Jordan Beck | Daily Press Delta County Administrator Philip Strom uses the county’s redesigned official website Friday. The new version of the website launched earlier this month.

ESCANABA — Delta County’s official website has been redesigned with the aim of making it more functional and accessible. The new version of the website launched earlier this month.

Brandon Couvillion, the county’s information technician, said one of the primary reasons the county redesigned its website was to meet new legal accessibility standards.

“There (were) new rules that went into effect in January of this year for government websites,” he said. While these rules had existed as guidelines before this point, they had not been enforced until 2018.

Steps taken to ensure Delta County’s website meets these standards have included the use of a compliant design template for the redesigned site and the editing of documents to make them compatible with text-to-speech and translation services.

However, Couvillion said improving accessibility was not the county’s only goal for the new version of its website.

“The other driver for this site was just making it a better site,” he said.

Before the update, Couvillion said there were essentially two versions of Delta County’s website — a full version designed for computers and a pared-down mobile version. The updated website makes use of “responsive design,” allowing the same page design to adapt to multiple devices. “Now, it’s just one page,” he said.

Delta County Administrator Philip Strom said the site’s new design should be easier for people to use than the old one.

“It’s much more user-friendly, I would say,” he said.

New functionality has also been added to the site as part of the redesign, including a section where county residents can pay their bills online.

“People can pay different fines and fees they may have within the county,” Couvillion said of this addition.

Strom said the site’s redesign has made it less difficult to find the county’s geographic information system data.

“It’s the old mapping system … improved by modern technology,” he said of this system.

Subtler changes have been made to the county’s website, as well.

“It’s a lot more secure … (and) it should be faster,” Couvillion said of the redesigned website.

Strom said early feedback on the website has been encouraging.

“Everything I’ve heard has been positive,” he said.

To experience Delta County’s new and improved website, visit deltacountymi.org.