The new face of Alexandria.gov Photo Contributed
City Manager Mark Jinks remembered a time when the City of Alexandria was considered the leader in its municipal website. But looking at the clunky and cluttered interface today, that is a time that seems long past. One of the latest city improvement projects is attempting to restore the city’s website to its former position of Internet glory.
Steve Chozick, division chief of Alexandria’s Information Technology Services, said that the aim was to make the new website design more usable and accurate.
“We simplified the homepage,” said Chozick. “Basic elements now help guide through navigation.”
In particular, Chozick said that the search functions moved away from being departmental focused into a more topical structure. Chozick also noted the inclusion of a new projects and plans menu, which should help Alexandria residents navigate through the master plans and strategic plans across the city.
Craig Fifer, director of Communications, said a second major component to the website revitalization is trimming down the hoard of redundant documents and versions of documents on the site..
“We’re embarking on a cleanup to take care of outdated information and broken links,” said Fifer. “There are 30,000 PDF files. We don’t want to get rid of reference material, but we do want to get rid of old files that are confusing people.”
Mayor William Euille praised the more topical, rather than departmental, focus of the site’s search structure. The redesign cost $60,000 in assistance from contractors, but was mostly worked on by in-house staff. Mid-December is listed as the site’s debut, though Jinks reminded the council that updating the website is continuing its development even after its launch.