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REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM <br />Agenda Date Requested: April 12, 2014 Appropriation <br />Requested By: Traci Leach Source of Funds: <br />Department: Administration Acct Number: <br /> <br /> <br />Report: Resolution: Ordinance: Amount Budgeted: <br />Attachments: Requested: <br /> <br />Attachments: Budgeted Item(s): YES NO <br />_____________________________________________________________________________________________ <br />SUMMARY & RECOMMENDATION <br />The City’s current website, designed by Civica, launched in 2008 cost approximately $48,000. Since that <br />time, the City has completed minor upgrades to the site, most notably last year with the launch of the <br />mobile version, swapping out “header” photos for specific departments, and the addition of the <br />Community events page. Typically, websites are overhauled every 5 to 6 years and the City is at the <br />upper end of that time frame. <br />While the website is functional, there are several concerns that have brought the discussion of a new <br />website to the forefront. <br />Poor customer service from Civica, our current provider: At this time, the speed at which the <br />City’s issues and concerns regarding the current website are being addressed is not acceptable. <br />This is particularly critical because there are many modifications to the current website that cannot <br />be done without going through Civica. The process to get those modifications completed can <br />sometimes drag on longer than necessary. For example, staff requested the addition of two <br />buttons on the Home Page for the Election and that request took two months to complete. <br />Anotherrecent example of this poor customer service is related to this agenda item. Staff <br />contacted Civica to obtain a quote from them to overhaul the current website and Civica has yet to <br />respond to this request. <br />Difficult website administration: There’stwo components to this concern. First, the content <br />management system that allows department users to add information to the website is very <br />cumbersome. It is a disincentive for users to get in and add information and is cumbersome to <br />even update small items. The second part is the limitations on the current site as it relates to <br />design modifications. Currently, all design modifications, no matter how small, must go through <br />Civica and is not included in the annual maintenance fee. Staff is not able to do even easy things <br />like swap photos on thedepartment header pages. Again, this functions as a disincentive for users <br />to keep their pages looking fresh and new. <br />Software Obsolescence: The current website is only accessible for modification using Internet <br />Explorer(IE)version 10. This browser is no longer the current web browser so as department <br />users automatically update, employees will beunable to make modifications to the website <br />without risk of formatting and spacing being an issue. It is also notaccessible at all from an Apple <br />computer. Staff has requested information as to Civica’s plan to update their software to be <br />compatible with the latest version of Internet Explorer and no response has been provided. Staff <br />has had to roll back versions of Internet Explorer for some users already to be able to access the <br /> <br />