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Communications director: Linn County wins national awards; website redesign and ADA work advance
Summary
Communications Director Joy Alexander told supervisors Linn County won a CMA Silver Circle award and a PAFR honor, outlined a CivicPlus website redesign targeted for Feb.–March, announced a Sept. 29 photo-submission deadline and described a social-media ADA checklist developed after DOJ guidance.
Joy Alexander, Linn County Communications Director, briefed the Board of Supervisors on communications successes and ongoing projects, including national awards, a website redesign and digital-accessibility work.
Alexander said Linn County received a national award from the City-County Communications and Marketing Association (CMA), earning the Silver Circle (second place) in the publications/branding-guide category for the county’s writing style guide. ‘‘This writing style guide is part of our communications and branding policy,’’ she said, adding the award recognized accessible branding for staff and real-world examples. She also reported the county won an award for its Popular Annual Financial Report (PAFR) and described the PAFR as a joint communications and finance product that is published after the external audit for public distribution.
On digital projects, Alexander said the county is midstream on a CivicPlus website redesign scheduled to launch in February–March; the home page will see the most visible change. She noted a photo-submission form for the website is open through Sept. 29 at noon to gather imagery representing Linn County. Alexander said 32 survey respondents so far opted into the county e-news subscription and that the communications team is preparing content for the FY25 PAFR after the audit.
Alexander described a social-media ADA checklist developed for employees in response to a Department of Justice ruling on digital accessibility and said she will share the checklist with departments that post to social media, including the auditor’s and sheriff’s offices. She also told the board the county will standardize email signatures using a vendor-approved process after IT vetted security concerns so signatures appear consistently across devices and clients.
On recruitment, Alexander said Facebook ads and Metro Studios video work are running as part of an outreach effort that HR targeted to preferred audiences; the communications team will continue to coordinate content, B-roll and ad testing. She said an employee apparel-store survey showed 95% of respondents found the store easy to use and 92% favored having the online store option again.
Alexander said the communications team meets quarterly with Black Hawk County and is adding Johnson County to discuss shared topics such as digital accessibility and crisis communications. She closed by asking for questions; supervisors had none and thanked her for the update.
No formal board action was recorded on the communication items during the meeting.
