Project Summary: Website refresh
A project to modernize the Town's website, improving user experience, accessibility, and digital presence.
Project Summary
Project Name: Website refresh Priority: Strategic Public Engagement: Not applicable Reference: N-047 Financial Plan: 2025 – 2029 Code: 1-2-01400-310 CC140-06 Submitted by: Kelsea Korki Director: Sarah Jones, Corporate Administration
Executive Summary
View Royal is striving towards becoming a barrier-free community and the Town's Accessibility Plan highlights the importance of ensuring accessibility features are a primary focus of a website refresh. As well, the Town's Strategic Plan identifies a website review as an initiative under the priority of "Community Engagement and Good Governance" with an intended start date in 2026. Given the public-facing role of the municipal website as a key representation of the Town, updating it in 2025 rather than waiting until 2026 would better support these objectives while ensuring a current, accessible, and engaging online presence.
Business problem and opportunity
The Town's website has been in place since 2010 with changes undertaken to add some minor additional features plus many new pages of content since that launch.
While the current website functions well and delivers much of the standard information found on most municipal sites, it lacks a modern, visually appealing design. Updating the site's organization and layout will improve both the visibility and usability of key features, making information easier to find and enhancing the overall user experience. A refreshed design can also foster stronger community engagement by presenting a more approachable and engaging digital presence.
The website refresh provides an opportunity to both add some accessibility features, such as described images, plus also better highlight existing ones, such as adjustable font sizes and contrast settings, making them easier for users to find and use.
Proposed project objectives
- To refresh and modernize the website, enhancing usability and providing a more user-friendly experience.
- To highlight public engagement opportunities, encouraging greater community participation.
- To both add and improve the visibility of existing accessibility features, ensuring the website is inclusive and easy to navigate for all users.
Business risks
A website refresh is intended to promote the Town, present a modernized look and feel, and support the Town's accessibility goal. If the project is not undertaken, the look and feel of the current website will remain in place and opportunities to improve accessibility will not be met.
Proposed sources of funding
Casino revenue, 1-1-00557-866 Grant funding, as available and approved, would reduce the use of Casino funding.
Costs and benefits
| Costs | FY1 | FY2 | FY3 | FY4 | FY5 | 5-year Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capital | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Operational | 19,500 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19,500 |
| Total | 19,500 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19,500 |
| Benefits | |
|---|---|
| Tangible | Improved download speeds for customers and greater functionality across multiple devices. |
| Intangible | Perception of modern community, supportive of website users with diverse needs and access requirements. |
Recommendation
THAT the Committee recommend the 2025-2029 Financial Plan include Website refresh in 2025 to be funded by Casino revenue.
Document Images
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