The city is exploring ways to make the public site more user-friendly and informative by gathering ideas and suggestions from the public.

The website went online in 1994, according to Marilyn Crane, manager of information technology services for the city.

"It needs to be updated," Crane said. "And we want the community to be involved in the process."

Ease of use and simple terminology were two common suggestions residents brought up at the poorly attended input-gathering meeting on Dec. 4.

"The city needs to recognize that most of the users are not city employees and are not familiar with the Internet terminology," resident Debra Evans said at the meeting.

A Sunnyvale resident for six years, Evans has experience in HTML and website design, having worked for various Silicon Valley companies since 1995.

Evans added that users should be able to type in words in simple English in the search engine to get information from the website. Although information is available on the site, it's either buried deep inside or hard to find, she explained.

The few residents who attended the meeting brought up elements from other sites that they find useful. Events and meetings should be grouped together regardless of which departments they are under, and contact information for boards and commissions should also be easier to find, Evans said.

Currently, events and information are listed under the different departments, which work with a pull-down menu on the home page. Although each department has its own home page, they are not consistent. One purpose of the redesign project is to ensure that each home page is consistent but unique, Crane said.

Crane explained at the meeting that the redesign project team has reviewed other sites to find out what features work well.

"We're trying to put the important information on the viewing area so users don't have to scroll down," Crane said.

Although ease of use is a major consideration, she said the 3-click rule is very important to retain.

"We will ensure that users get where they want to go with three clicks of their mouse," Crane pledged.

Longtime resident Werner Gans suggested at the meeting that surveys also be posted on the website instead of an outside consultant being hired to handle the process.

Many other city websites include a history section that explains the heritage of the city and area, Evans said, adding that such a feature could be added to the Sunnyvale site. The information would be useful to those who might be thinking of moving to Sunnyvale, she said.

The personal profile feature would allow residents to choose what information they would like to receive automatically, as soon as it is posted, Crane said at the meeting.

Gans, Evans and city employees suggested that information on upcoming events, meetings—city and countywide—and a community calendar be on that list.

Crane said at the meeting that she would be working with the city attorney to address the privacy issues regarding the personal profile feature.

"Hopefully the new site will be online by the end of May 2003," Crane said.

However, the city's information technology department has only until the end of December 2002 to receive and consider input and suggestions from the public, she added.

The city's website is located at www.ci.sunnyvale.ca.us. Suggestions can be emailed to Marilyn Crane at mcrane@ci.sunnyvale.ca.us.