The city of Minneapolis wanted a comprehensive plan that encouraged & supported community engagement.
Cities like Minneapolis publish comprehensive plans to set the direction for their growth and development over the upcoming decades. In the past, Minneapolis' plans were released as a basic document, which ended up hindering community engagement. The city's leadership wanted to try something different this time around. They decided on a first-of-its-kind interactive city plan website to foster a healthy discussion between the city's leadership and its residents.
Umbraco was the perfect CMS to publish a plan that everyone could access and interact with.
Emergent Software, along with our design partner LN Design Co, helped the City of Minneapolis determine the best way to communicate their comprehensive plan through a website. Mobile-friendliness and accessibility were high priorities, as their main goal was to ensure all residents have the ability to collaborate with the city on its 2040 comprehensive plan. Residents would need to be able to comment on specific parts of the plan, which would be reviewed by the city as it modifies the plan based on feedback collected.
A Content Management System (CMS) would be essential to the city's ability to regularly update the plan and create new website content in an organized fashion. We chose one of our favorite web development tools, Umbraco CMS, which allows us to tailor both the design of the website itself and the interface for the site's many content editors.
A website accessible for all!
We were excited that the city required an accessible website because we put a high value on accessibility with all websites we build. We developed the site to be easy to understand, navigate, and operate by users who require visual assistance, screen readers, or keyboard navigation. LN Design Co did a fantastic job of creating a visually attractive website that fits within WCAG 2.0 and ADA guidelines.
Technologies Used
