Choosing a new website supplier is one of the most significant decisions a town or parish council can make. Your website is the primary way residents access council information, from meeting minutes and planning documents to local news and contact details. It needs to work for everyone, meet legal accessibility requirements, and be straightforward for council staff and clerks to maintain. With a growing number of council website suppliers on the market, it can be difficult to know where to start. This guide is designed to help you evaluate your options thoroughly and make an informed choice.
Understand Your Council’s Requirements First
Before you begin approaching council website providers in the UK, take the time to establish exactly what your council needs. It is far easier to compare suppliers when you have a clear set of requirements to measure them against. Consider the following:
- Accessibility compliance — your website must meet the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018, which require WCAG 2.2 AA compliance. This is a legal obligation, not a nice-to-have.
- Document management — councils publish a large volume of documents including agendas, minutes, financial records, and policies. You need a system that makes uploading, organising, and finding these documents simple for both staff and residents.
- Meeting calendars — a clear, up-to-date calendar of council meetings, with links to associated agendas and minutes, is essential.
- Councillor pages — residents should be able to find their councillors easily, along with contact details and committee memberships.
- News and events — the ability to post local news, public notices, and community events.
- Contact forms and service request pages — making it easy for residents to get in touch or report issues.
- Planning and local information — links to relevant planning portals, local services, and community resources.
Write these requirements down. They will form the basis of any brief you issue to potential council web design companies and will help you compare like with like.
Look for Council-Specific Experience
There is a meaningful difference between a general web design agency and a supplier that specialises in council websites. A general agency may build attractive websites, but councils operate in a specific context with specific obligations. Specialist council website suppliers will already understand:
- WCAG accessibility obligations and how to meet them properly, not as an afterthought.
- Public sector procurement processes, including the need for transparency, value for money, and clear documentation.
- Council workflows, such as the regular cycle of meetings, minutes, and document publication that clerks manage.
- The Transparency Code and what smaller councils are required to publish.
- The types of content councils need, from annual governance statements to allotment information, and how best to structure it.
Working with a supplier who already understands these requirements saves considerable time and reduces the risk of ending up with a website that looks good but does not actually meet your operational needs.
Check Their Accessibility Credentials
Accessibility should be at the top of your evaluation criteria. The law requires public sector websites to meet WCAG 2.2 AA standards, and councils can face complaints through the Equality and Human Rights Commission if they fall short. When speaking to council website providers in the UK, ask direct questions:
- Are their existing council websites WCAG 2.2 AA compliant? Ask them to point you to live examples.
- Can they provide accessibility audit results? Reputable suppliers will be able to show you audit reports or testing evidence for sites they have built.
- Do they build accessibility in from the start, or add it afterwards? Accessibility needs to be considered at every stage of design and development — in the colour choices, the navigation structure, the way documents are handled, the code itself. Bolting it on at the end rarely produces good results.
- Do they rely on accessibility overlays? Be cautious of any supplier whose accessibility strategy depends on third-party overlay tools. These plugins claim to fix accessibility issues automatically, but they are widely criticised by accessibility professionals. They do not make an inaccessible site truly accessible, and they can actually create new barriers for users of assistive technology. The Government Digital Service and disability organisations have spoken clearly on this point: overlays are not a substitute for building an accessible website properly.
A credible supplier will welcome these questions. If a supplier is vague or dismissive about accessibility, treat that as a serious red flag.
Evaluate the Content Management System
Your council website will need regular updates — new minutes to upload, meeting dates to add, news to post, documents to publish. In most councils, this work is done by the clerk or a small number of volunteers, not by web developers. The content management system (CMS) behind your website must be something non-technical people can use confidently.
Key questions to consider:
- How easy is it to add a new page, upload a document, or update a councillor’s details? Ask for a demonstration.
- Is training included? Good council web design companies will provide thorough training as part of the project, along with written guides or video tutorials for ongoing reference.
- What CMS do they use, and why? WordPress is the most widely used content management system in the world, powering over 40% of all websites. It has a vast ecosystem of support, an intuitive editing interface, and is well understood by developers everywhere. This matters because it means you are never locked into a single supplier — if you ever need to move, any competent developer can work with a WordPress site. Be more cautious about proprietary systems built by a single company, as these can leave you dependent on one supplier with limited options if the relationship does not work out.
Ask About Hosting and Security
Your council website handles public information and, in some cases, personal data submitted through contact forms or service requests. Hosting and security deserve careful attention.
- Where is the data hosted? For GDPR compliance, your website data should be hosted in the United Kingdom. Ask your supplier to confirm this explicitly.
- What security measures are in place? Look for SSL certificates (HTTPS), firewalls, malware scanning, and regular security updates.
- What is the backup schedule? Daily backups, stored separately from the main server, are a reasonable minimum. Ask how quickly the site could be restored if something went wrong.
- What uptime guarantee do they offer? Look for a commitment of 99.9% uptime or above, and ask what happens if they fail to meet it.
- Do they hold any security accreditations? ISO 27001 certification or Cyber Essentials accreditation demonstrates a supplier takes security seriously.
These are not technical details you can afford to overlook. A council website that goes down or suffers a data breach damages public trust and could have regulatory consequences.
Understand the Total Cost
Cost is always a factor for councils, particularly at the parish and town level where budgets are limited. But the cheapest quote is not always the best value. Make sure you understand the full picture before comparing prices.
- Initial build costs — what does the setup fee include? Design, development, content migration, training, and launch support should all be covered.
- Ongoing annual costs — most council website suppliers charge an annual fee for hosting, support, maintenance, and security updates. Make sure you understand exactly what this covers.
- Content migration — will the supplier help you move content from your old website, or is that your responsibility? Migrating years of meeting minutes and documents is a significant task.
- Training — is it included in the initial cost, or charged separately? What about refresher training if your clerk changes?
- Support — what level of support is included? Is there a helpdesk? What are the response times? Is support available by phone, email, or both?
- Hidden costs — watch for charges that may not be obvious upfront. Some suppliers charge extra for adding new pages, updating the design, email hosting, or domain registration. Ask for a complete breakdown so there are no surprises.
Request a clear, itemised quote from each supplier so you can make a fair comparison. If a quote is vague, ask for clarification before proceeding.
Request References and Case Studies
Any reputable council website provider should be able to point you to councils that are already using their service. Take the time to follow up on these references properly.
- Visit their live websites. Browse them as a resident would. Can you find meeting minutes easily? Is the site clear and well-organised? Does it work well on a mobile phone? Try navigating with a keyboard to get a basic sense of accessibility.
- Speak to the clerks. Ask them what the build process was like, how easy the CMS is to use, and how responsive the supplier is when they need help. A five-minute conversation with a clerk at another council is worth more than any sales presentation.
- Look at case studies. Good council web design companies will publish case studies showing the challenges a council faced and how they were addressed. This gives you insight into their process and problem-solving approach.
If a supplier cannot provide references or examples of live council websites, consider why that might be.
Questions to Ask Potential Suppliers
When you are evaluating council website suppliers, the following questions will help you get the information you need to make a sound decision:
- How many council websites have you built, and can you provide live examples?
- Are your websites fully WCAG 2.2 AA compliant, and can you evidence this with audit results?
- What content management system do you use, and will non-technical staff be able to manage the site independently?
- Is training included, and what does it cover?
- Where is the website hosted, and is the hosting UK-based?
- What security measures and accreditations do you have in place?
- What is included in your annual support and maintenance fee?
- Will you handle content migration from our existing website?
- What are your response times for support requests?
- What happens if we decide to leave — can we take our website and content with us?
That final question is particularly important. You should never feel trapped by a supplier. If your website is built on an open-source platform like WordPress and your content is yours to take, you always have options.
Making Your Decision
Choosing the right website supplier is not a decision to rush. Take the time to gather quotes, ask questions, check references, and compare what each supplier offers against your council’s actual requirements. The right supplier will not only build you a website that meets accessibility standards and serves your residents well — they will also support you in maintaining it for years to come.
A good supplier will be transparent, patient with your questions, and genuinely interested in understanding how your council works. If a supplier is pushy, vague about accessibility, or reluctant to provide references, those are signs to look elsewhere.
At Zonkey Council Websites, we are always happy to answer questions from councils exploring their options, whether or not you choose to work with us. If you would like to discuss your requirements or request a no-obligation quotation, visit our request a quotation page.