Redesigned county Web site wins plaudits

By Cheryl Chumley

Published: May 28, 2008

From "fabulous" to "professional" to "elegant," e-mailed comments from community members and county employees about the recent redesign of the Prince William Web site have been mostly positive, said one public information specialist.

"For the most part, feedback from outside users and internally, county employees, has been good. They like the change and think it's easier to find things," said Nikki Brown, county spokesperson. "The biggest complaint about the old Web site was it was hard to navigate … and now you can pretty much get to any-thing within two, three clicks at the most."

The county launched its new site, http://www.pwcgov.org, on May 7. Last updated in November 2003, this most recent overhaul came in response to survey comments from 761 participants. Primarily, respondents found it difficult, confusing and time-consuming to use the site search and navigation features, according to background documents presented to the Board of Supervisors weeks ago.

The Web site redesign began in late 2007 and was completed by staff with the county's communications and information technology departments, and did not call for the use of taxpayer dollars to hire contractors, Brown said.

"The scope of the project included redesign and publishing of more than 2,500 pages," the county reported.

Still to come is a video streamlining feature that will allow interested parties to watch Board of County Supervisors meetings as they unfold, live.

"That starts next month," Brown said. "The first board meeting that will be available [via online streamlined video] is June 17."

The video streaming will cost $22,750 as an initial outlay to Granicus, a live streaming and archiving business used by "hundreds of local and state governments," including the cities of Alexandria and Fairfax and the counties of Arlington, Chesterfield and Loudoun, according to background documents for the supervisors. Another $1,184 will be paid to Granicus monthly from cable capital grant funds for archiving and maintenance.

In the meantime, public comments are welcomed, Brown said.

"We want people to let us know what they think," she said. "We are not done with the Web site. We will continue to update it."

Staff writer Cheryl Chumley can be reached at 703-670-1907.