Frequently asked questions

Here are some question and answers about VCS Parish Council Websites.

Q. Are VCS Parish Council Websites fully WCAG 2.2AA compliant?
A. Yes! We have spent a lot of time making our system fully compliant, and we include a proper and accurate Accessibility Statement for you from the start. This is where we beat most of the competition (a statement pasted in saying you are compliant is not actually enough!).

Q. Can the website colours match our parish sign logo?
A. Yes. We have quite a range of colour schemes available but can usually adapt slightly or add another for a modest fee. It is important that the colour scheme contains suitable contrast for WCAG accessibility.
The current selection of popular colour schemes are shown here. 

Q. Do we need to upload the signed DPI sheets? One of my councillors does not want their signature online.
A. There is no need to show signatures online although of course you have to retain the original documents. We have built a system to enter the DPI entries as text and this is sufficient and far easier for the public to make sense of. There is no need to publish the name of spouses either, but their interests do need to be listed.

Q. How much extra do we pay for SSL secure certificate to give us a https website?
A. No charge. Unlike many suppliers we believe this is now a prerequisite for web hosting and we have offered it free on all our hosting for several years.

Q. We don't have a logo or anything so what do we do?
A. We can help design one for you - please enquire. Most small PCs just use their village sign which, given a good photo, is a simple task.

Q. We want our own custom design, is that possible but still use all your features?
A. Yes, we can do that, if you have the budget for it. There will be a design cost and also an additional annual maintenance fee for your own template.

Q. We want to go ahead - what do you need to get started?
A. See our getting started page here 

Q. Can you give us legal advice on requirements for council websites?
A. No, we cannot, only refer you to the legislation. What we do know we share and build into our systems so it is available and becomes current for all our councils. That is one of many benefits of coming on board with VCS Parish Council Websites.

Q. Do we have to have an pop-up cookie message?
A. If you want any sort of visitor tracking like Google Analytics switched on, then yes. Otherwise you can just have wording about it,and no annoying pop-up. See https://design-system.service.gov.uk/components/cookie-banner for more.