Citizens Advice bureaux website framework

A little background

Citizens Advice is a charity that provides free advice to the public from over 3,200 locations nationally through more than 20,000 volunteers.

Nexer has a long-standing relationship with Citizens Advice stretching back over 15 years. During this time we designed and developed all of the organisation’s websites, from their award-winning Adviceguide (now incorporated into the main site) to CABlink, the bureau extranet that provides vital information to the network of over 20,000 staff and volunteers nationally. Collectively, the public facing sites attract over 15M unique visitors each year. Nexer launched a new digital strategy for the organisation including the implementation of a new Content Management System (CMS), EPiServer. 

The project

We have recently undertaken a programme of work to implement the Episerver Content Management System (CMS) platform across the business. At the same time we took the opportunity to devise a mobile-friendly framework for bureaux to launch their own websites, based upon a set of consistent, rigorously tested and feature-rich templates in Episerver. 

We initially launched new sites for Oldham, Rochdale and Bolton CABs. We designed and built a new website that meets each bureau’s basic digital needs and provides a highly professional, usable, first class site that is aligned with the central organisation in terms of look and feel, user-centred design philosophy, underlying technology, and integration potential. 

We implemented Episerver 7 CMS as the underlying content management technology for the bureaux sites. This is the same technology that underpins the national sites, providing the maximum integration potential and ensuring that bureaux only need to train and become familiar with a single CMS platform for their own site and for any accounts they hold with the central site. 

The bottom line

Nexer delivered robust, beautifully designed and tested sites for Bolton, Oldham and Rochdale CABs initially which have been well received both by the bureaux and the public. We also provided a framework that could be used by other bureaux around the country to deliver a cost-effective, user-centred, and responsive (mobile-friendly) website that meets all of their basic web requirements. 

Bureaux can implement a website that is based upon proven technology, closely aligned with the strategy and approach of the wider organisation, and delivers a first-class user experience across desktop and mobile devices for a fraction of the cost of a typical website of this stature.