Interior quietly launches new website
A screenshot from the new website (DOI)
The Department of the Interior’s website has gotten a makeover.
On Friday, the department quietly launched an updated DOI.gov that uses a new Drupal-based platform.
Virginia-based technology company Phase2 worked with IBM to build the platform last year. Then earlier this year, Phase2 and Fig Leaf Software teamed up to migrate Interior’s content to the new system.
“We’ll be working with them to get the rest of the bureau’s sites onto the platform,” Jeff Walpole, Phase2 CEO and co-founder, told FedScoop. He added, “The flagship of DOI is just the first.”
Interior has nine subagencies, including the National Park Service, Bureau of Reclamation, and the Fish and Wildlife Service. Earlier this year, Tim Fullerton, Interior’s former director of new media who departed this spring, told FedScoop that nine different contractors managed the nine sites, and the new effort would consolidate the systems. Walpole said he wasn’t sure which of the sites would launch next.
“It’s just great when you see a department-level site go with an open source solution like Drupal — it’s good,” Walpole said.
The responsive redesign features a special toggle in the upper left-hand corner that allows users to change the font to a style that is easier for people with dyslexia to read.
“We’re excited to be launching a new and improved doi.gov. In the coming days we’ll have more to share about the updated look and feel, and the platform supporting it,” Interior spokeswoman Emily Beyer wrote in an email to FedScoop.
