Formatting

  • All margins are selected by default.
  • Use Arial font.
  • Font size of project title is set by default and unable to be changed.
  • Use a size of 18 for all other text.
  • Line spacing are selected by default. Leave a line between paragraphs. 
  • The font size on the widgets on the right-hand side of the page is set by default and unable to be changed.
  • Avoid the use of ALL CAPS and underlined text (excluding hyperlinks) as it is more difficult to read. Use bold instead.
  • Use headings and sub-headings.
  • Use lists to break down information.
  • Ensure images are large enough to be seen clearly.
  • Add alternate text to images so screen readers used by people with low vision can read them. This is usually one or two sentences that describes the image.
  • The banner image is the image at the top of your project page. These work best when they are rectangular images.
  • The default size of the banner image is usually too big – you need to scroll down to see the text on your project page. Alter the banner size to be shorter by selecting ‘Edit banner’, choosing ‘free’ in the ‘crop’ options and then resizing the picture.
  • The project image is the small image that will show on the MySay home page along with other current projects. Square pictures work best.
  • Avoid the use of tables as they can be difficult for screen readers to read.
  • Do not clutter your page. Keep plenty of white space around the information.
  • Make sure you preview your page – sometimes it doesn’t appear on the published page as it does in the back end.

Content

  • Make sure it is clear to community:
    1. Why you are engaging.
    2. What information you are seeking.
    3. The level of influence that community feedback will have on the final decision. It is often useful to clarify that community engagement is one of several inputs to inform a decision.
    4. Your timeline – including when you will provide engagement results, when the decision is likely to be made and how they can find out about the decision.
    5. Who they can contact for more information.
  • You must use these widgets:
    1. Who’s listening
    2. Key dates – in chronological order add the opening date, closing date, date of any workshops or events.
  • Consider the information that the community will need to know to provide useful feedback to you. What background information do they need?
  • Write in plain language. Avoid the use of acronyms and technical jargon.
  • Be concise.
  • You can use links, images, videos or upload documents on your project page. The maximum size of files is 10MB for a single file. Word, Excel, PPT, PDF, images, videos and audio files are accepted. 
  • Only MySay online discussion forums, surveys, and other feedback tools can be used. No direct emails, Survey Monkey or other tools are to be used. 
  • You may direct people to in-person or online workshop or meeting opportunities or provide information about how people may provide hard copy responses or contact Council for more accessible ways of providing feedback.
  • Proof-read your content.
  • Provide documents in accessible formats such as Word where possible.
  • Check the accessibility of your content in Word.
  • Consider providing information in a variety of ways such as a plain English version, video, audio file, large print and infographics.
  • Caption any videos and consider providing a transcript of the video.
  • Include an accessibility statement such as ‘Contact us if you need this information in an accessible format. Please telephone 5320 5500 or email (insert relevant email address).


Project page settings

You will need to ensure your settings are suitable for your project.

  • The ‘settings’ button is on the top right corner of your project page.
  • Choose your visibility – select everyone if the page will be visible to everyone. If you only want your page visible to a particular group, you can select ‘protected’ and add the names of the people you want to be able to interact with the page. They will need to be registered on MySay before you can add them.
  • Under the ‘advanced’ tab you can add project administrators so that they can edit and view the page, responses and download reports. Unless they are already registered as Project Administrators, they will first need to register on MySay and then you will need Community Participation (communityengagement@ballarat.vic.gov.au) to make them an administrator before you can add them. 


Closing your project

  • Projects are archived when they close. Please email communityengagement@ballarat.vic.gov.au when you want your project to be closed.
  • Archived projects appear on the front page of the MySay page for a period of time as a ‘previous project’.
  • We send out monthly newsletters to registered MySay users (~3,000 people) which includes a synopsis of current projects and an update on recently closed projects.
  • All project administrators are required to write a short paragraph of next steps for their archived project page. Provide the following information:
    1. What will happen with the feedback provided?
    2. When will a decision be made?
    3. If the decision will go to a Council meeting, state the date of the meeting and provide a link to the website where Council meeting agendas are published.
    4. When and how can people find out what the engagement results were?
  • Provide a one or two-page engagement summary for publishing on the project page after the project has closed. Engagement results may not be able to be released prior to management, ELT and/or Councillor briefing. You need to check with your manager about the timing of your result release with a view to getting results out as soon as possible.