29 March 2004
PSD Launches New Website and Renames All Approval Holders Letters and News Updates
New Website
The Pesticides Safety Directorate will launch its new website on 30th March 2004. Have a look at the site yourself at .
We hope you like the changes! We have incorporated suggestions from our customers to significantly re-develop the site and make a number of improvements. These include:
- We have made better use of plain English throughout the site. Information on pesticides is now given in clear and simple English.
- We have tailor-made versions of the site to appeal to different groups. The main home page has been designed with the needs of the public in mind. In addition a modified home page and route through the site are available for the food industry, farmers and growers, applicants, those interested in our advisory groups and research.
- We have used more images to aid understanding and give visual clues to content. Different images and colour schemes appear depending on what user area you are in. We are also using more images in the body of key pages.
- It is much easier to navigate around the site. As well as main menus down the left side, we have included an A-Z index and drop-down ‘quick links’. Latest News is available on the right hand side of the main pages.
- The site now follows guidance issued by the World Wide Web Consortium to ensure that it is easy to use, and meets the needs of disabled users or those needing to use specialist browsers.
- The site is now maintained using a content management system which should make it easier to keep up to date and ensure content fully reflects latest issues affecting pesticide use in the United Kingdom (UK) and European Union (EU).
Please use the feedback option on the website to send us any comments, including suggestions for future development.
‘All Approval Holders Letters’ and ‘News Updates’ will be renamed ‘Regulatory’ and ‘Information Updates’
From 30th March 2004, ‘All Approval Holders Letters’ and ‘News Updates’ will be renamed ‘Regulatory’ and ‘Information Updates’. The ‘updates’ will be generated as web pages in the main body of our website. You will be able to access them from our Home Page or from an Update Index.
We have decided to make these changes because currently:
- The distinction between ‘All Approval Holders Letters’ and ‘News Updates’ has become unclear to our customers.
- On the website, the old-style letter was stored with other All Approval Holders letters and not in relevant subject area. This resulted in a gap in the subject area of the website when users search for information.
In future, the Regulatory Updates will refer only to:
- changes or proposed changes to the application procedures
- PSD’s policy on application procedures or approvals
- legal requirements for Approval Holders
whilst Information Updates will contain more general information. Both will be sent to all approval holders plus companies and individuals who have asked to be included in our distribution lists.
If you have already supplied us with an email address, we will continue to notify you of Regulatory and Information Updates via an email alert containing the title, a short summary and a link to our relevant web page. For those without access to the Internet, or who have yet to notify us of their email address, we will produce paper copies of the Update which will be posted in the usual way.
If you would like to receive future notifications of our Regulatory and Information Updates more quickly and conveniently via email, please forward your request and your email address to applicant-enquiries@hse.gsi.gov.uk and we will add you to our electronic distribution list.
Contact Information
If you have any queries concerning the contents of this letter, please do not hesitate to contact us.
