Since they are not driven by a particular commercial and monetary aspect like most ecommerce websites out there, it has been seen that most government websites and even the best council websites tend to be way behind the curve when it comes to using the best features and even in matter of usability and convenience. In the past couple of years, government website admins have felt the need to change with the times and right now, we are experiencing something called the ‘winds of change’ as far as government websites are concerned. A complete redesign of the website is always a very overwhelming task and in lack of crystal clear clarity (something which remains absent in most cases) the designers just don’t know where to begin and where to end. Read on further to know the top 3 things that all council websites must have in 2021, because most of these changes have been long due.
1. Mobile Responsiveness :- It is hard to imagine any website out there in today’s day and age, not being mobile responsive. Yet there are some government websites who are yet to wake up and smell the coffee. There is no denying that an overwhelming percentage of internet users use the internet from their mobiles and tablets than from their desktops and laptops. Hence, websites who are still are mobile responsive in today’s day and age are neglecting a huge percentage of their audience by not going mobile-first in 2021. This is so important that it was a trend, a decade back in 2011. Cut to a decade later, there is actually no excuse for websites to not be mobile responsive. The only websites that are not mobile responsive in 2021 are the defunct ones which have not had any semblance of activity in several years and then there are some government and council websites who surprisingly still don’t understand the importance of being mobile first despite statistics and real-world evidence suggesting and proving the contrary. By going mobile-first, government websites will be able to attract younger audiences and they will also end up making things a lot more simple and convenient for the older audiences. Today, almost all websites in all niches are being designed with the mobile in mind and the best council websites just can’t be termed the ‘BEST’ unless they go mobile-first. When websites are designed with mobile in mind, it means that they are fast, simple and very easy to use. This is one of the MUST-HAVEs for all websites in today’s day and age, including and especially government websites at all levels of governance.
2. ADA Compliance :- In today’s day and age, “ADA Compliance” happens to be a very hot topic and it has kept my local governments on very high alert. Regardless of the erroneously held popular belief, making your website, ‘ADA Compliant’ is actually very easy and definitely not as daunting as some people mistakenly believe it to be. Making your website ADA compliant means that it will be very easy for disabled people to use. Over the past couple of years, there has been an exponential increase in the number of lawsuits against websites that are still not ADA compliant. If your website is not ADA compliant then you might have to spend a lot of money in monetary settlements and this ‘monetary compensation’ exceeds that the amount that you might have had to spend on being ADA complaint in the first place. So when you take all the different factors into consideration, it is an absolute no brainer for all websites to be ADA compliant in today’s day and age.
3. Modern Design :- Most government websites don’t really feel the need to have a modern design but this is something that needs to change with the times. In today’s day and age of rapidly declining attention spans, it is highly imperative on all websites to have modern designs. If government websites don’t have modern designs then people will leave such sites in just a matter of minutes and won’t stick around, unless they NECESSARILY have to do the same. Government websites might be functional and secure but ‘design’ is one of the main yardsticks used by users to judge websites and this applies to government websites as much as it applies to other websites. The best council websites of 2021 should use design trends that result in a very simple, clean and effortlessly easy-to-use website. This means that web designers should make the most of all design trends like video backgrounds, news centers and mega-menus.
The Bottom Line
There you have it, those were the top 3 MUST-HAVEs for all government and council websites in 2021. If government website administrations feel that they can’t implement these changes on their own, then they always have the option of hiring professionals towards the same end. Government website designers can hire a web design company that has several years of experienced behind it and offers secure hosting along with a CMS that is very easy to operate.
