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Vienna to launch redesigned town website around July 1 after demo and council feedback
Summary
Public information staff and vendor Granicus showed a preview of a redesigned Vienna website with improved navigation, mobile usability and search; council praised many changes, requested alphabetized quick-links and more user testing before the planned July 1 launch.
Public information officials told the Vienna Town Council on June 2 that the town will migrate its website to a new platform on or about July 1, aiming to fix longstanding search and navigation problems and improve mobile usability.
Karen Thayer, the town's public information director, said the redesign grew out of user complaints that meeting materials and other content were hard to find on the current site. Thayer said internal and external focus groups helped reshape the information architecture and that the town has worked with Granicus to migrate content and improve functionality.
Granicus project manager Mary Carmen Vargas demonstrated the updated navigation, mobile home page and a search feature that pulls meeting materials and Legistar PDFs directly into the site. "This is a way friendlier user experience digitally for your citizens," Vargas said during a live preview.
Council members welcomed the improvements but pressed staff for a few changes and clarifications. Council member Brill asked that the circular quick-links be presented in alphabetical order to make it faster for users to find items such as the police page; Thayer said the team made some adjustments based on focus-group feedback but would review that request. Council member Allen asked for a single point of contact so council content can be managed consistently; Thayer said each department will keep content managers and the public-information office will oversee style and approvals.
Council members also asked about how residents will sign up for Vienna Connect and news alerts. Thayer said an IT forms module is being implemented to make sign-ups easier and that a sign-up option is visible on the proposed homepage, though some links remain to be connected prior to launch.
Officials said the site will be opened to internal users for a break/fix testing period and then to external reviewers before public launch. "We expect to be able to launch the new platform on or about July 1," Thayer said, while cautioning that post-launch adjustments are likely as residents point out issues.
The council did not take a vote on the site; staff described next steps for testing and content migration.
