Do you help new businesses in Derby get online?

Yes. We work with startups in Derby to build their first website, branding, and digital presence.

Will my website be easy to manage?

Yes. All Derby websites include a user-friendly CMS so you can update text, images, and pages easily.

Can you add social media integrations?

Yes. We can connect your Derby website to Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, or any platform you use.

Do you support websites after launch?

Yes. We offer affordable care plans to keep Derby websites updated and secure.

Do you train clients on how to use the website?

Yes. We provide training sessions for Derby clients to help you manage your new website confidently.

Web Design for Schools - JW Digital in Derby

School Website Design That Meets DfE Statutory Requirements and Serves Your Parent Community in Derby

“School websites have specific legal obligations that most web designers are not familiar with in Derby. The DfE publishes a statutory checklist of content that all maintained schools and academies must publish online — including admissions information, curriculum detail, SEN policy, safeguarding information, governors' details, pupil premium strategy, and financial information. Non-compliance can be flagged during an Ofsted inspection and trigger formal intervention. JW Digital builds school websites that meet these statutory requirements fully, provide a genuinely useful communication channel for parents and families, are manageable by non-technical staff without developer involvement, and meet WCAG accessibility standards throughout.” — Janusz Wozniak

Introduction

School Website Design Built Around Statutory Compliance and Parent Communication in Derby

A school website serves two distinct functions: meeting the DfE's statutory publication requirements, and communicating effectively with the parent community. Both require specific attention — compliance content must be accurate, complete, and clearly navigable by an inspector; parent communication content must be accessible, current, and useful to families managing busy lives. We design school websites that serve both functions without compromise. in Derby

DfE Statutory Compliance and Ofsted-Ready Content Structure

Meet your legal publication obligations — accurately and completely

The DfE's statutory requirements for school websites are detailed and specific. Schools must publish admissions arrangements, curriculum information for each year group, SEN policy and information report, safeguarding policy, governors' register of interests, pupil premium information, PE and sport premium spending, complaints procedure, and financial information — among others. These requirements are checked during Ofsted inspections. We structure your website so every required item is present, correctly presented, and easy for an inspector to locate — eliminating compliance gaps that create unnecessary risk.

Parent Communication and Staff CMS Management

A website your office team can actually update without developer help

The most common failure of school websites is not the initial launch — it is the ongoing currency of the content. A school that cannot quickly post a term date change, add a newsletter, update a policy document, or upload a gallery of the recent school trip without raising a support ticket has a website that will gradually become unreliable as a parent resource. We build school websites with a genuinely simple CMS that non-technical office staff and teachers can use confidently — with role-based access so the right people can update the right sections.

Why it matters

Why Schools Need a Website That Is Both Compliant and Genuinely Useful

Statutory obligations, GDPR for children's data, accessibility requirements, and parent communication — each with specific requirements

DfE statutory checklist
specifies the content all maintained schools and academies must publish online — including admissions, curriculum, SEN, safeguarding, governors, pupil premium, and financial information — and non-compliance is checked during Ofsted inspections and can trigger formal intervention
Public Sector Accessibility Regulations
require school websites to meet WCAG 2.1 AA standards and publish an accessibility statement — regulations that apply to maintained schools, academies, and multi-academy trusts, and are enforceable by the Equality and Human Rights Commission
Staff CMS usability
is the factor that determines whether your website stays current — a CMS that requires developer involvement for routine updates will result in outdated term dates, missing newsletters, and stale policy documents within months of launch
GDPR for children's data
requires specific attention in school websites — consent for photographs, age-appropriate privacy notices, appropriate data handling for contact forms submitted by parents, and clear retention policies for any personal data collected through the website

Why you need School Website Design That Meets DfE Statutory Requirements and Serves Your Parent Community in Derby

The bottom line

School websites sit at the intersection of several distinct regulatory frameworks. DfE statutory requirements specify what must be published. The Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations require WCAG 2.1 AA compliance and an accessibility statement. GDPR — with its specific provisions for children's data — governs how photographs, contact forms, and personal information are handled. Safeguarding obligations affect how children are identified in photographs and how contact with the school is managed online. in Derby Beyond compliance, the practical value of a school website is determined by how well it serves its primary audience: parents and carers who need quick access to term dates, newsletters, policy documents, contact information, and news about the school's activities. A website that is technically compliant but poorly organised or rarely updated provides little practical value and reflects poorly on the school's communication culture. For multi-academy trusts, the website architecture needs to balance trust-level branding and shared content with individual school identity and locally relevant content — a design challenge that generic school website platforms often handle poorly.

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Why Choose Us in Derby

Why Derby Businesses Choose JW Digital

Trusted web design, SEO, and digital solutions tailored for Derby businesses.

Designed for Derby Customers

We tailor visuals, tone, and layout to the expectations of your local audience in Derby.

Performance Focused

From caching to compressed assets, your Derby website is optimised for maximum speed.

Lead Generation Built In

We design landing pages, CTAs, and funnels to generate enquiries from Derby visitors.

Reliable Long-Term Support

Your Derby business gets ongoing technical support and maintenance options.

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Our Process

Our School Website Design Process

Statutory compliance audit, parent-focused design, and staff CMS training

Compliance Audit & Content Planning
We begin with a full review of your current website against the DfE statutory checklist, identifying compliance gaps and content that needs creating or updating. We map the required statutory content against your proposed site structure and plan the information architecture for both compliance and parent usability.
Design & Accessibility Implementation
We design a visually engaging, age-appropriate school website that reflects your institution's ethos and values. WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards are implemented throughout — not as an afterthought — and the design is tested for screen reader compatibility, keyboard navigation, and high-contrast display.
Statutory Content Integration & GDPR Setup
All DfE-required statutory content sections are built into the site structure with appropriate display and formatting. GDPR-compliant contact forms, a school privacy notice, cookie consent management, and appropriate handling of any photographs or personal data are implemented throughout.
CMS Configuration & Role-Based Staff Access
The CMS is configured with role-based access so office staff, class teachers, and senior leadership can each manage the sections relevant to their role without risking changes to compliance-critical content. Document management for policy uploads, newsletter archives, and term date publishing is set up for non-technical use.
Testing, Staff Training & Launch
We test across all devices and browsers, verify accessibility compliance, and check every statutory content item against the DfE checklist before launch. Staff receive a practical CMS training session so they can manage updates, uploads, and content changes confidently from day one.

Bespoke Website Design in Derby

Built for the Derby market

Derby's engineering-led economy values precision — and expects the same from a credible, fast business website. JW Digital delivers website design for Derby and Derbyshire businesses — website work shaped around the local market, not a generic template.

Derby is a national centre for aerospace and rail engineering, home to a high-value advanced-manufacturing supply chain. It's a market where a slow or dated website quietly loses enquiries to better-presented competitors.

For Derby retail businesses: a brand-led redesign that differentiates from nearby competitors.
For Derby aerospace & rail engineering businesses: a fast, conversion-focused site that turns local search traffic into enquiries.
For Derby advanced manufacturing businesses: a credibility-first website that wins trust before the first phone call.

We build technically excellent sites for Derbyshire firms in engineering, trade and professional services. Our website work is built to perform in exactly this kind of East Midlands market.

We also support website design clients across East Midlands — including Nottingham, Leicester, Burton upon Trent, Chesterfield and Stoke-on-Trent.

Nottingham website design Website Design in Leicester our Stoke-on-Trent website design page

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Helpful resources

What's Included

What's Included in Your School Website Package

DfE statutory compliance, WCAG accessibility, parent communication features, and staff CMS training

DfE Statutory Compliance Structure

All sections required under the DfE's statutory guidance — admissions, curriculum, SEN information report, safeguarding policy, governors' details, pupil premium, sport premium, complaints procedure, and financial information — built into the site architecture and formatted for Ofsted review.

WCAG 2.1 AA Accessibility & Accessibility Statement

Full WCAG 2.1 AA implementation throughout — proper colour contrast, screen reader compatibility, keyboard navigation, accessible document formats, and an accessibility statement meeting the Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations requirements.

Parent Communication Features

Term date calendar, news and events section, newsletter archive, class pages, and school policies all presented in a format that parents can navigate quickly — with consistent structure that builds reliable habits around where to find information.

Staff CMS with Role-Based Access

A genuinely simple CMS configured so office staff, teachers, and senior leadership can each manage their relevant sections independently — posting newsletters, updating term dates, uploading policies, and managing photo galleries without requiring technical support.

GDPR Compliance for Children's Data

School privacy notice, cookie consent management, GDPR-compliant contact forms, appropriate handling of children's photographs and personal data, and guidance on consent processes for ongoing use.

Responsive Design & Performance

Mobile-first, fast-loading design tested across all devices — important for the parents and carers accessing school information on their phones, and for meeting Google's Core Web Vitals expectations.

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Our Pricing

School Website Design Packages

Our school website packages are built for primary and secondary schools, academies, free schools, and multi-academy trusts. Every build includes the DfE statutory compliance framework, WCAG accessibility implementation, staff CMS configuration, and practical training. For multi-academy trusts needing a shared platform with individual school sites, we design scalable multi-site architectures that balance trust branding with school-level identity. Ongoing website maintenance covers continued security, technical updates, and compliance review as DfE requirements are updated.

Website Cost Calculator

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Estimate your project cost in just a few clicks

Full DfE statutory compliance structure and Ofsted-ready content
WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility and public sector regulations compliance
Staff CMS with role-based access for non-technical team members
GDPR-compliant forms, privacy notice, and children's data handling

Use Our Website Cost Calculator

Once you have a rough estimate, you can use it as a starting point for your project planning. If you need something more tailored, JW Digital can then provide a bespoke quote based on your exact goals and requirements.

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School Website Design That Meets DfE Statutory Requirements and Serves Your Parent Community in Derby