City seeks input to improve website

The city’s current version of its website was launched in 2010 with the intent of making it easier for the public to view and simpler for staff to post content.

That was a big undertaking because content from the old version of the website, which had existed for six years, had to be ported over to the new one.

Now, two years later, the city is re-evaluating the site and plans to make improvements based on input from a focus group comprised of city staff, council members and graduates of the Citizens Leadership Academy, a six-week course that educates residents on how the city works.

The city also is seeking comment from the public through an online survey that can be filled out by clicking here. The survey was posted on the city’s website before Thanksgiving and viewers have until Jan. 20 to fill it out. So far, the city has received about 60 responses.

The information will be compiled into a single, comprehensive report and presented to the city council in March, said Media Specialist Ruben Garcia.

Garcia is the man behind the curtain for the city’s website.

He was hired into the city’s IT department in 2005 and has seen the website grow from what he called a static and drab page in 2004 to how it looks now with the city branding and daily updates.

While there are aspects he likes about the current version, there are improvements to be made, such as redesigning the site so users can find what they are looking for in one or two clicks.

Nearly 40 percent of individuals who have responded to the survey so far say it takes six to eight clicks to find information.

“We want it to be very open and accessible,” he said. “If something’s buried too deep then we’ve complicated it too much.”

Rather than spending tens of thousands of dollars a year for a third party to manage the city’s website, Garcia said the city is using an open-source platform that is cost effective. In open source software, the source code itself is protected by copyright, but users are free to change, improve and distribute the software.

 Garcia said he also wants the new site to be more accessible on smartphones and other mobile devices.

 “We want to build a platform that is sizable for smartphones,” he said. “We need to consider mobile-friendly stuff and look into the possibility of application development (for mobile devices).”

Garcia said for a city its size, Maricopa has been staying ahead of the curve with digital technology.