The City of Vernon is asking residents, business owners and visitors to help shape a planned overhaul of its official website, vernon.ca, as it moves into the discovery and planning phase of the project.
Why the city wants feedback
Municipal leaders say the redesign is intended to produce a more modern, accessible and user‑friendly site that makes city information and online services easier to find and use. The city has opened a public engagement survey on letstalkvernon.ca/website that takes approximately 10 minutes to complete. The survey will remain open until Nov. 5.
Officials emphasise the project is not just a cosmetic update. Feedback collected from the community will be used to guide choices about navigation, content, accessibility and functionality for the new site. In the meantime the current vernon.ca remains live and will continue to be updated.
What the survey asks
The questionnaire seeks to learn how people currently use the website and what information they look for most often. It also asks respondents about:
- Ease of navigation and how simple it is to locate information;
- Which services or features are most important to users; and
- Suggestions for improvements to accessibility, layout and online transactions.
All responses are collected anonymously, the city says. The project team is aiming for a launch of the redesigned website in late 2027.
“Every response will help the city better understand how the community uses its website and what matters most to the people who rely on it,” the city said.
Local implications and what to consider
A municipal website is the primary digital gateway for many interactions between residents and local government — from paying utility bills to finding recreation programs and following bylaws or development proposals. A thoughtful redesign can reduce phone and in‑person visits, speed up service delivery and improve accessibility for residents with disabilities.
For Vernon, which serves a mix of year‑round residents, seasonal visitors and a business community that depends on timely information, the priorities raised in the survey could have practical effects. Better navigation could make it simpler to find emergency alerts, recreation registration dates and council meeting documents. Improvements to online payment systems could streamline revenue collection for permissive tax exemptions, permits and facility rentals.
Practical details
| What | Detail |
|---|---|
| Survey location | letstalkvernon.ca/website |
| Estimated time | About 10 minutes |
| Survey closes | Nov. 5 |
| Target launch of new site | Late 2027 |
City staff will analyse the survey results as part of the discovery work that informs the design and functionality choices. Residents who rarely use municipal websites are as important to hear from as frequent users, city officials note — the redesign is intended to serve the whole community.
As Vernon and other municipalities continue to move more services online, decisions about website structure, accessibility standards and transaction capabilities increasingly affect how people interact with local government. This survey offers residents a direct channel to influence those decisions at an early stage.
Residents who wish to take part are encouraged to complete the survey before Nov. 5. The city says the current site will remain active and updated while the redesign proceeds.
