City of Bloomington Reveals Updated Website Wednesday

Bloomington, Ind. - The City of Bloomington is set to move to an updated and improved version of its website (bloomington.in.gov) on Wednesday. The public is invited to join Mayor John Hamilton, Information Technology Services (ITS) Director Rick Dietz, Communications Director Mary Catherine Carmichael and Innovation Director Tom Miller in City Hall Council Chambers, 401 N. Morton Street, for a demonstration of some of the features of the new website on Wednesday at 11:00 a.m.

The goals of the new website include:

• Enhanced ease of use with consistent user interface elements and a responsive mobile-friendly design which works in browsers, tablets and mobile devices

• Simplified and streamlined website content to improve readability and search function

• Improved content management and reduced duplication

• Content from many City systems automatically updated to the website including current directory listings, board & commission information, calendar events, Parks classes and adoptable animals

• Updated platform (Drupal 8) for continuous improvement and iterative development going forward.

• Designed in the open (Alpha Website) to benefit from internal and external feedback

Mayor Hamilton said, “The transition to the new website is the beginning of a process rather than an ending. Providing up-to-date, accurate information for our residents and other visitors will continue to be a daily priority. Huge amounts of information will not only be readily available, but easier to find and navigate. This will be an engaging and dynamic tool that people should enjoy using to get current information about City services and events.”

“My Systems and Applications team has been working hard to get this exciting new tool ready to use and we are excited to get it into the public’s hands. We received invaluable feedback during the alpha (testing) phase of our website development and we thank everyone for the helpful input,” stated Rick Dietz, ITS Director.

In addition to the new website platform, the release of the website brings new digital services to the public including:

• Financial transparency portal

• Business Quickstart guide

• Interactive map gallery

• Mayor's public calendar

“The recent Community Survey revealed that for 67 percent of residents the City website was their top destination for information about the city. The new site features several innovations to be announced Wednesday, and will continue to feature the links residents depend on like B-Clear, myBloomington, uReport and links to Parks programming and events,” according to Tom Miller, Innovation Director.

Mary Catherine Carmichael, Communications Director, said, “We encourage people to try the new website and give us feedback on what they find works well, what we can improve and what additional information and datasets they would find useful.”