Town of Chapel Hill
Technology Committee
Website Strategic Plan
August 2004
The Town of Chapel Hill supports the goals of e-democracy through its public website. Citizens will be able to conduct business, search vital records, communicate with town staff/officials, and receive regular, customized updates on events, policies, and opportunities in those areas of town operations that are of particular interest to any citizen. Citizens include private individuals; business people; university faculty, staff and students; town and county staff; federal agency staff; and visitors – all who live, play and work in Chapel Hill and the surrounding area. The website is accessible without need for client server software in homes, libraries, homeless shelters or wherever connection to the Internet is available. The website is compliant with the Americans for Disabilities (ADA) Act.
In order to provide such access, Technology Committee urges the following general strategy and project plan.
a) The website will provide an easily accessed, integrated, standards-based site. It will provide access to:
· all public meeting notices with agendas;
· all public documents distributed at meetings (in a format that stands the test of time);
· all proposed legislation and amendments available online simultaneously with public distribution;
· up-to-date listings of all public officials with the capability to interact online with such persons or parties;
· surveys/questionnaires to obtain citizenry/business input to issues of concern to the public at large;
· e-mail notifications about new government decisions and information based on individual interests and locations;
· forms, applications, and the like that are required to conduct business activities with town departments and other town entities.
b) The website will integrate well with the planned Town Intranet. Regular maintenance and updating will be sustainable with current staffing.
To accomplish these goals, we propose the following process:
|
Months |
Proposed Date* |
Activity/ Deliverable(s) |
|
0-3 |
Oct. to Dec. 2004 |
Hire a consultant. Contract with an individual knowledgeable in the area of e-democracy and website development. |
|
4-6 |
Jan-Mar 2005 |
Internal. Analyze current departmental websites, management activities, and budgets for purpose of potential consolidation and standardization |
|
4-6 |
Jan-Mar 2005 |
External. Conduct focus groups with town employees and citizens by department/functionality to create a fine-grained information design plan. |
|
7-8 |
Apr-May 2005 |
Metrics. Identify usability elements of the website that should be standardized, such as search ability, navigation, and functionality. The goal is to keep the overall site manageable, usable and engaging. |
|
7-8 |
Apr-May 2005 |
Archive. Develop a detailed archiving strategy that is consistent with state requirements (MARC 21, NC ECHO) |
|
9 |
June 2005 |
Content. Based on internal and external analyses, identify external content needed to supplement web page content (by department/functionality) |
|
9 |
June 2005 |
Development Strategies. Identify document development strategies that comply with usability standards (Metrics) and archiving standards (Archive). |
|
10 |
July 2005 |
Confirm Assumptions. Meet with Technology Advisory Board and interested Town staff to present assumptions and gain agreement on general plan. |
|
11-12 |
Aug-Sept 2005 |
Deliverable. Deliverable is a detailed design and mock-up (prototype) with cost and staff required to produce finished product. |
The estimated cost for this development activity is between $40-50,000. It is to be accomplished in one year.
* Note: These dates were originally proposed, and will be adjusted when funds become available.
Recommended to the Town Council by unamious vote of the Technology Committee on August 17, 2004