[Durham INC] City of Durham Launches New Website

[Blalock, Amy]

CITY OF DURHAM

Office of Public Affairs

101 City Hall Plaza

Durham, NC 27701

 

 

News Release

 

For Details, Contact:

Amy Blalock

Sr. Public Affairs Specialist

(919) 560-4123 x 11253

(919) 475-7735 (cell)

Amy.Blalock at DurhamNC.gov

 

 

 

 

For Immediate Release: November 14, 2011

 

 

 

City of Durham Launches New Website

 

DURHAM, N.C. - Beginning today, visitors to the City of Durham's website
will enjoy a whole new experience thanks to improved search functions
and navigational tools as well as better organized information about
City government and the Durham community.  

 

The year-long website redesign project encompassed a detailed review of
what site visitors were looking for when searching the City's old
website and then reorganizing the content to be more service-driven
instead of department-driven. The new website design focuses on the
Durham "brand" and uses a simplified architecture to remove repetitive
navigation and categorize information into more intuitive sections of
content.

 

According to City Manager Tom Bonfield, the goal behind the redesigned
website is to help residents and visitors quickly access the information
they need about City government and the Durham community. "Our new site
is more user friendly with better organized information as well as new
information, not just about City government, but about Durham," Bonfield
said. "When visiting the new website, our visitors will be able to find
what they're looking for more quickly, and newcomers to Durham will also
get a better feel for who we are as a community." 

 

For example, the new website features a handy drop-down task menu in the
"I'd like to..." section that prompts the user on commonly used
functions, such as paying water bills or applying for City employment.

 

According to Bonfield, the new website is another tool in the City's
tool box to ensure fast, friendly, and responsive service.
"Communication and interaction with our website visitors drives our
ability to make Durham the best that it can be," Bonfield said. "We have
to be accessible in multiple ways to help our residents communicate with
their City government in new and more efficient ways. The website serves
a vital role in this process since it's the one tool that is accessible
24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week from anywhere around the world."

 

The total cost of the redesigned website was $55,000 and was built on
the Microsoft SharePoint platform. The redesign work was supplemented by
various City departments and led by the City's Technology Solutions
Department and the Office of Public Affairs, a division of the City
Manager's Office.

 

Residents and visitors are encouraged to visit the City's newly
redesigned website at www.DurhamNC.gov. For helpful user tips, visitors
can review the "New Website Frequently Asked Questions" document
available on the homepage of the new website in the "I'd like to..."
section. Also, users should check their bookmarked URL addresses for the
website because most of them have changed and will not work with the new
site.

 

Feedback on the new website may be submitted directly to the City's
Office of Public Affairs at (919) 560-4123 or via e-mail at 
PublicAffairs at DurhamNC.gov.

 

About the Technology Solutions Department

The Technology Solutions Department aligns the City's information
technology infrastructure and systems to the business needs of the
City's departments. It designs, implements, and maintains the technology
hardware, applications, and programs. Guided by the City's Strategic
Plan, Technology Solutions ensures that its services support making
Durham a great place to live, work, and play by helping provide a
well-managed city and stewardship of the City's physical assets. For
more information, visit http://durhamnc.gov/ich/as/ts/Pages/Home.aspx.

 

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