Adams County highlights website redesign, accessibility and cybersecurity on podcast

Adams County officials discussed the county’s redesigned website, adamscountyco.gov, and cybersecurity steps for residents and staff during an episode of the county’s All in Adams podcast.

Jennifer Council, deputy director of information technology and innovation, said the county “support[s] the public” by protecting data and ensuring new applications meet security parameters. Council cautioned that a single compromised account can affect many people and urged redaction of full Social Security numbers from routine records.

The podcast framed the redesign around two priorities: security and accessibility. Crystal Hoffner, technology business partner supervisor, described the redesign as aimed at “keeping what we do safe and secure so that we present to the public a safe and secure website.” Host Joey Sykes, digital media specialist, said the new site emphasizes easier navigation and stronger security.

Why it matters: the site combines user-focused navigation, a more robust search engine, and accessibility improvements intended to meet recent state-level digital-access requirements mentioned on the podcast (referred to in the episode as “HB 21 11 10”). Council and Hoffner said meeting those accessibility standards means making pages usable by screen readers, adding alt text for images, improving color contrast, and simplifying page text so users with cognitive needs can find information more easily.

Officials described several practical features and maintenance practices on the new site: a separate “businesses and residents” navigation path, breadcrumb trails to show page location, a stronger mobile experience, and a cleanup of outdated documents (the hosts cited removing PDFs from years such as 2016). Council said county data is stored in both cloud and on-premises data centers and is backed up, without specifying data center locations.

On cybersecurity best practices, Council urged residents and employees to verify message sources, avoid clicking links in unexpected emails or texts and to log in directly to known services instead of following links. She recommended passphrases and noted county policy sets a 16-character minimum for passwords; several staff members use passphrases of 24–30 characters. Council also described internal reporting protocols: staff who report suspicious emails trigger a security-team review.

Hoffner and Council encouraged residents to use the website’s search and to report missing or hard-to-find content so staff can adjust navigation and prioritize fixes. The hosts emphasized the county’s intention to continue iterative improvements and to respond to user feedback.

The episode contained no formal votes or policy actions; the segment was an informational discussion about the website and cybersecurity guidance. Adams County staff pointed listeners to adamscountyco.gov for more information and to the county’s social channels for additional cybersecurity tips during Cybersecurity Awareness Month.