New City of Brandon Website Focuses on Service & Accessibility


September 1, 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Brandon, MB – Today, the City of Brandon’s Information Technology Department is pleased to unveil a newly re-engineered Brandon.ca. Along with a fresh, new look and feel, the City of Brandon’s flagship website now features improved navigation and a focus on accessibility for all citizens.

The new re-design for www.brandon.ca focused on three goals: to improve the website’s navigation, to improve its search functionality, and to ensure the City of Brandon leads the way on anticipated standards for public accessibility stemming from the Province of Manitoba’s Accessibility for Manitobans Act.

“While Brandon.ca has had design facelifts in the past, the main navigation structure has remained the same for several years. As our website content grew, it sometimes became challenging for citizens to find what they were looking for,” noted Todd Burton, City of Brandon Director of Information Technology. “We looked at current web design industry trends, especially in the public sector, and found that a service-centric model fits with our vision. As a result, we now have a website that has been streamlined, simplified, and is accessible for all citizens.”

The re-designed website is fully-responsive to all types of screens, from large computer monitors all the way down to smartphones. In addition, public notices are now very prominent on the website’s main page and are also automatically populated into the City of Brandon’s open data catalogue at opengov.brandon.ca.

This is the first comprehensive re-design of the City of Brandon’s website in several years and was done entirely by staff within its Information Technology Department over the course of 6 months.

“Ensuring that the City of Brandon’s website reflects our vision of ‘Serving and Building Community’, and our continuing mission to enhance the quality and availability of public information, services, and resources is always top of mind,” added Brandon City Manager Scott Hildebrand.