SWAMPSCOTT — The nearly $10,000 new town website aims to be more user-friendly and engaging for current or potential residents.
Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald said the town budgeted a figure a little under $10,000 last year to upgrade the site to the new web software.
The vendor used for the upgrade was Virtual Towns and Schools, which Fitzgerald called one of the largest web developers for cities and towns in New England.
Fitzgerald said the project started 18 months ago, and that Ronald Mendes, town treasurer and assistant town administrator, and Peter Kane, director of community development, stepped up to shepherd the upgrade along.
He said the new site continues the Board of Selectmen’s goals of trying to enhance transparency and customer service to the community. Fitzgerald said many businesses are 24/7 where people can access services, and the intent is to make sure Swampscott residents have the same ability. The site can be accessed at http://www.town.swampscott.ma.us/.
“I’m excited about it and I’m sure it will help folks to see more about the day-to-day activities of various departments and committees in town,” Fitzgerald said.
Mendes presented the new site, which had its soft rollout a couple of weeks ago, to the selectmen on Wednesday night. He said it is still a work in progress, but officials felt it was ready for “prime time” so they put it out there.
Mendes said the whole site repositions itself based on size — it rearranges itself to make it easier to navigate on a mobile device.
Fitzgerald said that feature is a significant improvement — users are able to have the site respond to their mobile devices much more intuitively. He said the old website was much more staticky and it was harder to find things with handheld devices.
Patrick Jones, a selectman, agreed, saying that the resizing and navigation on mobile devices is a huge improvement.
Mendes said a section on the website homepage labeled “Citizen Action Center” focuses on the most clicked areas of the old site — agendas and minutes, assessors records, bylaws and charter, forms and documents, online payments, video on demand and volunteer. A section for citizen transparency is also listed, with content pending.
A “Find it Fast” section features links people may want to get to quickly. Mendes said one of the complaints from people about the old website was that what they wanted to access quickly was difficult to find.
Mendes said the site’s “About the Town” section is a good resource for people thinking about moving to Swampscott, and is a good way for people to do their research to determine whether they want to buy in the town.
He said another feature can translate the site into different languages.
Another quick hit on the homepage is a section with four tabs — bulletins, town news, a community calendar, and social media.
Fitzgerald said the upgrade allows each town department to use more multimedia and technology that would help committee chairs or department heads continue to add more content, which gives users more of a reason to come back and visit.
The site has a better database and search tool, which allows people to quickly access many of the town documents and reports, Fitzgerald said.
“Engaging the community is an important part of why we’re upgrading the website,” Fitzgerald said.
