The Philadelphia Department of Revenue today unveiled the redesign of its website, www.phila.gov/revenue.
Designed and built in partnership with the Office of Open Data & Digital Transformation, Revenue’s new website provides completely rewritten content organized into more intuitive categories. The redesign is crucial because the services and information provided by the Department of Revenue represent over 30% of overall traffic to phila.gov. The site covers topics ranging from property, business, and income taxes; senior citizen discount and assistance programs; becoming a water customer; and revenue collection reports.
“In order to collect the revenue our city and schools need, we strive to make it as easy as possible to stay compliant with water bills and taxes,” said Revenue Commissioner Frank Breslin. “This new website will accomplish that by breaking information down into more clear categories and using plain language, and by making it easier for people to enroll in assistance programs.”
The website redesign was informed by web traffic analysis, targeted online feedback, and in-person conversations with customers at the concourse of the Municipal Services Building. Writers and subject matter experts worked together to turn these insights into digital content that could be more easily located and understood. The goal of this effort has been to make information about traditionally complex subjects clearer and more accessible to all Philadelphians. The popular applications used for online-filing and e-payment, which doubled in usage last year, remain the same and can be reached through the new website.
The Revenue site launch is part of the citywide website redesign effort, www.phila.gov. “Beta” features simple, mobile-friendly designs and clearer content—connecting the public to City information in more streamlined ways. The Revenue site, In addition to being available from the department’s homepage, www.phila.gov/revenue, is also accessible through the global navigation bar of www.phila.gov. This enables site visitors to find what they’re looking for easily without needing to know which department provides the service.
The new Revenue website content is available in over 100 languages using an automatic translation feature. And it is the latest example of the Department of Revenue’s ongoing effort to enhance customer services, such as including eliminating the fee for paying by eCheck—it’s now free!