The City of Merritt has launched a redesigned website, with improved accessibility, easier navigation and a new community events calendar aimed at helping residents stay informed.
IT Manager Laura Lefebvre presented the new site to city council, explaining that the redesign focused primarily on meeting accessibility standards and making important information easier to find.
One of the main changes is a new homepage feature that allows visitors to select between three categories: resident, business or visitor. Each option displays four key links tailored to that audience.
For residents, the links include paying bills, recreation, waste and recycling, while the business and visitor sections offer different information and resources relevant to those groups.
Another addition is a community calendar where local organizations can submit upcoming events for approval and publication.
Visitors can browse events in either a list or monthly calendar view, with the option to subscribe through services such as Google Calendar and Outlook.
Lefebvre said the calendar is designed to make it easier for residents to keep track of what’s happening around the community.
“Organizations can submit their own event,” she explained.
The redesign also includes an accessibility menu, allowing users to adjust contrast, increase text size, change spacing and remove images.
Improvements have also been made for people using digital screen readers, with images now containing descriptions so visually impaired users can better understand the content.
“If somebody is using a digital reader, then it will tell them and they’ll be able to understand everything that’s going on on the page just like you are by looking at it,” Lefebvre said.
The project began in May and involved collaboration between Lefebvre, city staff and various departments. The redesign reduced the website from approximately 450 pages to 150, helping streamline information and remove outdated content.
Lefebvre said the website is still a work in progress, with staff continuing to address minor bugs.
“We’d love to get feedback,” she told council.