Primary Purpose
Description
Websites are quickly becoming a main source of information for a large segment of the public. Websites can provide interested stakeholders with project information, announcements, documents, and allow for input or discussion. Websites are easily accessed, even by people in remote locations. They can be updated easily as new information comes available.
Websites can provide a low cost means of providing information to a very large number of people. However, websites must be maintained to keep information current, and are more likely to be visited if they are well designed and regularly provide new content.
Outcomes
Websites allow government agencies and other organizations to quickly share information with broad audiences. Websites can inform a wide range of people about an issue or topic and invite people to become involved if they are interested.
Time considerations
At minimum, a website will take around 8 weeks to develop and launch if working with a designer. After initial launch, time and resources must be designated to review and refresh content, in addition to monitoring and responding to comments.
For websites that allow public comment, it will be important to make a plan for who will retrieve comments and how often, how the comments will be addressed, and who will respond, if applicable.
Staffing
The number of people and amount of staff time required to design, launch, and maintain a website varies depending on the complexity of the design, the amount of information being shared, the amount and frequency of new content posted, and the level of audience interaction that needs monitoring and response. Agencies may also have standardized web formats and design considerations (such as being compliant with screen readers). It can be very helpful to work with professional web designers to ensure the website is both easy to use and complies with agency requirements.
Materials
- Internet access
- Web design software
- Website hosting ability (domain names, servers, etc.)