Hints about using this site
What's changed and why?
The web site last went through a radical transformation in
2004/05. The scope and depth of information was increased
significantly, and the content is expanding all the time.
The menu and navigation structure was developed to make it
easier for you to find what you're looking for. If you are
interested in Planning, for example, there's a whole section
devoted to that topic. Rather than just highlight a few important
items on the front page, many main service topic areas have
their own buttons leading to their home pages listing available
information.
Service home pages may, in any event, be reached by using
the
A-Z of
Services, or selecting the headings which appear as you move
through the left hand navigation tree.
The home page also features news items, which may relate to
council business and activities, and items from various public
sector partners. Tasters are also provided in 'What's On' (Council
and other events open to the public) and 'What's New' (a
selection of items which are new to the web site).
Of course, one of the key changes is how we've improved
accessibility of
the site.
Finding your way around
At the centre of the home page is a link to those
services which are available
online, for you to use when it is convenient to you -
eliminating, or reducing, the need for you to contact the Council
or call at our offices.
On the left hand side of every page is a menu which lists
the main sections of the website. These categories appear on every
page and can be clicked on to view information. The
information in the site is divided up into these main topic
areas.
The top menu bar provides quick-links to the homepage, contact
information, information about the council and the A to Z of
Services - and access to information about content
translation.
To assist you with moving between the pages there is a "bread
crumb" menu trail at the top of each page so you can see the path
you have followed to reach your destination and use it to revisit
previous pages, (or you may prefer to use your web browser's back
button.)
Looking for information
There are five main ways that you can find information on this
web site:
This is the starting point of any website and a good place to
begin browsing the site for information. Once you start to
look at different parts of the site, if you want to return to the
homepage, just click on the word 'Home' in the top menu or on
the breadcrumb trail
Use the search box to type in your own word(s) and carry out a
search for the word(s) on the website. The search box can be found
on the top right hand side of every page. It is best to use one or
two key words rather than a long sentence. There is also an
advanced search facility available to help you narrow down your
choice.
- 3. Choose a main topic (navigation 'tree' on
left hand side of screen)
By clicking on one of the main section titles you will be
taken to the main section frontpage. From here you can see all of
the information that is available in that section.
The A-Z is another method for finding information on the site.
It lists all the information relating to services provided by Test
Valley Borough Council in alphabetical order. Simply click on the
initial letter of the service you require. For example, if you want
to find information on
Waste Disposal, click on the
letter 'W'
The site map lists most of the key pages available on the
site and can be useful to quickly scan through every page to see if
you can spot what you're looking for.
Note: In view of the vast amount and range of
information contained on the website, users are strongly advised to
make full use the search facility or the A-Z of services where
there is not an obvious topic link on the home page.
Online Forms
The Borough Council prides itself on utilising new
technologies to enable greater interaction with citizens. Our
online forms cover a wide variety of services and topics, allowing
you to interact with the council whenever you wish. The number of
eforms is steadily increasing.
To view our range of online forms, see the
Forms
Page
Downloads
All downloadable documents on this site are in Adobe Acrobat
PDF Format and you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open them. If
you don't already have Acrobat Reader you can download it free from
Adobe's web site:
Having problems downloading pdf's?
Print Page
Every page has a print page option in the top right hand
corner. By selecting this option you will be able to print out a
'clean page', that uses a simple template design of the page.
Need more help?