand as you navigate through the site, with the appropriate sub options being displayed. These sub sections are also colour coordinated based on the level you are on within the site. Generally there will be no more than four levels within each section. Also provided within the left hand navigation is a link to the home page and the ability to choose whether to access the site in English or Welsh.
On the home page and application pages, links have also been provided to other areas within the site. These are displayed in the four grey boxes under the left hand navigation pane.
Header
The following functions can be accessed from the header at any point within the website:
- Advanced Search
- A-Z
- My Details
- Log Out (when registered)
- Simple Search
The advanced search function lets you perform a detailed search based on type of information, location within the site and when the information was published. Further details can be found in Advanced Search Help.
The A-Z is an alphabetic index of the main categories/pages of information on the site. This index allows you to visit the section of the site you want without having to navigate through the site. However, the A-Z only displays key pages due to the number of individual pages stored on the site.
There are a number of interactive functions on the website, such as discussion forums and subscription alerts for content updates. Users need to regsister to use these functions, either via the registration link on the applications page or by accessing the 'My Details’ link. The 'My Details’ page also contains instructions on how to reset you password or amend preferences.
The 'logout’ link is only displayed when you are logged into the site. Clicking on this link will log you out of the site, but will not close the web page.
There is a simple search box in the header. The search engine will look throughout the site for text entered in this box, and present results and offer the option to refine the search. Using " ” will perform an exact phrase match rather than an any word match.
Breadcrumb Trail
This is a trail of links that appears at the top of each page, showing where you are on the website. Almost every time you click from one page to another, a new item will appear in the trail. The trail appears in a bar that changes colour depending on the location
Footer
At the bottom of every page certain footers have been provided that provide useful information on the use of the site:
Accessibility
- Help
- Sitemap
- Privacy Policy
- Glossary
- Terms & Conditions
- Copyright
The accessibility link provides information on how the site has been developed to take into account the different browsers that are used for viewing information within internet sites. This also includes any instructions on how to change your browser font size and shortcut keys set-up.
The help section provides guidance on the structure of the site and the page layout as well as information on the use of the applications provided within the site.
The sitemap shows the full layout of the website, split by the main sections, and shows every visible page that has been added to the website. It should be noted that due to the sheer number of business documents, the majority of these are not displayed within the sitemap. All pages detailed within the sitemap can be navigated to by the selection of the required page as these are all linked.
The privacy policy details the use of any information you provide to the National Assembly for Wales and indicates how this information will be managed.
The glossary provides a useful list of terms that are used within the business in an A-Z format.
To ensure that users do not misuse the applications within the site, Terms and Conditions have been provided that details the usage of the site and what behaviour will and will not be accepted. Users have to agree to these terms and conditions as part of the registration process.
Main Window
The main window of the site is the information presentation area. Information may be displayed in multiple formats, but this will generally be html for standard web pages and an embedded pdf viewer for business documents.
Please note that Adobe Acrobat Reader version 7.0.5 is needed to view PDF documents within the screen, otherwise the information will be opened as a separate document. Users who do not have this version, but would like to view the documents within the window, can visit the Adobe website: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
To help understand what information is held within each section, and to reduce excessive navigation, each section of the website has an introduction page that provides an overview of that section, with additional information being given on each sub section.
The homepage of the site is slightly different, and is used to allow users to find an Assembly Member quickly, and to read the latest news about the National Assembly for Wales.
Printing
There are two ways of printing depending on the type of information required. The normal browser print function should be used to print a normal html information page. The printout will only print the actual content of the main page, and not the header and left hand navigation information.
The PDF viewer’s built-in print function should be used to print PDF files, and is activated by clicking this button. [Pdf print icon image]
Site Structure
As detailed within the left hand navigation section, the site has been divided into seven main sections:
News
The news section covers news about the National Assembly for Wales, and contains useful information for the media.
About us
This section includes general information about the National Assembly for Wales and its responsibilities, the difference between the National Assembly for Wales and the Welsh Assembly Government, and education programmes run by the Assembly.
Business
The business section holds all current and historical documentation relating to business discussed, considered and approved by the National Assembly for Wales, including legislation, Committee business and Plenary business.
Members
The Members section holds all the information on Assembly Members, such as which areas or constituencies they represent, biographies, and how to contact them.
Get Involved
The Get Involved section gives you the opportunity to interact with the National Assembly for Wales. It includes functions such as booking a visit to Plenary sessions and Committee meetings, arranging group visits to the Senedd and applying for jobs in the Assembly. The Calendar is also found here.
