Recently, we’ve supported a few councils on developing their service directories. We’ve learned that while it’s fairly straightforward to make a service directory, making a good one can be difficult.
It’s not enough to show people the services near them, Google Maps can do that. To make a directory effective, you need to show coverage areas, accessibility information and be sensitive to the problems residents may face.
Following a data standard makes these jobs easier. Once a few directories have a standard in common, it’s easier for others to adapt this information, building on this work to create their own products on top of the existing data infrastructure.
Here’s a look at how we implemented a service directory in a new data standard in Buckinghamshire.
Getting acquainted with the standard
We’re following the OpenReferral UK standard for community services data. It’s new work, so it’s likely that we’ll discover things that can be applied back to future versions of the standard.
Share this