Sharing best practices is important for the Special District community. Which is why the Streamline team is excited to highlight a few outstanding websites districts have created. We hope you find some inspiration and even brush up on a few best practices.
Communication that reflects their dedication
Philomath understands what it means to serve -- which is immediately clear from the fire chief's welcome message positioned front and center on the home page. Thomas Miller uses three key words repeatedly: serve (7 times), you (6) and community (5). There's no question serving the community is their priority.
Philomath also dedicates significant space to their own people. They honor every fire chief all the way back to 1930. They also focus on their volunteers. Be careful if you choose to watch the video on their volunteer page, it's emotional. It really drives home the pride they have in themselves, which is then reflected in their pride to serve their community.
Keeping the public informed
Fallbrook is a top-notch healthcare district and so we expected to see great Covid-related information on their site. We were not disappointed.
Fallbrook's Covid page exceeds expectations because they both understand what's most important to their constituents and the time sensitive nature of the evolving Covid situation. This is reflected in the simplicity of the main pane of the page where new information is easily updated, often on a daily basis. The right pane houses links to more permanent information resources. So, it makes sense they added design elements to this part of the page.
Fallbrook has built a comprehensive, authoritative web page to keep the public informed. It’s an effort that undoubtedly has helped to better inform the public, get more people tested, and thus, save lives.
Using data visualizations to engage constituents
TAMC had the lofty goal to reduce severe injury and fatal collisions to zero. However, they were faced with the challenge that people have grown accustomed to safety messages, making it hard to engage them on a level that can lead to a change in behavior. In this case, driving behavior.
TAMC completed a project with a group of students from Stanford to map the traffic collisions in the Monterey area. The map was an interactive, database-backed web application that went beyond the basic sort of content we typically see on websites.
It's a sobering experience to click the filters and see just how many severe and fatal accidents occur on the exact roads we drive each day. TAMC has made a lifesaving difference in their community.