Overview
We follow content best practices as we add, edit and organize information for our website visitors.
Related links:
Content best practices
We want all website visitors to be able to access the information and services they need. To help them do this, we create clear, consistent content.
Build for accessibility and inclusion
Our website adheres to accessibility guidelines created by the World Wide Web Consortium.
We’re committed to:
- Building a digital experience for people of all abilities
- Addressing our website visitors’ needs with every piece of content we create
Be consistent
To present ourselves as one city with one voice, we adhere consistently to our website content creation guidelines.
Be concise, simple and clear
Website visitors come to our site to find critical and day-to-day information and services.
Our goal is to:
- Help them find what they need with ease
- Remove information that distracts from completing key tasks
- Simplify our language
Write for the web
When we write for the web, we focus on our website visitors and their needs.
User-focused content considers:
- The content hierarchy of each page
- Storytelling in everything we do
- Search engine optimization
Good web content starts broad and gets more specific. For complex topics, start with an overview page that links to more detailed pages. Users can scan the overview page and decide whether to read an in-depth detail page.
Communicate with empathy and purpose
Our purpose is to help website visitors find the information and services they need.
When writing, we will:
- Think about the tasks they want to complete
- Put the most important information first
- Consider and respect everyone who visits our site
- Follow our content creation guidelines
Our website is not a dumping ground for outdated, unnecessary or unclear content.
Be human-centered and data-driven
When making content decisions, we think about user needs first. Our next priority is data insights.
Have one place for each piece of content
We want to help users find the answers they need and improve website search results.
To do this, we will:
- Put all information about the same topic in one place
- Get rid of unneeded and duplicate content
Content on the City website should be:
- Owned by the City
- About the City
Tell our story
Together, we are one city, and we must speak to our website visitors with one voice. Every piece of content we create will help tell our story and will come from a one city perspective.