When the Minnesota Legislature convenes Jan. 8, redesigned websites will be available to better keep people informed about what is happening in and around the state Capitol.
Unveiled this week, the redesigned website is a collaborative effort by the House of Representatives, Senate and joint legislative offices and commissions.
It is designed to modernize the site with a fresh, uniform look. It also ensures that information is more accessible — including for hand-held devices — and it takes advantage of technological changes.
“The number of devices and the size of devices have changed a lot over the past five years, and we wanted to make the site more user-friendly,” said Mike Schatz, systems developer for the Legislative Reference Library.
To check out the sites: go to www.house.mn, www.senate.mn or www.leg.mn.
“As technology changes, users and user demands also change. The Minnesota legislative website is continually striving to keep abreast of these changes and meet the ever-growing needs of the public,” said Jim Greenwalt, director of Senate IT.
Among the highlights of the new site are a much-improved, universal mobile application that will make it easier to get all legislative information on the go, and universal navigation across the site.
A banner in the same format at the top of every legislative webpage will provide easier access to some of the most popular items that users seek to find, including bills, schedules and member information.
“We wanted to make some changes based on feedback from members and staff,” said House Web Manager Mike Speiker.
The 18-month redesign project comes at no additional cost to state taxpayers.
“We did it all in-house, with no new expenses for hardware or software,” said Leif Eischen, information technology manager for the Legislative Reference Library. “For almost all of the staff involved, the time was over and above their normal job duties.”
