News and public notices
Routine updates, consultations and urgent messages, with sensible dates, categories and expiry controls.
A better starting point for public-sector websites.
Public Sector CMS is WordPress with the useful parts already thought through: publishing, events, people, places, documents, search and editorial control. It is made for smaller public-sector and cultural organisations that need their website to do a great deal, without having a corporate-sized budget to build it.
See what is includedA town council, museum or cultural organisation should not have to pay us to rebuild the same basic publishing tools from scratch.
Most need some combination of news, events, people, documents, places and directories. They also need good search, accessible pages and enough control for a small team to keep everything current.
We have built those parts once and built them properly. That gives us more time to work on the things that are genuinely yours: who uses the website, what they need from it, how the content should be organised and where the current experience gets in their way.
You get a head start, not somebody else’s website with your logo added.
The useful parts are ready
We start with working ways to publish the content below, then adapt them to your subject matter and the way your team works. A museum’s events programme is not the same as a council calendar; it should not be treated as though it is.
Events
A clear community calendar with locations, recurring events, moderated submissions and automatic archiving.
People and teams
Profiles for councillors, trustees, staff, artists, speakers or volunteers, with the right details and relationships for each organisation.
Directories
Searchable local organisations, businesses and services, including public submissions, approval and review reminders.
Agendas, minutes and documents
Organised collections with useful metadata and automatic listings, so important files do not disappear into the media library.
Places and maps
Venues, facilities, collections, public spaces and services, with mapping where it genuinely helps somebody complete a task.
Also included: prominent search, clear navigation, breadcrumbs, reusable page patterns, forms, analytics and content review reminders.
Accessibility is part of the build
An accessibility widget cannot repair an inaccessible website. We deal with accessibility in the page structure, components, forms, code and editing tools instead.
Because we reuse the same core components, we can test them thoroughly and carry those improvements into the next project. We then test the finished website again with its actual content, integrations and most important tasks.
Built to support WCAG 2.2 AAA fresh installation cannot be called compliant. The complete website needs to be tested before launch, and its content needs to stay accessible afterwards.
✓
Keyboard and screen-reader considered components
✓
Clear heading, link, form and error patterns
✓
Checks and guidance for people editing content
✓
Manual testing alongside automated tools
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Testing with real tasks, content and devices
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Support for the accessibility statement and review process
Easy to edit without being easy to break
Flexible page builders often give editors hundreds of choices and leave them responsible for design decisions. We take a more useful approach.
Staff receive a focused library of page patterns and components built around the content they publish. They can change layouts and create new pages without accidentally undermining the visual identity or accessibility of the site.
- Roles and approval where they are needed
- Ownership and review dates for important content
- An organised media and document library
- Training based on real editorial tasks
NOTICE TITLE
Road closure: High Street
We reuse the code, not the thinking
Starting ahead does not mean deciding the answer in advance. We still need to understand the people using the website, the content they are looking for and the staff who will keep it running.
First, find the real problems
We look at analytics, speak to the people involved and review the existing content. That tells us which journeys matter and where the website is currently making life difficult.
Make it recognisably yours
Your structure, visual identity, language, permissions and page layouts are designed around your organisation. We do not reskin a generic public-sector template.
Test before everything is fixed
We put prototypes and working pages in front of people early, while their feedback can still improve the result.
Leave the team in control
Editors train using their own content. They receive useful documentation, ongoing support and everything another WordPress supplier would need to take over.
Built from projects we have actually delivered
The starting point comes from years of work with museums, charities, public bodies and other organisations with a lot to communicate and small teams responsible for doing it. We keep the ideas that worked and revisit the ones that are specific to each project.
Events, migration and a small editorial team
We planned and migrated a substantial body of content, brought events into a clearer system and have hosted, maintained and developed the website since 2019.
Accessible profiles, workflows and search
We researched, tested and built a public-sector service that helps officers find volunteers by skills, availability and preferences, following GDS accessibility guidance.
Making complex information easier to find
We designed search around the language people actually use, including alternative names and misspellings, rather than expecting users to know the organisation’s terminology.
Standard WordPress. No proprietary lock-in.
You receive the project code, database, files, credentials and documentation in a usable form. Another competent WordPress supplier can take over the website if required.
We use supported third-party tools where they are the right answer, keep dependencies under control and make recurring licence costs clear before they are approved.
What that means in practice
Portable content and data
Documented project code
UK hosting available
Backups and monitoring
Staging before updates
Clear handover process
Start with what people need now
Payments, venue booking and other transactions can be valuable, but the workflow needs to be understood first. Installing a WordPress plugin does not decide prices, approvals, refunds, staff responsibilities or how an existing finance system should fit in.
We can add or connect those services when they are ready, without holding up the accessible publishing website needed at launch.
Online payments when the process is clear
Room and venue booking integrated or built
Small-scale e-commerce where it adds value
CRM and finance systems where the systems allow it
Asset reporting when the service is ready
Advanced mapping where a map helps
More of the budget goes into making the website useful.
Public Sector CMS is developed and supported by Powered By Reason. We are a small, senior team with long experience of delivering complicated websites for public-sector, cultural and public-interest organisations.