Why Responsive Web Design

In his groundbreaking article, Responsive Web Design (2010, A List Apart), noted Web expert Ethan Marcotte established the core elements of Responsive Web Design (RWD). Since then, RWD has slowly become the Web standard.

If you are a fan of geek speak and really want to dive into the technical aspects of RWD, Mr. Marcotte’s article is a fabulous read. But if you want to learn just enough to be dangerous, or perhaps just enough to help you consider whether a responsive website is a good fit for your municipal website, read on.

GovOffice Mobile has been providing excellent user experiences – including mobile-friendly sites - for years. All GovOffice websites are automatically optimized for the screen sizes (viewports) of smartphones.

With the introduction of an increasing array of screen sizes through tablets and supersized smartphones, Responsive Web Design takes mobile-friendliness to the next level. In other words, responsive websites automatically resize to fit all mobile screen sizes; from desktop PCs to tablets to smartphones.

For example, we built Onalaska, Wisconsin's website on our new Responsive Web Design framework. As you can see in the illustration below, their design fits perfectly within three different mobile device viewports. They were also able to incorporate more highly visual content, showcasing their community with sweeping imagery throughout.



And of course, the content and images adapt right along with the design. All of the content that exists on your desktop design, exists in every screen size variation.

Responsive designs look great on any device

Responsive Web Design is not a requirement for an excellent mobile experience; but it does offer a stronger visual presentation along with more flexibility for site visitors to ensure they can find the information they need, as seamlessly as possible.

And that flexibility bodes well for the future. A solid responsive website is a solution for many years to come as more and different mobile devices continue to emerge. RWD puts you in a good position to roll with those changes and meet the current and future needs of all browsers, all devices, and all screen sizes.

Contact us to find out if Responsive Web Design is right for you!

Case Study: How GovOffice Saved the Day for Fergus Falls, MN

The GovOffice team completed another successful website transformation for the City of Fergus Falls, Minnesota and they couldn't be happier.

In a recent conversation with long time customer (going on 9 years!), Lynne Olson, Assistant to the City Administrator, expressed her gratitude and talked about her awesome GovOffice experience.            

                      

“Our website was eight years old and in desperate need of a refresh. It was an overwhelming task to start thinking about organization, design, and navigation for an updated site.

However, once the professionals got involved, it was amazing how quickly things moved along. All of the staff members at GovOffice made the whole process so easy!”

Sales Process

“Mike in Sales was so patient with us when we had to wait through numerous budget cycles until we could get our upgrade approved in the budget.” You only pay for the features you need. GovOffice provides all the core features used by most local governments.

Preparing the Design

“Janelle, the Designer, had fun going in a different direction with us as we bucked the design trends with a relatively simplistic look. She was so great to work with and helped us perfect the design which we absolutely love!” GovOffice graphic designers work with you to develop a unique image and brand to showcase your community.

The Launch

“Ben, the Content Specialist, talked me off the ledge more than once when I felt panicky. We have received numerous compliments about the navigation slab and re-organization that he provided for us.” GovOffice content professionals provide a range of content services that will deliver a streamlined, user-friendly website.

Fergus Falls (pop. 13,138) is located in the West Central Minnesota lakes country. Rich rolling farmland, wooded hills and over 1,000 lakes combined make agriculture and tourism valued industries in the region. It has become a favorite MN vacation stop with the slogan, “Find Us, Lose Yourself!”

Had a great GovOffice experience? Tell us your story! 

A Quick Guide to Common Web Terminology

Effective communication with your Web solution provider will help ensure your website meets your goals and expectations. Something as simple as misunderstanding common terms associated with Web projects can steer a project off the rails. So we’ve prepared this brief guide of commonly misunderstood terms to help keep you on track.

Read on to ensure that your next conversation with your sales rep, account rep, or tech support effectively conveys your Web needs or gets your problem solved quickly.

Design

Web design consists of the visual elements of a website. These include the colors, fonts, banner images, general layout, and so on. These elements are consistent across every page. Think of Web design as the frame, or template, where you place your content.

Content

Web content consists of everything not included in Web design such as text or images in sections (pages) and the labels and organization of navigation menus. Content can, and typically should, be different on each page of your website.

Content Management System (CMS)

The Content Management System (CMS) is where you make changes to your website content. You can manage every aspect here, from creating new sections, to adding new text, to uploading documents, to removing outdated information. This area is also commonly referred to as the Administrative Dashboard, or simply Admin. The changes you make here will be instantly updated on your live site.

Live Site

The live site is the website that visitors see. It takes all of the content you create in the Admin and displays it according your website design template.

Navigation Menu

This is where the names of all of your sections (pages) are displayed in an organized manner. It will allow your site visitors to efficiently move between sections and easily access the information they need. The navigation menu can be displayed horizontally, vertically or both but must be consistent throughout the site.

Section (Page)

A section can also be referred to as a page as it is one individual "page" of content on your website. As you develop the content of your website you will create many new sections. Each section should focus on one type of content, for example, a section that only has Minutes & Agendas or another that only has Police Department information.

Site URL/Domain

This is your website address. It will most likely look similar to www.anytownusa.com but can be customized to an extent.

Homepage

The homepage is the introductory page (section) of a website and is typically the main page a visitor will find when navigating from a search engine. The homepage is used to facilitate navigation to other (interior) pages on the site by way of the navigation menus, quick links, promotions, and other elements.

Responsive Web Design

A responsive website is designed to resize and display optimally on any device; desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphones. It resizes dynamically and allows desktop webpages to be viewed in response to the screen size of the device. For example, if you use a smartphone to view a responsive website, the content stacks into a single column, delivering your content in a vertical scrolling layout.

Do these words make sense to you?

Other questions regarding Web standards and communication? Let us know!

6 Ways to Improve Your GovOffice Website

The Best of Our Best Practices, Vol. 1

The GovOffice CMS gives you the freedom to modify your website content any time (and almost any way) you want. However, with this freedom comes the responsibility of keeping your website up-to-date and well organized. With many demands on your time, sometimes making hasty updates is necessary and can do more damage than good; the cumulative effect being a discombobulated set of information.

When making recommendations for improving content and design to our clients, we advise them to follow our “best practices”. Best practices can be defined as professional procedures that are accepted or prescribed as being correct or most effective. With more than 15 years' experience developing local government websites, we have established our own credible set of best practices for making (and keeping) your city’s website a user-friendly experience for your citizens.

North Oaks's site visitors are a happy bunch

Here are six examples of “the best of our best practices” and how you can apply them. They are the fastest most effective ways to improve your GovOffice website right now.

Review your content
THE Cardinal Rule. Keep an eye on your page content – the text, images, sidebars, announcements, Items, and so on. Is everything up to date? Is that Fall Festival still being promoted in the middle of winter? Remove any and all content that is no longer relevant. Our Editing Toolbar is the essential tool to enable you to clean up, reformat and modify your content.

Organize your navigation
Limit your primary (first level) navigation menu items to 10 vertical and 7 horizontal. If your site navigation is unruly, your visitors will be overwhelmed. Don’t make them think! They want to spend as little time as possible on your site (sorry to say) getting the information they need. Follow this tutorial on how to move Sections to help organize your navigation menus.

Keep your Homepage clean
Following the previous points, get rid of the clutter. A clean, streamlined homepage is much more inviting and improves the utility of your website. A quality site begins at the homepage. However, well-intentioned Web Administrators make the mistake of thinking everything needs to appear on the homepage. It doesn’t. People will have no problem finding information as long as your site is well organized. Learn how to add Promotions to your site. It's one easy way to keep things clean.

Arrange your images
It’s fun to add images to pages and the can certainly add variety, but like other pieces of content, they can also be too much of a good thing. Follow our recommendations for placing images on your site. Make use of the included Image Gallery.

Use correct Content Types
The easiest way to arrange, format and display your website pages correctly is to use the right content type. Each content type is designed for specific information. For example, the Basic content type is useful for most sections that simply require text and images, the Events content type is used to display information that requires dates or a calendar, the News content type is best for displaying news and announcements. Let the GovOffice CMS content types do the work!

Update your design
Maybe it's just time to update your design. Nothing like a fresh start. You may want consider adding one of our Content Services too. We are the professionals after all and can help take some that workload off of your shoulders!

Need more help? GovOffice clients get FREE, unlimited Training & Technical Support.

Contact us to learn more!

4 Things to Consider for a Website Redesign

As a local government you understand that providing robust and reliable online services to your citizens is necessary to keep them satisfied and engaged. So how can you achieve this as you redesign your website?

Perhaps you are rethinking your Web presence because your old site is outdated. Or maybe you want to take advantage of new advancements in Web practices and technology. Whatever your reasons are, a redesign requires a thoughtful and thorough process.

Here are four items to consider when undertaking your municipal website redesign:

1. Think safety first.

A week doesn’t go by without news of a business or institution suffering a data breach. Online assaults are growing in number, whether from amateur hackers or sophisticated foreign agencies. Barrages designed to overwhelm a site with traffic from a number of sources are called Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) raids and they increase every day. You not only have to keep your site online but need to protect information about your operations and constituent records. The community is trusting you with their information and it’s your responsibility to protect it.

Key Takeaway

Your website and your database must be kept secure from attacks. A community has to consider what technology to use, what it can afford, and where the site is hosted. Don’t forget to check on the physical security of your host. All GovOffice websites are hosted in a secure, Tier Three Cloud data center, which ensures the highest levels of security and firewall technology, powerful and reliable servers and systems, and robust bandwidth.

2. It’s a mobile world.

A majority of Americans now own a smartphone and use it on a regular basis to peruse online content. Older members of your community are more likely to use more traditional means of visiting your website but even that population is changing. Your website must not only look good on a laptop but its crucial elements must be accessible on mobile devices as well. In addition, in an emergency or loss of power a smartphone may be the only way a user can reach your site.

Key Takeaway

The content of your website has to be legible on smartphones and other mobile devices. By using a Responsive Web Design (RWD) your site will adjust to the demands of variable screen sizes. GovOffice websites include a mobile version and Responsive Web Designs are available to ensure an optimal user experience.

3. The needs of many, the needs of few.

If you undertake the task of overhauling your website, conflicting priorities are going to emerge. It’s not just about what constituents face when using the site. Each department in your organization, each official, and every entity that has a stake in the site will have a different opinion and agenda. Therefore, before launching a new website you must consider the needs and inputs of everyone involved, not just the team responsible for the new site. By concentrating on the impressions of those who supply the content and those who use it, you will end up with a site that will serve your citizens best.

Elected officials and employees will have differing needs as well. A Mayor will want to create a different impression than the Water Department supervisor. It is crucial that you collect information on what your citizens, officials, and employees expect of the website. Once you have a grasp on what their expectations and requirements are, you can then implement best practices to meet those needs.

Key Takeaway

The information on your site should be complete, easy to find, and worded so all can understand it. Elected officials may need different information displayed than your employees. You need input from outside and inside to make informed decisions on content and appearance. GovOffice has a staff of content professionals that understand and implement best practices of Web writing and design that can work with you to ensure your unique website needs and goals are met.

4. Open your door to everyone.

Developing a new website to accommodate people of different abilities is a crucial concern. For several years the US Department of Justice has conducted audits of accessibility all across the U.S. This includes municipal websites. Several counties and cities have had to settle with the DOJ last year.

The Federal accessibility requirements are called WCAG 2.0 and each community must adopt a program to be compliant with them. When configuring a new website, you need to put into place the standards and practices required under these regulations.

Key Takeaway

Your content writers need to be educated about the requirements for accommodation. Art and graphics will require attention to color and contrast. All content has to be configured for access by people of differing abilities. GovOffice works to keep up with these evolving requirements and our newest design framework was specifically formulated to address accessibility of our sites.

Stillwater, MN hit all the marks with their website redesign