Users of Hansard on the parliamentary website often comment on the need to improve its presentation. Recently the web team has been working with members of the Hansard team and PICT (Parliament’s ICT department) to improve our Hansard pages.
The fruits of our labour can be viewed on our Hansard Beta site.
What have we done?
Development work is being done in phases.
The first phase consists of:
- better layout, with improved content list, font size etc
- better chunking of content – so that you can view/print a whole debate and without having to click on the continue button
- better structure – while this won’t be visible to users, it will help Parliament make further improvements more easily
This release is just the first step. We want to be able to make better use of this content so that it can be repackaged throughout the website. To do this we are working with Hansard and Parliamentary ICT department to improve the code.
Lots more to do
A Hansard project is underway looking at all the tools used to create the paper copy of Hansard; we hope the improvements made to the production of Hansard will make it easier for the web team and other websites to reuse this amazingly rich content.
This is only the start; next we want to focus on Hansard by Member, so that each MP or Lords contributions can be easily found, followed and reused.
We would love to hear what you think about the new Hansard pages. Email webmaster@parliament.uk or comment on this post.
30 comments
Comments feed for this article
1/06/2009 at 3:20 pm
IanVisits
The text column is far too wide for easy reading.
While there is no hard & fast rules about text column width, 45 and 75 characters is the general rule, with 66 characters being the average on most websites.
The pages seem to be around 100 characters wide – and it will tire the eyes to have to scan across a page that wide.
Also, considering the font size, the line height seems to be a bit too low, maybe an extra px or two would make the pages more legible.
1/06/2009 at 3:23 pm
Ed Everett
It does look like a good improvement. It must be a challenge to present that quantity of information well, so congratulations.
Are there any plans to provide access to this information with an API so we could use this in our own apps?
1/06/2009 at 3:25 pm
SimonD
Better, but – if I’m entirely honest – still a long way short of the user experience of They Work For You. Is there scope to include MPs’ pictures in a left-hand margin to humanise the pages a bit, and narrow the page width? That would definitely be a help.
Plus there’s a rendering problem, once you get down to any ‘content’ page: none of the links are clickable – including the header. It’s affecting Firefox, Chrome, and Safari, but not Opera or IE by the look of it.
1/06/2009 at 5:30 pm
Jackie
Hi Simon
Thanks for the feedback. The rendering in Fire Fox should be fixed now.
I agree that there is still a long way to go on this and hopefully we will be able to release some of the improved look and feel in the not too distant future.
1/06/2009 at 10:52 pm
Matthew
I like the new contents page, though given the small amount of content I’m not sure the collapse/expand is more than just a gimmick, and actively annoying on e.g. the written ministerial statements contents page. And hooray for page-per-debate, not multiple “Next section” links.
Regarding Hansard, I’ll just quote a linearized view of somewhere near the start of the Gurkhas debate: “That is why I welcome the agreement of all parties |1650 to our discussions that there is no direct read-across between settlement and pension rights.” – okay, so the old format did the same, but it did at least announce it was a column number.
2/06/2009 at 9:49 am
Ned
Great start!
I agree with Matthew that the |1650 numbering feels wrong, but I’m not sure what I’d suggest as an alternative.
Any chance of getting the times moved out of the main column too?
2/06/2009 at 10:02 am
Ellis Turrell
It’s great that the Hansard is getting a revamp but I think a step better would be to include images of MPs next to their speeches.
2/06/2009 at 10:12 am
Simon
Nice improvements
However, I agree that the column is far too wide – by about double. Columns should be no more than 10 to 12 words wide, or thereabouts. It’s really quite difficult to scan otherwise.
I know it might make the column markers difficult to impliment, but could you not allow wrapping so that the user could set their column preference by changing the size of the window.
2/06/2009 at 11:08 am
Nic Gould
This definitely an improvement and a step in the right direction. The representation of column refs in the right margin is a great improvement.
Some further suggestions:
Anchors – we have anchors on the page as linked from the contents, please make these links on the actual page so that it’s easy to send a link to the bit of the page you’re reading. Each column ref, heading and speaker name should be a clickable anchor to that point in the page.
Topic Headings in Oral questions – Being left aligned and the same font as the speaker text these do not stand out well.
Mouseover underlining of speaker names – why? Feels like a link that you can’t click upon at the moment.
Regarding SimonD’s comment about TWFY and pictures of each speaker – I for one would not like to see this. Parliament should be providing a clear and simple presentation of the Hansard content – additions such as user comments, pictures of speakers etc can be added by sites such as TWFY for those who enjoy such things.
2/06/2009 at 11:27 am
comment
If there was a way of adding more time checks? It would be a huge help when cross referencing Hansard with BBC Parliament.
It looks great, but I agree that scanning is much harder with such a wide column.
2/06/2009 at 1:41 pm
Ned
To clarify my earlier comment (and further to one of Nic’s) – I really like having the column ref in the margin, I’m just not so sure about the inline |.
2/06/2009 at 2:42 pm
Nic Gould
I concur with Ned regarding the inline | at the start of a new column. Perhaps we should always insert a line break to match the printed copy?
4/06/2009 at 9:44 am
Andrew
Really pleased to have Hansard in pdf. This is a positive development. Thank you.
4/06/2009 at 4:02 pm
susan
The navigation is a big improvement. Clicking on continue several times to get through a debate is a pain and this will make it much easier to print.
22/06/2009 at 10:19 am
Mark
It’s great that you are re-working Hansard, and it’s obvious that a lot of work has gone into the back-end. But I have a few suggestions / questions which I hope will be helpful:
1. Will Hansard be available in XML format?
2. Column numbers are hidden on my computer as they are off the right hand side of the screen (it’s not a very small screen). It doesn’t seem a particularly intuitive location for them, unless the page is narrower. Although most people do not need to use them, people who use the site frequently probably will do.
3. Agree with the suggestions about having clickable links to the anchors in the text (along the lines of permalinks).
4. In debates on Bills, could the title be a clickable link to a broader “Bill” page – ie. an explanation of the Bill, the full text, explanatories, amendments, links to other debates, etc. ?
Basically to (e.g.) this: http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2008-09/coronersandjustice.html
5. The main menu changes between this new version of Hansard and the main site (significantly, Bills and Legislation disappears on the Hansard page)
7. Printed stylesheet needs to be sorted out:
a) Remove navigation list / menu; search box; probably breadcrumb
b) Text could perhaps do with being a bit larger
c) Column numbers disappear.
22/06/2009 at 10:45 am
Angus Walker
Thank you for asking for feedback on Hansard. Some initial thoughts…
The unchunking of the content is very welcome – those ‘next section’ links were a real annoyance!
I would ask for an easier way to reach a particular day’s debate. Perhaps a calendar that fitted on a single screen for each year, where if a debate was held on a particular day, the date would be clickable.
As mentioned above, the page is too wide. A page with left and right columns of associated information and central text, like the BBC News website, is much more readable. Either that, or the text width could be able to be resized by the user.
You have dropped column numbers corresponding to the printed copy. I can see that this declutters the page, but we do need some way to refer to a particular point in a debate, and column numbers would seem the most obviouis choice. A way of going straight to a column number (if that was chosen) would be useful too.
Once the initial presentation is decided, then the addition of links to all sorts of things would be welcome (MPs’ details, Bill details, amendment lists etc.).
22/06/2009 at 5:13 pm
Alex
Hi. It’s great that you’re working to improve the Hansard pages. I’m a civil servant and spend a lot of time using Hansard in connection with my work on Bills. Your changes to the structure do seem to make it easier to find particular debates.
The first thing we do on the morning after a debate is to cut and paste all the text into a document and circulate it widely – we just don’t have time to wait for the paper copies to come round (but don’t worry, we do subscribe to them as well). It’s absolutely vital that we have the column numbers in the right place, because we refer to them a lot and need them when compiling Explanatory Notes, etc – that’s a weakness of the new format, and could be fixed by putting the numbers in square brackets where they belong.
It would be incredibly useful if the website could be used to generate pdf copies of the debates on particular topics. You have managed to improve that for the web pages (and hundreds of public servants will thank you for removing the wretched concept of “next section”), but it would be brilliant to be able to click on a button that printed, say, “all debates on the Autism Bill” or “yesterday’s debates on the Autism Bill” and get a document that removed any intervening statements or debates on a different topic during, say, the dinner break in the Lords. I would hazard a guess that almost nobody wants to read the whole of an evening’s debates on every topic. I have reams of printed Hansard sent only to tell me that a programme motion was passed or that my Bill has been read for the first time. It’s traditional, but unnecessary and a waste of paper and space.
I really like Ellis Turrell’s idea above of putting photos beside the speaker’s name. But only for people reading on screen. Isn’t it tempting to have a “comment on this debate” box too? I’m only half-joking – it might help with public engagement.
[Incidentally, there doesn't seem to be a link to this blog from the main beta site...]
4/07/2009 at 2:18 pm
Links of the Week – 11 June 2009
[...] UK Parliament website blog unveils the new Hansard beta. Give them your [...]
12/08/2009 at 5:30 pm
Aruna
As a doctoral researcher who’s research is based on parliamentary debates, the switch to putting a full legislative debate in a single continuous format will save me HOURS. I have spent so much time copying and pasting the individual pages in the old format to compile a single electronic file of debates on major legislation.
So first of all, thanks so much for changing this, and I look forward to full roll-out of the updated “content-chunking”.
Just wanted to suggest a few other things:
Many people do seek to get electronic access to an entire debate over a piece of legislation, and so the possibility of having this available (or convertable) to a PDF document would be great.
While pictures and such might work in an online format, they do become unwieldy for printing/saving debates. It can also screw up the text when transferring – this is what happens with parliamentary debates on theyworkforyou.com
Lastly, it would be brilliant if debates on a bill could be linked to past and future discussion of that same bill. So, for instance, if second reading debates could include links to first and third reading debates.
20/10/2009 at 10:53 am
Patrick Walesby
Yes, I like the look and a change is always good because one often passes over important material because we have got used to looking at what he know and like and so a change has for me’ made me sit up and read’ rather than, o I must have a quick read.
So thank you and keep up the good work
PATRICK WALESBY
22/10/2009 at 3:07 pm
Kenneth Taylor
Very impressed with both the blog and the comments. Some of the suggestions (images, links to relevant previous work), are well worth considering although I can imagine too much detail might take away the blog’s “user friendly” look.
27/10/2009 at 5:26 pm
Peter Czerwinski
Having a continuous chunk of text on a debate is a great improvement over the next/previous section navigation links.
However, I find the width of the text a problem. Perhaps you could set it up to wrap/adjust to the size of the browser window (if that makes sense), or to have a manually selectable column width.
26/11/2009 at 5:55 am
Burhan
It’s great you’re trying to improve Parliament’s website generally and Hansard in particular.
RE column numbers, i agree they’re important and necessary in order to be able to refer to a particular point in Hansard. But as someone who uses the site every day and often copies / pastes chunks of debates and PQs into other documents, they do get in the way and i invariably have to manually delete them afterwards. This is particularly the case for PQs containing tables with lots of numbers. If it were possible to copy and paste text from Hansard without that occurring that would be very welcome.
This is possibly off topic but speaking of PQs, why are Lords PQs set out differently from the Commons? Again, I edit the “Asked by Lord xxx” bit to make it consistent with how PQs are set out for MPs.
31/12/2009 at 1:19 pm
WH
Wholeheartedly agree with the comments about inserting more linkable anchors / IDs on a much more granular level, per speaker per paragraph even. Thank you, great job so far.
12/01/2010 at 8:17 pm
Andrew
The new layout looks a lot cleaner, but I’ve had to hunt around the site for 5 minutes (without success so far) to find a place where I can see written PQs. Should I be looking in Hansard (which I think of as the transcript of debates)? The search box on the home page just makes me think of a search of the site, not a search of PQs on a particular subject. It’d be helpful if there were a link on the home page to an ‘Advanced Search’ page, where you can search different types of parliamentary proceeding. I seem to recall that this existed, several generations of this site ago.
12/01/2010 at 8:18 pm
Andrew
Having just found this page on Parliamentary Questions (http://www.commonsleader.gov.uk/output/page18.asp) it still doesn’t offer a clear way of searching for PQs on a particular topic.
12/01/2010 at 8:23 pm
Andrew
And when I do reach this page which allows me to search PQs (http://www.commonsleader.gov.uk/output/Page11.asp) there is no advanced searching facility (eg to limit date range) and the results are risible. The idea that there are only 3 pages of results with 5 results per page when one searches PQs for the phrase “freedom of information” is a joke. The results are seemingly presented in random order, with no ability to sort by date, or relevance.
14/01/2010 at 10:25 am
nj
Trying to find text of Hemmings motion re Withers solicitors, today in parliament link leads to yesterday, searching on Hemming takes me back to 2007. Perhaps best to just get google to crawl it?
6/03/2010 at 8:31 am
Bert Sheingate
Hi:
I am working on the design of possible Hansard for the Iraqi Parliament. Do you have a governing Schema that has been used for the new UK Hansard. Any information tha tyou can provide regarding the overall content architecture will be greatly appreciated. Certainly the Multilingual requirements in Iraq qill add substantially to the design and implementation but the foundation XML structural definition should remain close tot hat of the UK. I look forward to your comments and input.
Thanks
Bert Sheingate
14/03/2010 at 9:45 pm
Jamie
Why is there no search facility? It would make it so much easier to find the relevant debate if one were able to search using keywords, volume, part and column numbers or dates. if one is trying to find the reasons for a statute raised in parliament, the Member bringing the bill will not always be known.