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West Daly Regional Council

Website Development 

Presentation of NLC elearn

Website Development

UX

Content

Integration

about this project

Delivering a modern, accessible council website that makes it easier for communities to find information, access services and stay connected with West Daly Regional Council.

Overview

Captovate has worked with West Daly Regional Council since 2015, initially supporting the organisation with social media and later developing its previous website. As the council’s digital needs evolved, the team recognised an opportunity to modernise the platform and improve how information is delivered to communities across the region.


Council websites often contain a large volume of information, documents and compliance-related content. The goal for this project was to create a website that was easier to maintain internally, while ensuring residents and stakeholders could quickly access the information most relevant to them.


To achieve this, the site transitioned from Drupal to Captovate’s web builder Ariba, providing a more streamlined system for publishing content, managing documents and maintaining the website over time.

A box with a triangle and a circle in it.

Celebrating the West Daly region

Regional photography

To bring the website to life visually, the council organised a professional photoshoot across the West Daly region. The resulting imagery captures the landscapes, communities and natural environment that define the area.



These images are used prominently throughout the site, particularly within the hero banners, creating a strong visual identity while showcasing the beauty and character of the region.

A box with a triangle and a circle in it.

Community totem

The website also incorporates a series of custom illustrations representing each community, provided by the council. These illustrations include symbolic animals such as the cockatoo for Wadeye and the emu for Palumpa.



Integrated across the site, the illustrations align with the council’s brand palette of earthy tones including brown, dark red and black. They add a distinctive visual layer to the website while reflecting the identity and individuality of each community.

A box with a triangle and a circle in it.

Community totem

The website also incorporates a series of custom illustrations representing each community, provided by the council. These illustrations include symbolic animals such as the cockatoo for Wadeye and the emu for Palumpa.



Integrated across the site, the illustrations align with the council’s brand palette of earthy tones including brown, dark red and black. They add a distinctive visual layer to the website while reflecting the identity and individuality of each community.

Content Optimisation for the web

Alongside the technical build, Captovate worked closely with the council team to refine the website’s content. This included rewriting and restructuring copy to ensure it was clear, concise and well suited to online reading.



The content was also optimised for search engines and modern AI search tools, helping improve discoverability and ensuring the council’s information can be easily found by both residents and digital assistants.

A box with a triangle and a circle in it.

Clear navigation through a mega menu

Council websites must publish a wide range of information, policies and documents to meet governance and compliance requirements. This often results in large site structures that can be difficult for users to navigate.



To address this, Captovate implemented a mega menu navigation system that allows visitors to easily explore the full range of council services and information.


The mega menu presents categories in a clear, structured layout, helping users quickly locate the pages they need. It also allows key pages and important information to be highlighted directly within the menu, improving visibility and usability across the site.

Making it easier to find jobs with council

Employment opportunities are an important part of council engagement with local communities. The website now features a dedicated Employment hero section that highlights available positions and encourages people to explore career opportunities with West Daly Regional Council.


A customised job listing interface allows users to filter positions by:

  • industry
  • community
  • department


This makes it easier for visitors to quickly identify roles relevant to them and supports the council’s efforts to promote local employment.

Making it easier to find jobs with council

Employment opportunities are an important part of council engagement with local communities. The website now features a dedicated Employment section integrated with Employment Hero, allowing the team to manage job listings in one place while automatically publishing them across the website and other platforms such as Seek.


A customised job listing interface allows users to filter positions by:

  • industry
  • community
  • department


This makes it easier for visitors to quickly identify roles relevant to them and supports the council’s efforts to promote local employment.

Streamlining document publishing with Doc Assembler

Many councils use Doc Assembler to manage the publication of agendas, minutes and other formal documents that must be accessible to the public.


To simplify the council’s workflow, Captovate integrated Doc Assembler directly into the website. Documents published within Doc Assembler automatically appear on the relevant pages of the council website.


This integration removes the need for council staff to upload documents twice, reducing administrative workload while ensuring the website always displays the most up-to-date information.


The integration is designed to pull only specific document categories through the Doc Assembler HTML feed, ensuring confidential materials remain hidden while approved public documents are published automatically.

Streamlining document publishing with Doc Assembler

Many councils use Doc Assembler to manage the publication of agendas, minutes and other formal documents that must be accessible to the public.


To simplify the council’s workflow, Captovate integrated Doc Assembler directly into the website. Documents published within Doc Assembler automatically appear on the relevant pages of the council website.


This integration removes the need for council staff to upload documents twice, reducing administrative workload while ensuring the website always displays the most up-to-date information.


The integration is designed to pull only specific document categories through the Doc Assembler HTML feed, ensuring confidential materials remain hidden while approved public documents are published automatically.

Smarter filtering for news and public notices

Council websites play a key role in communicating updates to communities across the region. To support this, we developed a custom filtering system for news and public notices.


Visitors can filter updates by both community and content type, making it easier to find relevant announcements and stay informed about what is happening locally.


This feature improves the overall user experience and ensures important information can be quickly located.

Smarter filtering for news and public notices

Council websites play a key role in communicating updates to communities across the region. To support this, Captovate developed a custom filtering system for news and public notices.



Visitors can filter updates by both community and content type, making it easier to find relevant announcements and stay informed about what is happening locally.


This feature improves the overall user experience and ensures important information can be quickly located.

Outcome

The new West Daly Regional Council website provides a modern and accessible platform that better supports both council staff and community members.



By transitioning to the Ariba platform, the council now benefits from a system that is easier to maintain while offering improved navigation, streamlined document publishing and clearer access to information.


Combined with strong regional imagery, community illustrations and thoughtful user experience design, the website reflects the identity of the West Daly region while making council services more accessible to the people who rely on them.

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