Cape Girardeau County unveils redesigned website

Cape Girardeau County's website, hosted at www.capecounty.us, now has a new look.

"We hope residents will find it accessible and easier to navigate," said Charlie Herbst, 2nd District commissioner, referring to changes made to the original web pages, launched in 2010.

After reviewing five bids last summer, B&B Media of Cape Girardeau was awarded a $29,677 bid Aug. 16 to perform the makeover with a goal of making the site Americans with Disability Act (ADA)-compliant.

Ongoing web support will cost county government $1,419 annually.

Herbst said last year the move was necessitated because the platform used by the previous web vendor was terminated.

Eric McGowen, county information technology director, said funding for redesign work and ongoing support fees will be funded out of the county's IT and equipment budget.

Herbst said B&B Media is working to complete two more phases of the redesign.

Phase 2 will consolidate www.capecountyvotes.com into the www.capecounty.us site.

Phase 3 will do the same for www.capecountyparks.us.

Austin Bollinger, B&B's owner, is a 2010 graduate of Southeast Missouri State University who launched his company after working for Element 74 -- which designed the original website.

B&B stands for Beard and Bollinger, the original surnames of Austin's mother and father.