I wanted to share an update on the city’s website redesign project. As you may recall, Communication & Engagement and IT have been working since 2017 to redesign the city website based on user input, research and testing. The city launched a beta website in October to preview the new website, and we have been gathering feedback on it from staff and the public ever since.
Our next step is to roll out a significant update of the beta website on June 1. The current beta features a very limited number of pages – just a couple dozen -- but we will publish hundreds of new pages in June and solicit additional input from staff and the public to inform our ongoing work. We will then officially launch the new website on July 12, using the weeks leading up to launch for quality control and finalizing content.
The old city website will be publicly accessible for two weeks after the new website launches so there is a transition period for users. The city will be analyzing web traffic data and user input on both the old site and new site to determine improvements.
Council members can get an early preview of the beta update. We welcome any feedback you might have on it. A few notable pages include:
updated council homepage and council participation page;
new pages allowing users to view, sort and search all city trails and trailheads as well as all city park and recreation facilities;
updated city news page;
updated city calendar; and
new guide pages for user groups, like the ones for residents and businesses.
Staff in departments across our organization have been working diligently for more than a year to audit, consolidate and improve web content. They have helped consolidate more than 5,500 webpages on the current site down to less than 1,000, and greatly improved the quality of content.
We will be sharing information about the new website with staff and the public in the weeks leading up to launch. While search is not part of the beta update, the city is working to implement a much more robust and accurate search functionality that will debut when the new site launches in July. Based on feedback from council in February, the city has already implemented initial improvements to the Laserfiche public records archive to make it easier to access and use.
The website is the City of Boulder’s most important tool for delivering information and services to the community. The website receives approximately 1.5 million visitors and 7 million pageviews a year on average. You can learn more about the new website and the philosophy behind it at https://beta.bouldercolorado.gov/projects/website-redesign-project.
To learn more, contact Communication and Engagement Department Director Sarah Huntley, at 720-564-2111 or huntleys@bouldercolorado.gov.
The city of Boulder has been allocated $20,153,269 in Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds, established by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. The city expects to receive half of its allocated amount in 2021 and the other half in 2022.
The city requested these funds from the federal government on Friday, May 14, and, assuming the verification process goes smoothly, Boulder will receive its funds in one to two weeks.
Staff plans to provide City Council with an update on this funding, along with recommended next steps, in June.
Please contact Cheryl Pattelli, CFO, at pattellic@bouldercolorado.com with any questions.
Regards,
Nuria
