What are cookies and why do we use them?
A cookie is a small text marker stored on your computer that enables us to track the use of our website. We use cookies to sign in and register with our website, to remember your accessibility settings and ensure the website is as user friendly as possible. Most big websites do this too.
If you delete or disable our cookies you may not be able to benefit from some of our online features.
How do I change my cookie settings?
You have the opportunity to set your computer to accept all cookies, to notify you when a cookie is issued, or not to receive cookies at any time. The way in which you do this depends upon the web browser which you use.
To find out more about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set, visit www.aboutcookies.org or www.allaboutcookies.org.
Find out how to manage cookies on popular browsers:
Where does this website use cookies?
Our website uses cookies in several places - we've listed each of them below with more details about why we use them and how long they will last.
Registering or signing in
Server generated cookies
- AWSELB - "Amazon Web Services Elastic Load Balancer" - Used to direct your request to the appropriate server. No personal information is contained or used.
- Firmstep2server - Used to direct your request to the appropriate server. No personal information is stored.
- Firmstep2session - A unique identifier given to you for the duration of your site visit. It is used to ensure that you and only you are shown information relevant to you. It contains no personally identifiable information, but is temporarily linked to your user account when you log in.
- ASP.NET_SessionId - A unique identifier given to you for the duration of your site visit. It is used to ensure that you and only you are shown information relevant to you. It contains no personally identifiable information, but is temporarily linked to your user account if you log in.
- PHPSESSID - Same as above but unique to Self sites
Cookies set by javascript
- 0.js:
- fs2logevents: Only set by explicit user action. Increases the level of internal debug information kept by the browser.
- fs2debug: Only set by explicit user action. Causes the display of a button to allow the user to submit browser debug information for diagnostics.
- fs2diag: Only set by explicit user action. Causes the display of a toolbar that can submit or display browser debug information.
- NoAJAT: Used to disable AJAX. Only appears in redundant code. No longer actually set/used.
- combined.js:
- ui-tabs: Used by the client to maintain tabs state when the user moves between pages.
ReachDeck
These cookies are set for customers who use the ReachDeck service, to read aloud and translate content on our site. The cookies enable the service to function by storing the user’s selections and preferences as they move around the site, including their settings for the tool, any language selection they might have made, the position of the toolbar, and their acceptance of the disclaimers.
This website uses ReachDeck, an accessibility and reading support add-on that helps you to read the content. To learn more about ReachDeck, visit www.texthelp.com
ReachDeck stores some data in the Local Storage in your browser, to enable the add-on to work correctly and remember your preferences. Examples of preferences include colour choices, translation language choices, or screen mask configuration. Look at the ReachDeck user settings panel to see all the different types of information.
ReachDeck also stores the toolbar state. This ensures that when you enable an icon, it will remain enabled when you return to the website, or navigate to another page.
ReachDeck does not transmit any of this information to Texthelp servers.
ReachDeck also continues to use anonymised Google Analytics to collect general usage statistics to help us improve ReachDeck in future releases. This usage is considered to be a Tracking Cookie under EU Cookie Law, and it is important that users are able to opt out of this.
IP Anonymisation is used to ensure that both Google and Texthelp cannot identify individual users. ReachDeck does not log any personally identifiable information in these analytics.
| Name | Type | Expires | Contains | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TH_TOOLBAR_SETTINGS |
Persistent |
No expiration date. Cleared only through JavaScript, or clearing the Browser cache / Locally Stored Data |
JSON object |
Stores an object containing user specific settings for the ReachDeck toolbar such as dialog positions and button states. No personally identifiable data is stored. |
|
API_SETTINGS |
Persistent |
No expiration date. Cleared only through JavaScript, or clearing the Browser cache / Locally Stored Data |
JSON object |
Stores an object containing user specific API settings for the ReachDeck toolbar such as voice and language selection, user preferences set in the toolbar settings panel and selected styles for word highlighting. |
|
audioalert |
Persistent |
No expiration date. Cleared only through JavaScript, or clearing the Browser cache / Locally Stored Data |
JSON object |
Stores a value ‘audioalert = true’ after the first ReachDeck audio alert. |
| Name | Type | Expires | Contains | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
__utma |
Persistent |
2 years from set/update |
A series of unique ids following the pattern: [Domain Hash].[Random Unique ID].[Timestamp of first visit].[Timestamp of start of previous session].[Timestamp of start of current session].[Session counter] |
Used to distinguish users and sessions. The cookie is created when the javascript library executes and no existing __utma cookies exists. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to Google Analytics. |
|
__utmt |
Persistent |
10 minutes |
Number value 1 |
Used to throttle request rate. |
|
__utmb |
Persistent |
30 mins from set/update |
timestamp of when the user visited the website |
Used to determine new sessions/visits. The cookie is created when the javascript library executes and no existing __utmb cookies exists. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to Google Analytics. |
|
__utmc |
Session |
End of browser session |
timestamp of the exact moment in time when a visitor leaves a site |
Not used in ga.js. Set for interoperability with urchin.js. Historically, this cookie operated in conjunction with the__utmbcookie to determine whether the user was in a new session/visit. |
|
__utmz |
Persistent |
6 months from set/update |
information on search engines and the entered search terms, or where the IP address of the visitor is located |
Stores the traffic source or campaign that explains how the user reached your site. The cookie is created when the javascript library executes and is updated every time data is sent to Google Analytics. |
|
_ga |
Persistent |
2 years |
the unique ID for the browsing session |
Used to distinguish users. The ID is used only to identify the session for the statistics and is completely anonymous. |
|
_gat_UA-4669579-11 |
Persistent |
1 minute |
Number value 1 |
Used to throttle request rate. If Google Analytics is deployed via Google Tag Manager, this cookie will be named _dc_gtm_<property-id>. |
|
_gid |
Persistent |
24 hours |
a unique value for each page visited |
Used to distinguish users. |
Analytics
To improve our service we collect anonymous web statistics using programmes called Google Analytics and SiteImprove. They store several cookies on users' computers or mobile devices to tell us how many people have visited each web page, how they got there, and where they navigated to from there.
| Name | Default expiration time | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| __utma | 2 years from set/update | Used to distinguish users and sessions. The cookie is created when the javascript library executes and no existing __utma cookies exists. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to Google Analytics. |
| __utmt | 10 minutes | Used to throttle request rate. |
| __utmb | 30 mins from set/update | Used to determine new sessions/visits. The cookie is created when the javascript library executes and no existing __utmb cookies exists. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to Google Analytics. |
| __utmc | End of browser session | Not used in ga.js. Set for interoperability with urchin.js. Historically, this cookie operated in conjunction with the __utmb cookie to determine whether the user was in a new session/visit. |
| __utmz | 6 months from set/update | Stores the traffic source or campaign that explains how the user reached your site. The cookie is created when the javascript library executes and is updated every time data is sent to Google Analytics. |
| __utmv | 2 years from set/update | Used to store visitor-level custom variable data. This cookie is created when a developer uses the _setCustomVar method with a visitor level custom variable. This cookie was also used for the deprecated _setVar method. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to Google Analytics. |
You can opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics across all websites.
| Name | Type | Expires | Contains | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
nmstat |
Persistent |
Expires after 1000 days |
Randomly generated ID |
This cookie is used to help record the visitor’s use of the website. It is also used to track the sequence of pages a visitor looks at during a visit to the site. This information can be used to reduce user journeys, and enable visitors to find relevant information quicker. |
|
AWSELBCOR |
Session | End of browser session | Randomly generated ID | The AWSELBCOR cookie ensures that all page views for the same visit (user session) are sent to the same endpoint. This enables us to determine the sequence of a user's page views needed for features like Behaviour Tracking and Funnels. |
| AWSELB | Session | End of browser session | Randomly generated ID | The AWSELB cookie ensures that all page views for the same visit (user session) are sent to the same endpoint. This enables us to determine the sequence of a user's page views needed for features like Behaviour Tracking and Funnels. |
Social media cookies
We provide access to content from social media and networking websites such as YouTube and Twitter. Please check with these websites to find out how your information is used.
| Cookie name | Originator | Purpose | More information |
|---|---|---|---|
| _fbp from Facebook Pixel | Used for advertising on Facebook | ||
| eu_cn external_referer guest_id personalization_id pid tfw_exp ua |
Used on pages with Twitter feed | ||
| PREF from youtube.com | YouTube embedded content | Expires 6 months | |
| VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE from youtube.com | YouTube embedded content | Expires 10 years | A cookie used to remember your previous selections or preferred settings made when looking at information or using a service. Cookies remain for up to eight months when they expire. They are then deleted. You can also delete these cookies at any time. |
Orlo
Orlo is a social media management platform.
| Cookie name | Originator | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| ssi_customer ssi_tracker |
Orlo | These cookies enable us to see which social media posts brought visitors to this site and what pages were visited. You can delete these cookies at any time. |
Third party cookies
Some of our pages use content from other websites, such as Google Maps. We do not have any control over these cookies. You should check the websites of the companies to find out how your information is used.
| Cookie name | Originator | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| PREF,NID, SNID, MPRF | Google maps | A unique reference is given to each computer to allow analysis of requests to Google Maps. Data is only used for overall visitor analysis. Cookies remain for up to two years when they expire. They are then deleted. You can also delete these cookies at any time. |
Social sharing
Social sharing audio and video services are run by other companies, who may put cookies on your computer when you use them on our site or if you are already logged in to them.
Services that we may use and their use of cookies:
Facebook pixel
We use a Facebook pixel as an Audience Engagement monitoring tool.
We use a Facebook pixel to identify visitor audiences who have responded to a Facebook advert the Council has commissioned. We do this to:
- analyse if Facebook adverts are delivering value for money
- analyse if the Facebook adverts are reaching their intended audience
- allow us to identify respondents to Facebook adverts (anonymously) and send follow up adverts to further promote a campaign
- Facebook visitor audiences provide a greater level of detail around audience membership demographics than other methodologies
We use this information to judge the efficacy and performance of our Facebook advert campaigns.