Amendments to 2022 annual review

[MyfanwyNixon]

Opening this ticket to list any changes that need to be made/typos fixed etc.

https://2022.mysociety.org/

[MyfanwyNixon]

Needs space:

If you're able to do so, please make a donation.We know that the cost of living is a concern for many

[MyfanwyNixon]

This is my fault by the way, as I suspect many of these will be :)

Words from mySociety’s Chair and A word from our Chief Executive

Let's change them both to just 'From our...'

I also think we don't need their names both under their photos and at the end of the text - just one of those places is fine.

[MyfanwyNixon]

Page headers, eg:

Through our Climate programme

We are helping...

In theory, these are all one sentence that is broken into two lines. Would it look really odd if the second line began with a lower case letter, or with a ... plus lower case letter?

The same issue again with

to help us imagine how we could solve big problems like… How digital services might enable councils to reduce emissions through procurement

etc. In this case could be solved by replacing the ... with a : I think.

[lucascumsille]

Page headers, eg:

Through our Climate programme

We are helping...

In theory, these are all one sentence that is broken into two lines. Would it look really odd if the second line began with a lower case letter, or with a ... plus lower case letter?

mmm my idea would be to actually get rid of the "Through our", my initial thought when I saw it feels a bit unnecessary and because of the size of the titles it uses a lot of space. My other idea was to decrease the size, but that would mean to decrease the size of the rest of headings which could interfere with the overall aesthetic of the styling.

[MyfanwyNixon]

Yeah feel free to drop 'Through our' @lucascumsille !

[MyfanwyNixon]

Our Innovations in Climate Tech grants were designed to let organisations and councils explore possibilities, improve our climate resilience and accelerate carbon reduction.

Let's link "Innovations in Climate Tech grants" to https://www.mysociety.org/2022/11/23/innovations-in-climate-tech-meet-the-grantees/

[MyfanwyNixon]

Our Innovations in Climate Tech grants were designed to let organisations and councils explore possibilities, improve our climate resilience and accelerate carbon reduction.

Let's link "Innovations in Climate Tech grants" to https://www.mysociety.org/2022/11/23/innovations-in-climate-tech-meet-the-grantees/

[MyfanwyNixon]

+100 and +120 etc

Feels like this should be 100+ and 120+

(or >100, >120)

[MyfanwyNixon]

Only a minor point but perhaps this could more obviously be a list?

• You'll see richer information on authorities' pages and on specific requests, made possible by a bit of development that allows the team to quickly add notes to multiple areas at once.
• Pro users can send batch requests to all authorities within a category, lessening the burden of picking them all out, and making it more likely that requests go to appropriate recipients.
• Now there's a glossary, helping to make the FOI process easier for everyone to understand

[MyfanwyNixon]

(link to a Google Translate version of the story

Needs the brackets closed.

[MyfanwyNixon]

(link to a Google Translate version of the story

Needs the brackets closed.

[MyfanwyNixon]

We heard from the Editor of Inside Time, the national newspaper for prisoners and detainees, how email alerts help them find the news that matters to their readership.

Needs a link to https://www.mysociety.org/2022/09/21/theyworkforyou-alerts-are-helping-keep-prisoners-informed/

[MyfanwyNixon]

We noticed that uses of WriteToThem shot up when partygate hit the news.

No full stop, so it fits with the two titles above

[MyfanwyNixon]

And it seems to be the wrong tweet with the barchart! It's this one https://twitter.com/mySociety/status/1514224164357423109

[MyfanwyNixon]

and the 17 March when any one of several stories might have been on correspondents' minds

Let's drop 'the' before '17 March'.

[MyfanwyNixon]

Penny Morduant’ voting record

Needs an s

[MyfanwyNixon]

Most visited pages: Penny Morduant’ voting record Written answer: Extending the Winter Fuel Allowance to disabled people Vote: Ban on fracking for shale gas

This slightly misses that they are the most visited:

• MP's page
• Written answer
• Vote

which is different from being the three most-visited pages on the site. Could we bold those as titles, ie:

Most visited:

• MP's page: Penny Morduant
• Written answer: Extending the Winter Fuel Allowance to disabled people
• Vote: Ban on fracking for shale gas

[MyfanwyNixon]

SocietyWorks’ own annual review

To discover more about what the team has been up to this year. [Go to annual review]

(at the end of SocietyWorks)

Change to:

SocietyWorks’ year in full

To discover more about what the team has been up to this year, [button]: visit their separate annual review.

[MyfanwyNixon]

This year saw the completion of our Civic Tech Surgeries part of the TICTeC Labs programme, seeking to bring improvements to our own sector.

change to

This year saw us wrap up the Civic Tech Surgeries part of TICTeC Labs, the programme that seeks to bring improvements to our own sector.

[MyfanwyNixon]

TICTeC participants said

Can we add a colon?

TICTeC participants said:

[MyfanwyNixon]

On and Off

change to

On and off

[MyfanwyNixon]

We've committed to making all our events available both offline and on Here is why

Change to:

We've committed to making all our events available both offline and on. Here's why.

If we feel like this is a bit short, I can always provide some longer copy.

[MyfanwyNixon]

…and not to forget

We're outstanding

Change to

…and not to forget:

we're outstanding

Do we want to add the yellow graphic or the picture of Louise getting the award that @zarino lightened up in Slack?

[MyfanwyNixon]

Warm welcomes…

No need for the ... (I think that's usually because we also have a follow-on section that's titled '...and sad farewells' or something.)

[MyfanwyNixon]

Warm welcomes…

No need for the ... (I think that's usually because we also have a follow-on section that's titled '...and sad farewells' or something.)

[MyfanwyNixon]

Still missing you Mark, David, Louise and Ludo.

Does this section look a bit sad and sparse? Maybe make the title smaller? Dunno - also Mark seems weirdly insignificant given that he was CEO and all.

[MyfanwyNixon]

>About our trustees

Change to

>Changes at the board level

[MyfanwyNixon]

Four new additions to the volunteer team, Helen, John, Luis and Alison

Change to

Four new additions to the volunteer team: Helen, John, Luis and Alison

[MyfanwyNixon]

We always end our annual report with a big old ‘thank you’ – and in case you didn’t realise, we’re talking to you.

Can this be made a bit more prominent - perhaps going across the full length, not just half the page?

[MyfanwyNixon]

I guess it's the g, the underline, and the widowed 2022 all working together but something about this looks uncomfortable to my eye.

[MyfanwyNixon]

Make sure you don't miss anything from here onwards

maybe add an exclamation mark!

Make sure you don't miss anything from here onwards!

[MyfanwyNixon]

Image credits in footer: I think these might be left over from last year?

First virtual PMQs by UK Parliament / Jessica Taylor, CC BY-NC 2.0 London skyline at night by Nusrat Jahan, CC BY 2.0

[ajparsons]

Design:

~Green and purple backgrounds don't pass contrast tests (not just a technical thing, I find very hard to read!)~. ~The really thick underlining makes it harder to read in a lot of places.~

No indication at the top of how to skip to section you're interested in (section bit is there bottom right, but don't think it's obvious what the report contains).

~Donation button should have an actual amount - ideally several buttons with actual amounts.~

[ajparsons]

I have a bigger comment on the democracy section where I want to change the language, but in general a lot of the headers here are too passive.

~We shared research that helps inform those working around climate, data and local government. << shared? We wrote and commissioned. All our prototyping reports are research also - can link to https://research.mysociety.org/section/climate~

4th on guardian homepage - I don't find this impressive enough to highlight like this. On guardian homepage - cool! 4th? Not cool.

~We continued to improve WhatDoTheyKnow and WhatDoTheyKnow Pro << This is a really boring way of describing a lot of cool work!~

~Our dedicated admin team continued to keep everything ticking over << Similarly - Must be better ways of describing the great work here than 'ticking over'~

~We had a three-year plan to improve Access To Information in Europe << Here's what our amazing three year programme to improve Access to Information Europe has done!~

[ajparsons]

(a long way down, so who cares, but need a way of talking about ex colleagues that doesn't look like they've died)

[lucascumsille]

Thanks for the feedback everyone @MyfanwyNixon All the thumbs up emojis are my way of ticking the checkboxes, so I know which one I have tackled. Let me know if you keep spotting anything =)

[lucascumsille]

I think that's good idea. Let me know whenever you come out with something and I'll change it =)

[MyfanwyNixon]

Thanks @ajparsons - if you'd like to suggest any wording around Democracy or Research, please do!

[MyfanwyNixon]

Colleagues who have left - at the moment it's:

Still missing you Mark, David, Louise and Ludo.

Ha ha it does sound a bit like they've died. It's also, as I mention above, a bit scant.

How about:

Moving on

• Goodbye to our ex-Chief Exec Mark, now greening London with the National Park City Foundation
• David and Louise have taken their sales and project management skills off to Made Tech
• And Ludo, who helped us out with his Perl coding, is now to be found with Webhandler

Some notes:

• I was tempted to use Mark's full name, to show his significance. Also makes some sort of sense to include Louise's surname and differentiate her from Louise C. But we've used first names for all the welcomes, so, consistency.

• Is Ludo a consultant at a company called Webhandler, or a freelance consultant who works with Webhandler? Someone more tecchy will know?

• Do we want to include their photos?

[MyfanwyNixon]

4th on guardian homepage - I don't find this impressive enough to highlight like this. On guardian homepage - cool! 4th? Not cool.

Good point - this is only because it's in the numbers section. Can we think of another way to express it numerically? How about

Jan 27

The Scorecards launch got wide media coverage - including the front page of the Guardian.

[zarino]

Do we want to include their photos?

We haven’t previously included photos of departing colleagues, only incoming ones.

[crowbot]

When we blogged about authorities who refuse FOI requests via emailthe ICO wrote to them to confirm that this practice is against the law. <- needs a space after the link

[lucascumsille]

We've committed to making all our events available both offline and on Here is why

Change to:

We've committed to making all our events available both offline and on. Here's why.

If we feel like this is a bit short, I can always provide some longer copy.

No probs, whenever you a new version let me know and I'll change it =)

Still missing you Mark, David, Louise and Ludo.

Does this section look a bit sad and sparse? Maybe make the title smaller? Dunno - also Mark seems weirdly insignificant given that he was CEO and all.

@MyfanwyNixon just in case do we have an illustration somewhere that we could use to lighten up the missing ones?

In terms of highlighting or make Mark pop up more because he was the CEO, doesn't give me the impression that would be a mySociety move. In the team section in our website and SW we don't highlight Louise or Angela because of their roles. But let me know what you think.

[lucascumsille]

We always end our annual report with a big old ‘thank you’ – and in case you didn’t realise, we’re talking to you.

Can this be made a bit more prominent - perhaps going across the full length, not just half the page?

@MyfanwyNixon not 100% related, but I'll include it here. In my initial idea the "What keeps us going" section had a different color to the "…and not to forget:". Do you think would it better to split these sections again, considering they are not super related to each other. That way the reader would easily tell "hey this is a different topic".

[zarino]

Does this section look a bit sad and sparse? Maybe make the title smaller? Dunno - also Mark seems weirdly insignificant given that he was CEO and all.

A reminder of how we handled Tom leaving / Mark joining:

https://2015.mysociety.org/figures/

[MyfanwyNixon]

Thanks for pushing the new version @lucascumsille - here are some further comments/decisions.

1.

From our mySociety’s Chair

Needs to be 'From our Chair'

2.

Our Innovations in Climate Tech grants

The link needs to be like this: Our Innovations In Climate Tech grants

3.

SocietyWorks’ year in full To discover more about what the team has been up to this year. [Visit their separate annual review.]

Please drop the full stops, so:

SocietyWorks’ year in full To discover more about what the team has been up to this year [visit their separate annual review]

4.

Through polling, we know that 1/5 of UK adults have used TheyWorkForYou - and have tested public feeling on if MPs are accountable for their voting record.

Change to: and have tested how far the public feel that MPs are accountable for their voting record.

5.

WriteToThem helped make made public feeling heard on Partygate

Change to: WriteToThem helped make public feeling heard on Partygate

6.

Next year we will be exploring the impact of twenty years of TheyWorkForYou, and mapping out how we can make these vital websites more sustainable and impactful for the next twenty years.

Change to: Next year we will be exploring the impact of twenty years of TheyWorkForYou, and mapping out how we can make our vital democracy websites more sustainable and impactful for decades to come.

7.

We've committed to making all our events available both offline and on [Here is why]

Let's change to: This year, we committed to making all our events available both offline and on - forever. What started as a lockdown necessity soon made clear how hybrid events open up accessibility and reach. [Read more about our thinking here]

8.

Still missing you

Let's remove the whole concept of saying goodbye to staff members - and just replace this with a graphic like the one Zarino has attached above (wow, we were smarter in 2015 eh!).

This should say:

Still in safe hands

Goodbye to one CEO After seven years of service as mySociety's Chief Exec, Mark Cridge can now be found greening London with the National Park City Foundation. Thanks for everything you did for us, Mark!

New one looks familiar She started here as a volunteer; now her years of experience at mySociety are helping Louise Crow run the organisation with foresight born of knowledge. Congratulations Louise!

[MyfanwyNixon]

A few more: 1.

we are supporting the work of journalists and campaigners, and conducting research to build the evidence base for how transparency and access to information laws can help citizens become more active and engaged.

The W needs to be capitalised to match the other subheadings.

2.

Now there's a glossary, helping to make the FOI process easier for everyone to understand

Needs a full stop

3.

Building on last year's research into FOI in the UK, we have followed up with research on improving oversight of Access to Information across Europe

Change to: Building on last year's research into FOI in the UK, we've followed up with research on improving oversight of Access to Information across Europe.

(changed we have to we've, and added a full stop)

4.

We're building our arguments for improving freedom of information

Change to Freedom of Information

5.

we are working to improve the information environment

Change to 'we're'

6.

We've argued the theory: We responded to a consultation about the impact of SLAPP lawsuits on WhatDoTheyKnow, and explained why excluding new organisations from Freedom of Information is an attack on good governance.

And we've done concrete things: Pushing back against Northern Trains attempt to keep senior level salaries secret.

Change to:

We've argued the theory We responded to a consultation about the impact of SLAPP lawsuits on WhatDoTheyKnow, and explained why excluding new organisations from Freedom of Information is an attack on good governance.

And we've reflected that in our actions We stood firm against Northern Trains' attempt to keep senior level salaries secret.

[crowbot]

She started here as a developer; ...

Actually as a volunteer, which might be useful for us to say

[MyfanwyNixon]

@crowbot oh super nice!

[lucascumsille]

@MyfanwyNixon I just published some new changes. Now I'll start changing things into a curly quotes.