Customer Access Strategy

Doing things digitally and doing them better

The Council’s Digital Strategy sets out our vision for putting technology at the forefront of our journey and recognises what digital can do for Rotherham.

When we talk about ‘Digital’ we mean the Council’s website, social media messaging (eg. Facebook, X, Instagram), 'Your Account,’ and emails. In the future ‘digital’ services may also include other options such as voice activated information.

By expanding what we provide digitally, people will benefit from an even wider choice of online services – all of which are accessible any time of day or night. This gives people immediate access to information, advice and a written record that can be saved to their own devices.

Working digitally also means that as a Council we are able to promote news and opportunities, talk to our customers and communities much faster, and across wider geographical areas at the touch of a button.

There’s always room for improvement and we want to make our online access easier and give our customers an even better experience so they increasingly choose to access services this way. 

We are doing this by: 

  • making as many of our services available online as we can so that you can do what you need to do at a time to suit you, without having to contact the Council directly
  • designing our online services ‘digital first’ for use on smartphones and tablets so that you can use mobile devices to access Council services regardless of the device you use
  • making it as easy as possible for you to book and pay for events and services in one easy step
  • regularly reviewing the layout of our website so that the content is more user friendly and information is easier to find and access
  • Ccntinuously reviewing the search words and phrases you use so that the search results are more accurate
  • Mmking it easier for you to complete a request or share information with us online by asking the right questions, being clear about what we need to know and making sure you only have to tell us your information once
  • providing you with the ability to upload copies of documents online instead of asking you to provide original paper versions
  • where possible, offering you the ability to pin a location on a map so that it’s  easier to report things whilst you’re out and about
  • introducing more online videos to visually help, guide and inform our customers about the things they need to know
  • making sure our digital services meet accessibility standards
  • providing you with automated information updates so you can track the progress of your applications or reports
  • prioritising your online safety by implementing best practice security measures. For example, the ‘s’ in the website address https stands for ‘secure.’
  • sharing helpful hints and tips with our customers to help them feel more confident about the way they access and make use of online services
  • making  use of social media to create online interest and increase participation
  • making sure you know what to do and where to go if things go wrong or something is really urgent
  • keeping up-to-date with new technology so we can continue to give you a choice of digital ‘self-serve' options
  • making it easy for you to communicate with us online so that letters and paper documents are only used when there is no other choice