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ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />. Meeting Date: February 20, 2001 <br />Action Age a? <br />Item No. ? <br />SUBJECT: Web Site Redesign Project _ <br />DEPARTMENT: Board of County Commissioners PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No <br />ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />Web Redesign Proposal from ITS Steve Halkiotis, 732-6271 <br />5/31/2000 Memo from IT Committee Margaret Brown, 929-8513 <br />Chair <br />TELEPHONE NUMBERS: <br />Hillsborough 732-8181 <br />Chapel Hill 968-4501 <br />Durham 688-7331 <br />Mebane 336-227-2031 <br />PURPOSE: To receive direction from the Board of Commissioners on how to proceed with the <br />proposed redesign of the County's web site. <br />BACKGROUND: The IT Plan and Strategic Communications Plan both include initiatives to <br />improve the effectiveness and usability of the World Wide Web for communicating with citizens <br />and Commissioners. The IT Plan "Citizen and Board Access" initiative has led to further <br />development of the County's web site and an Intranet site. The Strategic Communications Plan <br />has led to a more unified approach in maintaining information on the current web site. <br />In April 2000, a staff committee made up of representatives from County departments began <br />meeting with the goal of recommending to the Board of Commissioners a method by which the <br />County web site would be redesigned to accomplish the goals of the IT Plan and Strategic <br />Communications Plan. This committee held several meetings with representatives of the State <br />Division of Information Technology Services (ITS), who performed a consultant study, and <br />submitted an analysis of the current County web site and a proposal for a web site redesign <br />project. Their proposal included a prototype to demonstrate the site's potential "look and feel." <br />On May 31, 2000, the chair of the County Information Technology Advisory Committee <br />submitted a memo to the Board of Commissioners endorsing the ITS proposal. <br />On June 29, 2000, the Board of Commissioners referred the proposal to a committee made up <br />of Commissioners Halkiotis and Brown, and staff, to study how the County's various <br />communications efforts, including the web site, County video, and Report to the People, could <br />be integrated under a unified theme. On January 16, 2001, this group completed its work, and <br />on February 7, 2001, the Board approved the County video component. <br />FINANCIAL IMPACT: The original ITS proposal recommended a three-phase web redesign <br />project with a total cost of $137,796 over two fiscal years. There are several hundred thousand