SARASOTA COUNTY – Sarasota County Government on Wednesday soft launched a significant renovation of its website that makes it more responsive to reflexive design and mobile devices. The result is a more modern, functional and visually attractive site that will meet our citizens in all the places they gather information, whether it’s at home, in the office or on the phone.
“The average lifespan of a website is three to five years, but this is the first significant rebuild of scgov.net in nearly a decade. Since then, we’ve seen the rise of social media and a countless array of mobile devices. All of these developments are driving new trends in web design,” Sarasota County Administrator Tom Harmer said.
In keeping with the county’s emphasis on customer service, the revamped site features a more user-friendly layout aimed at helping citizens find the information they seek quickly and efficiently. The search bar, the most heavily-used feature on the site, is now larger and placed front and center in the new design. Decisions about the site’s content and navigation were guided by customer feedback and analytics, which found that of approximately 2,000 different pages on the previous scgov.net, 80 percent of the site’s traffic was directed to just 44 of them.
The site’s new design adapts to smartphones, laptops and tablets, keeping content centered in the viewing area. It also considers the performance of the user’s device, the size of files and how fast they load on different speed networks.
“By giving people access to information across a variety of platforms, we’re giving them greater access to county events, programs and services,” Harmer said.
County staff will be working with partnering county offices and municipalities to ensure the site’s functionality following the soft launch.
To learn more about the new scgov.net website, or for navigation assistance, call the Sarasota County Contact Center at 941-861-5000.