New Wauconda website could feature emegency alerts, calendars, video
Consultants hoping to redesign Wauconda's official website made their pitch for the job with a digital presentation Tuesday night.
The representatives of a Kansas company called CivicPlus and a subsidiary called CivicReady showed off several functions that could be featured on a new website during the village board's first marking committee meeting.
Calendars, online forms, charts and a lot of photos of the village could appear on the website. So could links to videos of board meetings, CivicPlus' Bryan Hahlbeck said.
Residents also could sign up for notifications about weather emergencies, information about active-shooter crises and other important announcements.
“We want to make this something that's beneficial to the residents,” CivicReady representative Ryan Strait told the committee.
Strait gave her presentation remotely over the phone.
CivicPlus has about 100 clients in Illinois, Hahlbeck said, including Lake Zurich, Fox Lake and Lisle.
Hahlbeck showed off features from other sites his company has designed as a way to show the Wauconda officials what they could expect in a new site.
Easy-to-navigate menus and prominent spots for site searches were among the features Hahlbeck touted.
The site would be mobile-ready, too, so users wouldn't have to zoom in and out on their mobile phones, he said.
Wauconda officials announced their intent to overhaul Wauconda-il.gov last month. Trustee Linda Starkey, who at the time led what then was called the communications committee, cited concerns about out-of-date information, a lack of updates on important projects, empty meeting calendars and other issues.
A firm called the Fokoz Creative Group handles the village's website. Changing vendors will require a vote by the village board.
The project could take more than six months to implement, Hahlbeck said. A price estimate was not discussed.
The board could vote on a contract with CivicPlus in two weeks, committee Chairman Joseph Coster said.