www.saintjohn.caBuilding on public feedback and a desire to improve customer service, the City of Saint John created a new website they hope will be citizens’ preferred method for finding city information.
“We needed a site that would reflect the quality and breadth of the services that we deliver and engage our citizens,” said Andrew Beckett, Deputy City Manager, Programs and Priorities. “ISL worked with the feedback we received to deliver something that we think, will raise the bar for municipal websites.”
One priority was to improve the Information Architecture to reflect the City’s service delivery model and better meet the needs of residents, visitors, and businesspeople. The new sitemap is easier to navigate and pages are much better organized in spite of having more content.
Services are browsable via service program or alphabetical directory. Each service has a “What you need to know” section as well as budget and performance data, to provide transparency and accountability.
A My Saint John portal lets constituents create an account with their civic address and receive personalized information on their ward, councillors, and garbage pickup for example.
The website is built on OneWeb CMS and the City’s IT department received developer training on the platform so they can create new features and functionality.
•Community and council events calendar
•Extensive area maps
•Context-based customer service forms
•Web Governance plan to help ensure managed growth and process