Release notes: Citizen Space v5.5 Policy pages

In the footer of your site(s) live the policy pages, these are:

Accessibility, Cookies, Privacy, and Terms of Use

Periodically, we take a look at our Delib sections of these policies (the bits we supply by default) to make sure that they are up-to-date and useful for people visiting the site.

In this release, we:

  • Updated our wording on the accessibility page with reference to the WCAG 2.1 AA requirements
  • Provided an editable section of the Accessibility page so that you can now set out where your content on the site fits with accessibility
  • Have added categories into the editable pages section (the Pages link on the Manage bar) to make it easier to find the things you may want to update
  • Are updating the Delib privacy information to 1) bring it into the site itself rather than sending people off via a link to our own website, and 2) to simplify the wording to make the language more human-friendly - while still containing the parts required in each territory/country. (This wording has been updated in EU sites and will be in Australia and New Zealand sites shortly)
  • Made it easier in the underlying infrastructure for us to update the wording in these pages for the different territories we operate in and when laws and guidance change in future
  • Created a setting so you can choose whether you want your editable policy words in the Privacy, Cookies, and Accessibility pages above the Delib ones or below them - you can let us know your preference
  • Made the Terms of Use page optional - if you don't put anything in there then the footer link will not appear

What does this mean?

All existing policy page wording that you have entered into your site remains exactly as it was.

The only wording we've updated/are updating is in the sections of the Privacy and Accessibility pages included by us at Delib. This is to simplify them and bring them more in line with changes made to data protection laws in different territories and the new global accessibility guidelines, so that your site remains up to date.

You also now have more options about where your wording sits (above or below ours) and an additional editable section on the Accessibility page.

Do I need to do anything?

Accessibility

The Accessibility page may require your input.

We have updated Citizen Space to meet the WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines already and in this release we've updated our wording on this page to explain how the platform itself meets the requirements.

However, we're not able to provide accessibility wording for all the content you add to the site as that's under your control. We've added a new editable space on this page to allow you to do that, which can be found in your Site Admin 'Pages' link.

Your organisation or government may require you to add detail to this page. If so, you now have a space to do that. The best people to discuss this with are your own accessibility or content teams to meet the requirements of your own organisation or government.

If you are a UK government organisation, there are new regulations that require you to set out an accessibility statement for any services you are running. 

Privacy page

You do not need to update your privacy policy if you are happy with it.

It's always worthwhile checking it is still relevant every once in a while and to make updates where required. All this can be done in the editable section in your Site Admin 'Pages' link.

Terms of Use

You do not need to update your Terms of Use if you are happy with them.

If you use this page, like the privacy policy, check the words every so often to make sure they are still relevant and update them via the editable section in your Site Admin 'Pages' link.

Many organisations find they don't need a terms of use, if you don't use this page and would like to remove it, you can now delete any words in there and the page will disappear from the footer.