County of Warner set to go surfing

County of Warner administrators are hoping to make surfing the web easier for the community this year with their newly-updated website.

Creating a more user-friendly space that can be easily accessed from all devices, the County of Warner officially launched their new website to the world last month.

“The last time our website was updated was quite a few years ago,” says Tyler Nelson, GIS/GPS Coordinator for the County of Warner.

“During that time, industry standards changed for websites and a need for mobile-friendly websites became very evident. Eighty per cent of website views are done now on iPhones and tablets so we also really wanted to do a refresh for our own website to incorporate this aspect.”

Last updated almost eight years ago, the County of Warner’s website had grown outdated to the new wave of technology that is becoming more and more prevalent within today’s society.

From smartphones to iPads and tablets, many of these new forms of technology make older websites harder to navigate for the user and was a large component in the County deciding they finally needed an update to their municipal website.

Hoping to stay current with the times, the new website for the community is now easily accessible from any device and simplistically easy to use for people of all ages.

But it wasn’t only technological advances that prompted the county to revamp their online presence but also the hope to make information on the community easier to find as well as adding service request options online for the public to take advantage of.

“This new website should also make it easier to access information as we’ve worked on consolidating information into single pages instead of multiple, and added the option for people to add service requests through the website to different departments in the county,” Nelson added.

Also included in the newly remodelled website’s homepage is a quick links section that offers users fast access to areas such as planning and development, assessment and taxation, public works, bylaws and more.

The website is also home to a banner that spans the length of the page offering important notices such as fire and road bans in effect, meeting minutes, a staff directory and the aforementioned e-services request.

The new website which began development in the fall of 2017, was created for the county with the help of All-net, a company that specializes in the creation of municipal websites that has worked on other southern Alberta communities’ online presences such as the Town of Raymond. And Nelson added that so far the reactions have been great.

“We began working with the All-net company last fall and finished the entire thing this year, finally launching it this March.”