Cook County Unveils Upgraded Government Website
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Cook County has made a major upgrade to its official government website, and officials said it's truly user-friendly now.
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said the new county website, cookcountyil.gov, is no longer organized by county departments.
"Visitors to our website very seldom come just to learn about how county government works. They're trying to find the services they need," she said.
Preckwinkle said the biggest improvement is you no longer need to know which department would handle whatever question you have or service you need.
"The new cookcountyil.gov puts the user first by focusing on services, not who does what," she said.
Kathy Lynch, information technology communications manager for Cook County, said the new website makes finding those services easier.
"We've broken out all the services away from the agencies, so they can be displayed in a lot of different ways. Here we've focused on top services among resident services, business services, government services," she said.
The new site asks users up front "How can Cook County help you today?"
"The 'I Want To' section pulls out the various action services like I want to apply, find, pay, request, report; and these things allow people to quickly and easily find some of the key things that they typically are looking for with the county," Lynch said.
The most common searches are for jobs.
Website users will be directed to the proper departments when searching for services, according to Lynch. She said the site is adaptable to smartphones, and will evolve as feedback comes in.