Aldermen Mull Town's Web Site Design, Content

The Carrboro Board of Aldermen examined possible content for its future town Web site on Tuesday night, responding to the growing 21st century requirement to be techno-savvy.

Andy Vogel, technology administrator for the town of Carrboro, led the aldermen in a brainstorming session to cultivate ideas about the Web site's content and structure.

Under the moderation of Mayor Pro Tem Jacquelyn Gist, the aldermen discussed topics such as site structure, navigation, headings, graphics and content.

"This is a big, big project for the town to undertake," Gist said.

She said the process would involve getting input from citizens. It is unclear when the site will be launched.

The aldermen asked questions and discussed ideas as Vogel projected existing Web sites onto an overhead screen.

He showed the aldermen a Carrboro intranet site called ELVIS, the employee link to valuable information services, that is a resource for staff employees.

Vogel also distributed a response sheet to guide the aldermen's discussion of the Web page. A question on the sheet asked if the aldermen preferred highly graphical and visually appealing or clean sharp and to the point.

Alderman Alex Zaffron suggested a combination of both.

"The Web site shouldn't be too department-centric or citizen-centric," he said. "You can't predict what people are going to be looking for."

Alderman Diana McDuffee said she thought the Web site's structure would be important because the site might be someone's only impression of the town.

"It's probably the way people will interact with government as time goes on," she said.

McDuffee said she got a lot of ideas for the path the Web site should take from a leadership conference she attended at the IBM Advanced Business Institute.

"I think (Carrboro's technology staff) made a real good start with the internal Web site," she said.

McDuffee said the site should be made easy to update, and that it should offer a no-graphics option for slower computers.

She said the site might also feature information regarding parking, bus stops, bike routes and shopping maps. It might also include a photo gallery of the town, event schedules and minutes from past meetings.

Mayor Mike Nelson said he thought the site should maintain a high degree of accessibility and use simple language.

"I want to see 'trash,' not 'solid waste,'" he said in reference to avoiding administrative jargon. Nelson said the Web site should think like a citizen thinks.

He also suggested a forum that would allow citizens to post their own announcements. Nelson said such a forum was already used by a California-based site that allows rental clients to post rental property.

But Alderman Allen Spalt said he wanted to make sure that the Web site was comprehensible.

"I don't want to lose sight of the fact that people don't want to spend their life navigating government," he said.

Vogel, who has worked for the town for a year and two months, said many of the ideas the aldermen presented would be feasible as the Web site develops over time.

"This is an ongoing evolution of how to disseminate information to the public."

The City Editor can be reached at citydesk@unc.edu.