 | | | Screen shot of the website | | | | | | The Moraga-Orinda Fire District unveiled its upgraded public website in early February with a fresh, contemporary design that should be much easier to navigate, especially by visitors with disabilities.
Gloriann Sasser, MOFD administrative services director, oversaw the website redesign, and pointed out some of the features of the new site. Five tabs on the home page cover basic district categories, and five large buttons on that same page direct visitors to frequently requested areas, such as meeting agendas, plan submissions and career information.
"The website will also work on phones and tablets," Sasser said, and she noted that the site complies with the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Coming up with a plan to bring the website up to current ADA standards was the most challenging part of the job, according to Rachel Schultz, project manager for Granicus, the digital technology company that redid the MOFD website. Granicus designed the much-heralded website of the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District.
"Photos, maps, graphics and other images on the website have tags written into the code that have description or text equivalents of the material being visually conveyed," said Schultz, explaining that this will permit users who rely on screen readers to navigate the content. The MOFD website also incorporates contrast checkers to aid users with visual color impairments, and the site allows visitors to access all information using a keyboard.
The district will pay Granicus $28,000 over five years, which includes the development and hosting of the website, plus regular maintenance. "We continually update the software, and we do annual health checks, to make sure the district stays up to date in ADA compliance," Schultz said. "We also update the analytics on the visitors to the site." |
Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA