new DC.Gov home page

Here you go:

From: "District of Columbia" <dcdocs@dc.gov>
Date: May 12, 2014 at 2:30:39 PM EDT
Subject: Announcing the New DC.Gov Home Page
Reply-To: dcdocs@dc.gov

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Dear District residents, businesses and visitors, 

                       

Today, I joined with the Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO) to unveil a redesigned DC.Gov home page and associated resource pages. The launch of this exciting new home page is part of a larger effort to move all District websites to a new content-management system designed to provide you with a more user-friendly experience. The new DC.Gov home page, in keeping with one of the goals of my One City Action Plan, aims to strengthen government accountability by making it easier to find and obtain accurate information about District government operations quickly.

                                               

The new home page remedies a number of key usability problems with the old home page, including removing multiple rows of navigation, broken links and accordion-style navigation that increased the number of user clicks needed to access internal content. OCTO has also addressed overloaded and hidden content, streamlined the page header, improved the usage of space on the page, and modernized the look and feel of the site. And, changing with the times, the home page is now mobile-device responsive, introducing a best practice in web design that stays current with the explosive growth of smart phones and other mobile devices.

             

Highlights of the new DC.Gov web portal include:

• Responsive design. The new DC.Gov home page makes use of responsive design, which adapts the layout to the viewing environment. This means that you can view web content effectively regardless of the device and browser you are using, be it desktop, tablet or smart phone.
• Improved information architecture. We improved the home page information architecture by employing a user-friendly philosophy when redesigning the types of information that should be on the home page. We combined this choice of content and layout with an improved taxonomy and search customization to access content directly. This makes the home page even more effective and efficient in finding information and services.
• Improved navigation. We simplified the navigation from the home page with drop-down menus to make it easier to access interior web content. This use of drop-down menus gives users an immediate view of key subsections of each main navigation section and reduces the number of clicks required to get to that information.
• More prominent search field. We enlarged the search box and made it a more prominent feature in recognition of the fact that many people use search to navigate to interior pages. We have also improved our keyword matches and made other improvements to facilitate your use of search.
• A clean, simple design. We are the District government, so that means you won’t see federal monuments or the Capitol or the White House when you come to this site. Also, we think that a simple, clean design looks great and best serves the visitor who comes to a government website primarily for information and services.
• Key services. The featured services listed near the top of the page are based on a combination of Google analytics and current events and programs – increasing the chances you will find the service you are looking for on the home page itself. If you do not find what you are looking for there, then we offer a searchable view of all the services across all agency websites on the landing page linked off the home page.
• Popular searches. These are the top searches based on Google analytics, and will be featured on the new DC.Gov site. A longer list of the top 25 search terms can also be found on a page linked to the home page. The list is refreshed periodically.
• “Sticky menu.” The new site’s top-level navigation is part of a “sticky” header that stays in view as you scroll down the page. The DC.Gov logo and the search function also move with the header for easier navigation as you scroll through the page.

I hope you enjoy these design improvements to DC.Gov. Please tweet any feedback you may have on the new home page to @DCGovWeb. 

                       

Sincerely,

     

Mayor Vincent C. Gray