A facelift?

It appears they've done a permanent kind of refresh on the State of Iowa's website.  Read the news release below.

New Look for State's Website

DES MOINES — The State of Iowa’s online face is getting a lift.

Iowa.gov, the State’s official Web site, launched its new look on June 23. It’s been five years since the last major redesign of the site, which receives an average of 1.25 million views per year.

“For many people, Iowa.gov serves as the front door of state government,” said Governor Chet Culver. “Whether it’s helping people find services, being transparent and accountable to the public, or highlighting everything Iowa has to offer, the new version of this Web site is an important communications tool to help people work with their government and appreciate our great state.”

“Our goal was to make the site inviting, user-friendly and full of information,” said Malcolm Huston, IOWAccess manager responsible for conceptualizing the redesign. “The Web site should reflect Iowa’s welcoming and forward-thinking nature, and we think the new site does that with things like photos of Iowa, easy access to a lot of information, and the ability to share the site through other networking Web sites.  We tried to make the site more social, as opposed to the usual ‘formal’ government Web sites citizens often visit.”

The new design features:
• Crisp, clean, bright design for easy reading and quick loading.
• Dual navigation (menus on the left and across the top) and more information located on the home page, meaning fewer clicks to find information.
• Live support. The State Library of Iowa is providing online, real-time live support during regular business hours. During offline hours users can send an e-mail to the State Library, which will be answered the following business day.
• News headlines. The new site features scrolling state news headlines pulled from state agency Web sites. The headlines are updated daily, providing visitors to the site the latest information.
• Top Online Services. Iowa state government has made a number of services available through the Internet to citizens. The new design highlights those services that are especially popular and/or timely.
• Featured Sites. This section showcases new state Web sites, sites with time-sensitive information, and other important Iowa-specific sites.
• ‘How Do I Contact?’ This section provides direct links for information on contacting the Governor and Lt. Governor’s office, the Legislative branch and the Judicial branch.
• Live weather information. Current weather information is provided by Yahoo. Users can change the location for the weather report by entering a different ZIP code.
• Lottery numbers. The Iowa Lottery’s current winning numbers are automatically updated semi-weekly.
• ‘Share This Page.’ This feature allows users to share this Web site with social bookmarking and networking sites, such as Facebook, Digg and Twitter.
• Information Section. The new information section provides quick links to frequently sought-after resources. It allows citizens instant access without having to know which agency to go to first.
• State Telephone Directory.  In addition to the State Telephone Directory link in the horizontal navigation, the redesigned site places a “Quick Search” box on the home page, allowing users to easily look up contact information for a state employee.

The Web site’s redesign was developed in coordination with the technical and design assistance of Iowa Interactive, LLC, under contract with the State of Iowa.

About the IOWAccess Advisory Council
The role of the IOWAccess Advisory Council is to create and provide a service to citizens of the state that will serve as a gateway for one-stop electronic access to governmental information, transactions, and services at state, county, or local levels. In this role, the Council accepts and reviews proposals for funding of electronic projects. Iowa Code established the Council in 1998. Its 14 members are appointed by the Governor for multi-year terms. http://iowaccess.iowa.gov/