BERNARDSTON — With the new Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)-compliant town website that’s launching on Sept. 13, residents will be able to pay bills, stay informed about meeting topics, register their children for recreational activities and more.

According to Town Administrator Karen Kelly, the Bernardston Selectboard allocated roughly $8,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding toward the site, which is expected to cover costs for the first two years. The town is partnering with CivicPlus, a provider of integrated technology solutions exclusively for local government, to launch the new website on the same domain, townofbernardston.org.

“CivicPlus’ content management system will allow the town of Bernardston to accomplish goals of greater transparency of documents and data for residents, increase resident engagement by offering more dynamic content and more timely news, and improve administrative efficiencies by implementing a website with resident self-service features,” Kelly wrote in an email announcing the launch of the new website, which she said will benefit Town Hall employees, too.

Although Kelly said the existing website, which has been up for about a year, has abundant information, it’s not considered to be engaging, interactive or user-friendly. Kelly believes the new website will create a more convenient alternative for residents and town employees, as they will not necessarily need to go in person to Town Hall for some of their errands if they prefer. Some of the town departments and offices that residents will be able to access online and pay bills to include the town clerk, tax collector, Recreation Department, Council on Aging and Highway Department, with Kelly noting that the more information can be put online, the more efficiently Town Hall can operate.

As ADA functionality was part of the software package provided by CivicPlus, the new website will have consistent fonts, headings, titles and colors that comply with ADA standards. In addition, Kelly wrote in an email that the site features a “mobile-optimized design that ensures citizens can easily navigate and interact with content from any desktop computer, smartphone or tablet,” increasing accessibility across devices.

As a way of increasing user engagement, the new site will have a “Notify Me” communication subscription feature that allows residents to sign up for email or text alerts about subjects that matter most to them. A town calendar will make it easier for residents to find out about local events and the Agenda Center will keep residents informed about public policy and government meetings. Finally, an intuitive search function and navigation menus will make it easier for residents to find what they’re looking for from the website’s homepage.

In terms of managing the website itself, Kelly and Town Clerk Christina Slocum-Wysk will have full administrative control of the website, but the goal is to have each town department take over management of their own page on the website moving forward.

Kelly said she is excited to see how this change will positively affect residents and town employees alike, noting that officials are open to hearing feedback from users.