OPINION: Williamstown’s Civic Portal Needs a Civic Makeover
The Town of Williamstown’s website is promoted as our community’s official online portal — yet a quick visit reveals serious usability issues, outdated content, and confusing navigation.
For as long as I’ve lived here, I’ve heard people inside and outside town government talk about how badly it needs fixing. Five years later, I’m still waiting — and I’m beginning to wonder if the dysfunction isn’t by design. After all, if people can't find information, they can't get involved.
Here’s what I quickly found — and why it matters.
1. Usability: Navigation Déjà-Vu and Digital Dead Ends
Endless, duplicated menus. Every page repeats the entire navigation tree — twice — before any actual content appears. On a laptop, that means scrolling through 40+ identical links just to reach a headline. For screen-reader users, it’s even worse — a clear violation of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
Fragmented user journeys. Core services like tax payments, permitting, and property maps bounce users onto third-party sites that look totally different, with no easy path back. There’s no "single front door" — just a revolving one.
Search without substance. The search box is unlabeled, lacks auto-suggestions, and often returns blank pages for common queries like “dog license” or “water bill.” Try finding information about Town Meeting — you’ll see what I mean. A municipal site shouldn’t require detective work.
2. Content Freshness: Some Pages Stay Vibrant, Others Stagnate
Out-of-date or missing minutes. The “Public Meeting Minutes” archive stops in 2020 for many committees. Click on the January 13, 2025 “AGENDA & MEETING PACKETS” link and you’re dumped into a Google Drive folder with 13 unlabeled documents. Now try starting from the homepage and finding that link on your own.
Zombie COVID-19 page. A prominent "Latest COVID-19 Updates" banner leads... nowhere. No data, no guidance, not even archived advisories. If it’s no longer relevant, retire the link; if it is, maintain it.
Patchwork timeliness. Some sections (like Finance Committee documents) are impressively current — if you can find them. Others (like Election Info) are stuck back in 2020-2021 PDFs.
3. Information Architecture: A Town Warrant Wrapped in a Maze
The homepage tries to be bulletin board, service kiosk, and tourism portal all at once — but the hierarchy is a mess. Example: a 2024 Town Warrant announcement sits below a kiosk promo for a solar field. Meanwhile, the 2023 Annual Report is awkwardly nested under unrelated headlines. Small lapses like this add up to big frustrations.
Why This Matters
A municipal website isn’t a decoration — it’s public infrastructure.
When menus loop endlessly, minutes disappear, or critical information vanishes, transparency and trust erode.
Residents who can’t quickly find a meeting link may stop participating altogether. Newcomers who hit broken pages may assume the town is digitally closed for business.
When menus loop endlessly, minutes disappear, or critical information vanishes, transparency and trust erode.
Residents who can’t quickly find a meeting link may stop participating altogether. Newcomers who hit broken pages may assume the town is digitally closed for business.
Williamstown deserves better.
A Constructive Path Forward
Back in the 90s, building a website was hard. Today, it’s not. Our town is full of skilled freelancers, remote workers, and tech-savvy residents who could help. Let's stop making excuses and start moving forward.
Here are a few suggestions:
Audit & Prune Navigation. Remove duplicate menus. Group services around tasks (“Pay,” “Apply,” “Attend”), and add persistent breadcrumbs.
Adopt a Content Lifecycle Policy. Every page should show a “last reviewed” date and have an assigned content owner who updates it quarterly.
Migrate External Archives In-House. Bring Google Drive and PDF files into a searchable, ADA-compliant database under williamstownma.gov.
Meet WCAG 2.2 AA Accessibility Standards. Run automated and manual tests to fix keyboard traps, contrast issues, and navigation errors.
User-Test Before Relaunching. Recruit a real cross-section of residents — seniors, students, small business owners — and iterate until 90% of users can complete common tasks in under three clicks.
Published: April 27, 2025
Written by: Kimma
