Upgrades Improve Accessibility, Mobile Function
PRINCE RUPERT, JULY 24th, 2023 – Residents and visitors may soon notice a change to the City’s online presence. Early this August, the City is launching a new municipal website that will enhance user experience and accessibility, at minimal cost.
“As we move forward to attract investment in our community, we need to make sure that we are putting our best foot forward on all fronts,” said Mayor Herb Pond. “We have a number of initiatives to support downtown revitalization and new housing development, and this is a complement to that work.”
City staff have long been seeking cost-effective opportunities to update the City’s website to a more user-friendly interface, with accessibility and mobility standards fully integrated. This change to a template-based system with significant function on the back end and user-support services ensures that updating can continue in-house, without the need to potentially outsource web development costs.
Staff have been working closely with the selected contractor over the past few weeks to migrate and update our existing website to the new template-based system. The City will provide an update when the new website goes live, alongside a user guide for our website’s frequent-flyers over the next couple of weeks.
BACKGROUND:
The City’s website is a main source of information for residents, visitors and businesses. Improvements to navigability, accessibility, and overall aesthetic standards will enhance the overall experience of those looking to find information on our community. There are a number of improvements to highlight, namely:
- Use of a template-based system that saves significant coding and editing time on the City staff side;
- Increased ability for residents to submit requests for service through webforms and for staff to develop future information submission opportunities in this format;
- Significant mobility improvements that improve the user experience for smartphone and tablet users;
- Upgrades to an accessible standard, with test site to be provided for review to the City’s Accessibility Committee for input;
- Improved integration of brand standards and visual elements embedded in the site;
- Translation tool that enables the site to be viewed in dozens of languages;
- Improved integration of the City’s Economic Development Portal, a resource highlighting local industry and employment sector data, provided in partnership with Community Futures Pacific Northwest;
- Improved ability to delegate staff editing accesses to the site for redundancy purposes, given the simplicity of the template system relative to the previous site;
- Contracted web content management system, back up, hosting and security updates that reduces draw on staff at minimal cost;
The approximately $8,000 in costs for this project this year were included into the existing administrative and IT budgets. Research into web development options and additional quotes obtained yielded a range of options. From developers with the desired experience in developing sites to a municipal standard, costs ranged from $30,000 for upgrades to the existing site, to $150,000 - $250,000 for a full site rebuild. These costs were considered prohibitive, and so this project has been deferred in previous years given known financial constraints. The significant cost savings achieved with this project is what has enabled it to proceed this year.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Veronika Stewart, Manager of Communications, Engagement and Social Development
Office: (250) 627 0976
Cell: (778) 884 6285
Email: veronika.stewart@princerupert.ca