Government Websites Across the U.S. Win Vision "What's Next" Awards for Digital Innovation

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Sept. 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Five U.S. cities and counties were honored today when Vision announced the winners of the fourth annual "What's Next Awards" competition, which recognizes local government websites for excellence in online innovation, citizen engagement, visual impact, transparency and green gov.

"The relationship between citizens and local government is largely driven through digital interactions," said David Nachman, CEO of Vision, a national leader in government software and website design, development and hosting. "As a result, building and managing online communications is continually evolving and becoming more complex for local government leaders. This year's group of winners includes cities and counties that are leading the way by finding new, efficient and creative ways to engage their communities."

The 2017 What's Next Award winners are:

BEST ONLINE INNOVATION: City of La Quinta, Calif. laquintaca.gov 
Leveraging a dynamic video homepage in order to capture the attention of its changing demographics earned the City of La Quinta recognition for Online Innovation. The homepage is search-centric and creates an impactful first impression to residents, visitors and businesses. The new website was the first element of the city's rebranding initiative, and uses the entire range of Vision content management tools to make all city information and services available 24/7 online.

BEST IN CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT: Culver City, Calif. culvercity.org 
This past year, Culver City focused its efforts on expanding its digital engagement with citizens, making it easier for residents to provide input on city policies, ordinances and development projects via its website. By promoting news items through visionLive™, building topic pages in visionPulse™, and leveraging social media, they have increased their outreach exponentially. Interactions on Facebook alone rose by more than 1,000 percent in a six-month period and streamlined the process for gathering community input on key issues.

BEST VISUAL IMPACT: City of Olathe, Kansas olatheks.org
The City of Olathe sought to improve the city's website experience with enhanced design, structure, content and functionality. Community-submitted photography added a local feel  while a laser focus on the navigation and mobile experience enhanced the overall usability. Each page of content was reviewed for relevance and revised to comply with plain language standards. Through this process, the total page count was reduced to 400 from 1,600 pages. The mobile-experience was painstakingly designed in order to optimize usability. As a result, overall site bounce rates decreased by five seconds, and feedback from internal stakeholders and site visitors has been overwhelmingly positive.

BEST TRANSPARENCY: Dare County, North Carolina darenc.com 
Dare County created a project portal to provide detailed public information regarding beach nourishment projects slated for the summer of 2017. The information was vital for local property managers looking to keep guests informed about impacts on area beaches. By partnering with municipalities in the county, Dare created a "one-stop shop" for all things beach nourishment. The webpages provided access to project brochures and interactive beach nourishment maps, utilized Vision's eNotification system for email updates regarding projects in each town, and provided a video gallery of nourishment updates.

BEST GREEN GOV: City of Montgomery, Alabama montgomeryal.gov 
Montgomery was recognized for embracing Vision technology to create online, interactive forms to reduce the volume of printed materials required for council meetings, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, and other city business. The City's online forms are responsive, allowing access from any device.

For information about Vision's transformative government website technology or to request a free website review and consultation, please call 888-263-8847 or visit info.visioninternet.com/free-consultation.

About Vision
Headquartered in El Segundo, Calif., Vision is a national leader in government website design, development and hosting with more than 700 government, non-profit and education clients in U.S. and Canadian communities with populations that range from less than 1,000 residents to more than 5 million. For more than 20 years, Vision has created cost-effective solutions that increase government efficiency, build transparency and promote interactive communications with citizens. For more information visit www.visioninternet.com.

CONTACT:  
Lynette Viviani
973-534-1004
[email protected] 

SOURCE Vision

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