OLYMPIA – Visitors to the Washington State Department of Transportation's website will notice a big difference in the site's appearance today. The agency debuted an all-new website design yesterday, Sunday, Nov. 7, the first major overhaul in more than 15 years.
Although the name has stayed the same, www.wsdot.wa.gov is totally redesigned to focus on the needs of its 75,000 daily visitors. About 90 percent of the people who come to the website are looking for travel information, and more than 60 percent use a mobile device to access it. The new site is mobile and user-friendly with improvements for accessibility to serve everyone, on any device.
"Digital tools are more important than ever, and people have expectations for being able to find the information they need to complete a task quickly and easily," said Secretary of Transportation Roger Millar. "We have worked hard to ensure our website meets those expectations and we're excited to share this new cleaner, less cluttered and easier to use tool."
Features of wsdot.wa.gov
The redesigned website prioritizes travel information and a key feature is the new Travel Center. No matter how one travels, information about road and traffic, ferry, weather, tolling, train, airport, bicycle and walking is available all in one place. The Travel Center allows customers to view information as a list or on a map.
The new site also organizes content for:
- Those who work for or want to work for WSDOT.
- People who are looking for rules, regulations and policy.
- Those interested in knowing how and where transportation dollars are being spent.
- People who want information about the agency itself.
User tested
WSDOT’s new website is a user-centered design, based on how customers organize content to make it easier for them to find. More than 20,000 website users, both internal and external, were engaged in the development of the website design. Usability tests were conducted throughout the redesign project, including website users who depend on assistive devices, to help WSDOT refine the site to better meet customer needs.