City of San Antonio Website Redesign

Transcription

1 City of San Antonio Website Redesign December 2011 Submitted by Todd O Neill DoingMedia

2 Assumptions!... 5 Audiences!... 5 Primary!... 5 Secondary!... 5 Goals!... 5 Current State!... 6 Content Development!... 6 Content Publishing!... 6 Publishing Infrastructure!... 6 Reporting!... 6 Website Staffing!... 6 Methodology!... 7 Findings!... 8 Site Analytics!... 8 Link Lists!... 9 Document files!... 9 Image Files!... 9 Cascading Style Sheets!... 9 Complicated Publishing Workflow:!... 9 No Content Oversight!... 9 Jargon!... 9 Acronyms! Department focus vs. Service Focus! Customer Service transaction flow! Page 2

3 Cross browser compatibility! No Mobile Support! Poor Reciprocal Linking! Link Label Consistency! Title Tag Format! Incomplete Page Title tags! Multiple URLs! Recommendations! Content! Site Audit! Consistent branding! Audience research! Documents! Images! Cascading Style Sheets! Site Organization! Restructure Content to a Services Focus! Systems! Web Content Management! Site analytics! Search! Training! Communications! Information technology! Conclusion! Page 3

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5 Assumptions We developed the assumptions below from interviews conducted with City Manager Cheryl Sculley, Jamie Castillo of the Mayor s office, Di Galvan of the office of Communications and Public Affairs. These helped to frame our findings and develop appropriate recommendations. Audiences Primary Residents Visitors Business (internal and external) Secondary City Employees Other Governmental entities Objective Goals Present the City of San Antonio as a modern, progressive city that is great to live in, fun to visit and easy to do business with. Engender trust in residents, visitors and business that San Antonio has vision and can server their needs. Allow simple access to information and services for all audiences Provide self service capabilities for services and requests Page 5

6 Current State Content Development Authoring conducted at departmental level No content review prior to publishing Content Publishing Not scheduled All content published as requested Publishing Infrastructure Predominantly flat HTML Manual movement of files to production Reporting As requested by departments Managed by ITSD Website Staffing 40 web authors in various city departments 2 ITSD staff Page 6

7 Methodology The recommendations included here are based on the above assumptions regarding the website s audience, objectives and goals. The findings were derived from a scan of the website using a spidering tool. This created an inventory and site map of files down to the fourth level of navigation. A sixth level scan was attempted but failed. The subsequent inventory was then parsed for file types including HTML, CSS, images and documents. Visual scans and sorts revealed patterns and groupings. Met and interviewed the City Manager and representatives of the Office of the Mayor, Communications and ITSD. Received data from ITSD regarding site traffic and conducted indepentdnet research at ITSD offices on site analytics from the Urchin tool. The recommendations were created based on industry best practice and past professional experience. Page 7

8 Findings Site Analytics In general, regular review (daily, weekly, monthly) of site traffic analytics is not conducted. A review of website analytics through the Urchin tool was inconclusive. During our review of the analytics it was discovered that approximately 4 months of data, from June 2011 to October 2011, was not recorded in Urchin. And as we looked through data from January 2011 through May 2011 we found conflicting data that showed that nearly half the site s traffic came from cable broadband sources yet the speed of nearly half the traffic was recorded as dial up. City of San Antonio Urchin Reports January May City of San Antonio Urchin Reports January May Page 8

9 Due to the current focus of the site s content we believe a high percentage of traffic to the site is internal from City employees. This is evidenced in the Employee Self Service page for EASI having the second highest traffic volume of any page on the site. Link Lists Alphabetized link lists and Quick Link pages are used throughout the site. Although simple to create and organize they do not support the audience s needs when browsing for information. Link lists should be organized by topic or task and should reflect frequently accessed content. Document files There were more than 1,000 document files including Word, Excel and PDF formats in our site scan. The majority of these are PDF files. Many are in directories labeled PDF or Doc at various levels in the site hierarchy. Many more are in generically named directories for that section of the site. A large percentage of the files appear to be internal documents such as administrative directives for Human resources. And many documents are two years old or greater. Image Files Over 1,000 image files were found. Most appear to be placed in the industry standard / images folder structure in the site s root directory but many are at the root level of a subdirectory or in other directories such as pics. We were not able to determine the source of these images, whether city owned, public domain or externally licensed. Cascading Style Sheets More than 50 CSS files were found. It was not determined if the content of the files was redundant or otherwise a duplicate of another file. Depending how they are implemented this can lead to style conflicts and improper page rendering. This also indicates style inconsistency across the site. This large number of reduces the ability for centralized management of the website style and therefore the City s online brand. Complicated Publishing Workflow: The multi-step content publishing workflow reduces the agility of authors to get content online when needed. Exceptions to the current workflow can be, and are, made when necessary. No Content Oversight The current authoring model is distributed among city departments, which is generally accepted best practice. And publishing flows through the information technology function, which is typical. However, there is little or no monitoring of language, style or tone by the communications function. How site content is presented IS the audience experience. Inconsistency gives the appearance of disorganization. Jargon There is frequent use of jargon and other more formal language that reduces audience accessibility. The tone of the language used on the site directly affects the perceptions Page 9

10 of the audience. It can convey an image that the city is not for everyday people but for bureaucrats. Acronyms Acronyms are used throughout the site and, although they may be good insider shorthand, can make content less accessible. An example is the use of SAPD instead of Police. Especially for foreign visitors the acronym has little meaning but police may be recognizable. Other examples are DCI, CI, ACS, SAT, SSF, CIMS, CCDO, PTAC. Department focus vs. Service Focus Although precisely accurate, department names can be confusing or, in some cases, have no meaning. The audience for the website is typically looking to do something or find information. So the difference between Downtown Operations and Center City Development Office can be confusing. From the top level of the site, in menus down to departmental pages, the focus is internal, with an emphasis on what a department does rather than what services they provide. Focusing on services is more in line with helping the audience complete their tasks. Customer Service transaction flow The Customer Service pages seem to use the same transaction flow and the topic of the service request is not obvious. Reusing code in this way saves on development but more obvious labeling of the request that is in process will lessen audience confusion. Cross browser compatibility All pages should be checked for cross browser compatibility. A review of browser usage from Urchin revealed a large variance from generally accepted U.S. browser usage statistics. In the first chart below a City of San Antonio Urchin website analytics report shows that the leading browsers visiting the website are Microsoft Internet Explorer with 66.67%, Apple Safari with 11.56% and Firefox with 10.51%. City of San Antonio Urchin Reports January May Page 10

11 In the second chart below, StatCounter a site that measures the use of various web browsers on the Internet, Microsoft Internet Explorer has a 45% share of browser usage while Safari has 12%, Firefox has a 23% share and Chrome with 28%. The disparity between the Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome browser shares indicate Urchin may not be configured incorrectly and is reporting inaccurate data. StatCounter - Audiences are using many more browsers and browser types, especially as mobile Internet use rises. Accurate measurement and reporting is essential for the operation of a website. No Mobile Support The website has no support for mobile devices. According to a study by the Pew Internet Center 51% of Hispanics access the Internet on their cell phone. In a city that is 65% Hispanic it can be assumed that if the City s site were mobile enabled that many citizens would access it using a mobile device. Enabling mobile support requires web standard coding which in turn enables increased levels of accessibility for disabled individuals and a more attractive search crawler target. Poor Reciprocal Linking A number of pages lack or have an obscure link the site s main page. The Human Resources section is an example of this. It s link to the City s home page is at the bottom of the page and the link to Home in the Main Menu returns the user to the Human Resources home page. Although this may be intentional it creates a confusing experience the audience, especially since jobs is one of the highest rated internal search terms. Additionally, this section has a different look and feel from the rest of the Page 11

12 site. If this section of the site is for employees then it should be moved to COSAWeb and appropriate public information about employment should be replicated on the external site. CoSA Human Resources home page Another example of a lack of a return Home link is the Hemisfair Park Area Redevelopment section. There is no return link to the Center City Development Office main page. This page is in the same look and feel of the main site and this lack of linking will create audience confusion. Link Label Consistency Link labels used in drop down menus are inconsistent with link labels for the same content on the Quick Link pages. This break in labeling convention leads to audience confusion leading to an inability to complete their intended task efficiently. A lack of efficiency translates to an impression of poor customer service for self service tasks. Title Tag Format The current format of page Title tags; Site Name, Section Name, Page Name; (City of San Antonio Official Web Site Annual Report) is not search engine friendly. Search engine crawlers look for uniqueness in pages and that begins with the page Title tag. Pages that begin with SITE NAME followed by PAGE NAME are seen by search engines as less unique than others and therefore their ranking is reduced in the search results. The accepted search engine friendly standard is PAGE NAME followed by SITE NAME. The page title is also very long and may be truncated in search results. Incomplete Page Title tags Many page Title tags are incomplete. About 100 have only the Site Name; City of San Antonio Official Web Site. Others have the Site Name and the Section Name but not the Page name such as City of San Antonio Official Web Site Annual Report. (See excerpt of site inventory below.) Page 12

13 ! Page File Names!!! Page Title Inconsistent look and feel The City s website is currently represented by at least 12 different visual designs. (See Illustration.) Multiple URLs There are at least 6 primary domains that present City content. URLs in use for city websites: The multiple styles and URLs serve to dilute the City s brand and give an impression of disorganization and disconnectedness. Page 13

14 Recommendations Content Site Audit Conduct a comprehensive review of the website to uncover areas for improvement, retirement or creation. Include: Asset inventory Logical and consistent linking Consistent transaction flows Identify all redundant and outdated content. Identify searching keyword trends. Consistent branding Use page templates to enforce consistent branding across the site and sub-sites. Audience research Involve and engage the site s audiences in focus groups, usability testing and information architecture activities, such as card sorting. This will serve to identify the best approaches to content from the audience s perspective. Documents An audit of PDF and other document formats such as Microsoft Office should be conducted to determine traffic volumes and appropriateness for the public website. Internal documents should be moved to an employee only website or portal. Outdated documents should be removed from the website and archived. An archiving policy should be established which removes files and documents from the website on a regular basis and provides offline public access, if appropriate. Images An audit of all image files should be conducted to determine ownership. The lack of proper licensing of images and other visual and audio files creates exposure for legal action. Additionally, standards and policies for image creation, review, format type, storage and archiving should be established to assure quality and proper licensing. Cascading Style Sheets An audit of CSS files should be conducted with the object to consolidate these files for appropriate management and oversight. Redundant styles entries should be removed to avoid conflicts. Standards and policies for managing CSS files should be established as a means to protect the City s online brand. Site Organization Restructure Content to a Services Focus The current websitethe website should provide better access to the services each department delivers to the various audiences. In the case where information is the Page 14

15 primary service it should be surfaced and presented foremost on main pages for those departments. Move Internal Focused Content and Functionality Employee portal (EASI) and other internal focused content should be moved to an internally accessed server, placed under a secondary domain or excluded from external site analytics reporting. Governance Establish a clear content ownership hierarchy. Create simple standards and processes for the content lifecycle. Review processes for content initiation, revision, retirement, review and approval Develop content creation standards and guidelines Establish a content publishing and delivery management structure that ensures consistency in content tone and style and reliable and timely publishing abilities. Systems Web Content Management A web content management system (WCMS) can provide solutions to the current issues of design consistency and content governance. It will enable a streamlined, automated workflow that will improve departmental access and productive use of the site as a communication tool. Site analytics Establish processes for website analytics analysis, reporting and response. Research the causes of current Urchin analytics failures. Consider upgrading to Urchin 7. Get training in Urchin set up or hire a Google certified integrator for setup and to deliver training. Assign specific IT personnel for Urchin maintenance and organizational help desk responsibilities. Provide access and training to Communications and key department personal on usage and analysis of site traffic. Establish a regular reporting schedule for website analytics analysis data. Search Establish processes for search engine optimization and search traffic analysis. Conduct keyword analysis to identify audience search patterns and behavior. Employ this analysis to content labeling and keywording on primary search pages. Ensure that top 20 searches can be found by either surfacing the content or proper keywording and search indexing. Reporting: Develop a regular reporting routine to management outlining high level analysis of site traffic, search patterns and current content development and infrastructure development activities. Page 15

16 Training New practices will require training and skill updates. Departmental authors and other content developers will need training in content standards and guidelines and use of a web content management system. Information technology staff may require training in the new infrastructure but specifically in the development and configuration of the WCMS. Additional training will be needed for all staff in website analytics and search analysis. Management and staffing Identify appropriate staffing levels for Communication and Information technology staff to support the ongoing creation, development and maintenance of the website. Responsibilities for the key stakeholders include: Communications Primary web content governance Content Creation and Revision Oversight Web Traffic and Search analytics analysis and reporting Graphic Design (for branding consistency) Site Organization; information architecture Information technology System implementation System supporting development Infrastructure maintenance Page 16

17 Conclusion The City of San Antonio s current web presence presents a non-cohesive view of the City. The multiple styles presented in the main website and the many different designs of departmental sites paints a picture of a city that is not in control of it s primary public facing information asset, its website. How the website got to this point is not any different than the way all websites developed - one piece at a time. Like most sites created in the early days of the web most decisions were tactical; get the information online now and we ll worry about how it s organized or how it looks later. In the early part of the century many organizations; corporations, non-profits, schools, governments; large and small, began to think strategically about their web presence. Rather than think of it as a necessary evil or an additional channel that had to be filled with information the website was recognized as a complement to or a substitute for existing channels. And as web technology developed it was recognized as a replacement or entry point for many existing backend systems that were used to conduct operations. So the website replaced the monthly magazine and became the front-end to manage your finances. In the 15+ years that the internet as we know it has existed it has gone from simple to complex and is now swinging back to simple. One thing that has hampered many organizational websites is the trend to go with the flavor of the day technology. As new technology rolled out the website was scrapped or redesigned or worse, pilot tested, using the latest and greatest technology. Over time this resulted in a rat s nest of front end coding and backend connection complexity that makes returning to the simple roots of the Internet very difficult. Where does that leave the City of San Antonio? Since it hasn t followed the trend of frequent technology change it is in a good position to essentially start over. The City gets a website Do Over. The most difficult challenges facing the City s web presence today are content organization and content oversight. If these two issues are confronted strategically then the technology choices will become simple and evident. The City must decide if it will pursue a content strategy that emphasizes providing services. And it will need to determine if it wants more cohesive control and direction of the website content. ITSD is the obvious owner of the enabling infrastructure but they cannot move forward without knowing what the City administration wants to do. Page 17