IWMW 1998: British council case study

Ukoln Conference - Ukoln Conference -

September 98September 98

The Operations ofThe British CouncilWeb

Paul SquiresWebmaster

The British Council, Web TeamManchester

Ukoln Conference - September 98

The future of the British Council•Policies of Blair government, channelled through

•Foreign and Commonwealth Office•Department for International Development

•Panel 2000•promoting the UK as a nucleus of modern arts and culture

•Visioning•addressing the shape of the Council


The Activities of The British Council

Promote the UK to the world

Promote English language and education overseas


The British Council Home Page


Vital Statistics16,500 HTML files and 6,000 graphics150 pages updated every day140 web co-ordinators and 200 web authors across

109 countriesover 100 countries find the site, across a plethora

of operating systems and browsers50-250 pages uploaded per day15 local languages and 21 local servers3,000,000 hits/month with 10% monthly increaseTCO: approximately £3.5m per year


Web Authoring Diagram


Web Authoring ServicesRemote Authoring System, a complete suite

of templates and tools for web productionWeb Discussion Forums serviceRegional Web Training, co-ordinated in

Manchester but delivered globallyComprehensive split statisticsCD Rom of Internet, RAS, IntranetRatings exercises and Quality Assurance to

preserve the corporate web style


Local Servers and Content Establishing local lingustic

content is also encouraged projects more of a local

presence empowers local offices capture more of a

potential audience make more of a cultural

link in-country provide greater services

MIRRORED

Australiawww.bc.org.auCanada www.britcoun-canada.orgChile www.britcoun.clEstonia www.bctallinn.eeGermanywww.britcoun.deGreece www.britcoun.grHong Kongwww.britcoun.org.hkIsrael www.britcoun.ilItaly www.britcoun.itMalaysia www.britcoun.org.myNew Zealand www.britcoun.org.nzPakistan www.britcoun.org.pkPoland www.britcoun.org.plPortugal www.britcounpt.orgSlovenia www.britishcouncil.siSri Lanka www.britcoun.lkTaiwan www.britcoun.org.twThailand www.britcoun.or.thTurkey www.britcoun.org.trUkraine www.bc.kiev.uaUSA www.britishcouncil-usa.org

COUNTRIES THAT HAVE LOCAL LANGUAGE CONTENT

Argentina BoliviaBrazilChile ColombiaEcuadorEstonia GermanyHong KongMexico Peru TaiwanTurkey VenezuelaWales


Bad Design ExamplesNon-white or graphic backgroundsIncluding unnecessary, clip-art or hand-

drawn graphicsRealigning and tinkering with templatesAdding unnecessary links when a

concise array of content will doFramesAnimated GIFs


Compliance•Managers, Executives and Board Members must feel that the Web is a

Principal instrument for branding•Link site auditing with Design and Corporate Affairs

Content owned by board•Evaluation of managerial performance

Direct correlation with country/department web page performance

•Ratings and QA for each officeEvery quarter


Reshaping content and technology

development principlesuser focused

established ownershipcutting edge technology,

applied in a rational manner

simple yet powerful and navigable design

flexible


Corporate IT andInformation Services Management


NT Server in the Web strategyThe primary function of NT in our strategy is to serve

• Robust applications• Applications that can be easily built and developed by Council staff• Functionality not served to such an extent (functionality, TCO etc) by Unix

However, for the Internet at large,our OS of choice will continue to be

Unix


Forthcoming Web services

Portable streaming media server: likely to be either RealVideo or Microsoft NetShow. Built around portable NT server and telecommunication links, with fixed point server

Document management system, likely to be database driven

Development of content and technology for WebTV


Technological change versus corporate security concerns

Implications for the Web Team and Corporate IT

• Security• Author Training

• Connectivity• Infrastructure and server

programs• Effect on Corporate

Network

The processing of these implications results in

• Service Level Agreements• Password management services• Overseas staff training funding• Support for office connectivity overseas


BC Web Team ActivitiesEditorial Assistants

Assistant Web Master

Web MasterWeb Manager

TrainingManager

•co-ordination of incoming material •editing•quality testing•uploading

•maintenance of the site•introducing new technologies•policy and outreach

•co-ordination and delivery of training•development of Remote authoring system•liaison with authors and ratings

IntranetManager

•intranet content development and publishing•works with all BC departments•outside, but with close relations to, web team


The British Council on the Web

www.britcoun.org

IWMW 1998: British council case study

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