Clarity Partners received a 2017 WebAward for Outstanding Website in the “Web Development” category for its work on the Cook County of Illinois website implementation, branding and governance. The WebAwards, presented annually by the Web Marketing Association since 1997, is a head to head competition and premier award recognition program for web developers and marketing agencies. Winners are determined by independent expert judges from around the world who review websites from 96 industries.

The Cook County website launched in July 2016 with the help of Clarity Partners, who redesigned, built, and established a branding and governance plan for the highly visible website.

“For many of us, the front door of our local government is no longer between Roman columns on an old building downtown; it’s between ‘www’ and ‘dot gov’,” said Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.

Featuring a user-friendly and responsive design, which was tested with the help of Smart Chicago’s Civic User Testing Group, the website was built on the open source content management system, Drupal. This gave Cook County the autonomy and ability to quickly provide mobile friendly, up-to-date information to promote its services.

“Government websites have a reputation for not being very user friendly,” Preckwinkle said. “With our new website we put the user first.”

Along with designing and building the website, Clarity established branding and governance guidelines to seamlessly translate Cook County’s main website to its agencies.

About Cook County

Cook County is the second-most populous county in the United States. It provides its residents with community and family support, a legal court system, property and housing services, as well as public safety and jails, among other services. The Cook County website receives an average of 5,000 visitors daily. Visit www.cookcountyil.gov for more information.

About Clarity Partners

Clarity Partners is a Chicago-based, full-service management and information technology consulting firm that specializes in delivering comprehensive solutions to complex public sector and non-profit challenges. We provide management consulting, enterprise performance management, application development, website design and development, cloud solutions, project management, and IT staffing services to a diverse mix of businesses across the full spectrum of industries.