CARRBORO, N.C. – The Town of Carrboro has officially launched a revamped website www.carrboronc.gov in its continuing commitment to provide exceptional services and enhance transparency, communication and community engagement.
The site reflects the look and feel of the community while incorporating features designed to help residents, visitors and community partners quickly locate the information and services they need.
The new website is easy to navigate and presents information in a variety of formats. The site incorporates a translation feature allowing the Town to communicate with residents in languages other than English.
The site was designed using feedback from surveys of users, as well as from analytics of the most visited pages and requested services. Research on usability was led by the Town’s Communication and Engagement Department in collaboration with CivicPlus, the website designer; the Town Communications Team; the Information Technology Department; and the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media.
The website is a valuable information source for the community. Residents ranked the website as one of their top three sources for Town of Carrboro news and information in a communitywide survey conducted in November 2021. Also ranking highly as information sources are word of mouth and outdoor signage.
In a website survey issued by the Town in August 2021, about 88% of respondents said that finding what they need on the website is easy and 85% said the website is visually appealing. In open-ended comments, respondents asked for improvements in webpage loading time, search functionality, and access to Council meetings.
In collaboration with UNC-Chapel Hill Professor Laura Ruel’s User Experience Design and Usability (MEJO 581) class, student groups researched the Town of Carrboro website to gauge whether visitors and residents of Carrboro can easily navigate the homepage and respective links. In response to their findings, Town staff streamlined megamenus; minimized large image files and other content to reduce load times; and renamed some of the navigation headers.
The Town aims for continuous website improvement with more streamlining of content, continual review of analytics, and communications support of Town departments.
The website was developed in partnership with Civic Plus, a company that specializes in "building city and county e-government communication systems.” The town website was last redesigned in 2014.
To provide feedback or share any concerns about the website, please contact Communication and Engagement Director Catherine Lazorko at clazorko@carrboronc.gov or 919-918-7314.
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