Austin's redesigned website went live early March 19, part of a multimillion-dollar project intended to modernize and streamline the city's digital experience.
“The launch of the new and improved AustinTexas.Gov has been a long time coming, and I am proud to say that the City of Austin website is now the most efficient place to connect Austinites with the information and resources they need,” City Manager T.C. Broadnax said in a statement. “We have worked hard to make everything on the site easier to find and navigate—whether that’s adopting your next pet, viewing your recycling schedule or paying your utility bill.”
The big picture
Austintexas.gov is now search-based, a layout the city called more intuitive for visitors by providing quicker navigation to the webpages or information they're seeking. The search tool was updated to add filtering options and other functions for more accurate results, according to the city, and is now the primary feature visitors are greeted with. The website's overall page count has also been reduced over the past year to remove out of date or low-traffic content, which the city said will help users find desired content more easily.
Most city departments now have consistent style across their portions of the site. Some URLs may have changed, and any individual pages or documents residents may have saved can be updated but should automatically redirect to the new website.
The redesign was billed as one of several significant improvements to Austin's digital platform, including cleaner webpages and functionality across desktops, laptops, mobile devices and tablets. The city said its site maintains high accessibility standards for all visitors, and several translation options are available.
"Visitors will find information faster with clearer navigation, fewer duplicate pages, and a more consistent experience across departments. Search and the Service Hub are also improved, making it easier to locate services, and the site works better on mobile and for accessibility needs," a city spokesperson said.
The approach
The redesign is the result of a multiyear contract with Austin-based consultant Material Holdings authorized back in 2024 that's worth up to $5.5 million. The firm has led website upgrades for governments and private entities nationwide, and was the highest scorer in a public solicitation for the project.
So far, the city reported $1.48 million has been used for "the discovery, design and development" of Austin's new digital experience platform. Through the rest of this year and in fiscal year 2026-27, $1.04 million more is expected to be used for operational costs and other platform updates. The Material Holdings contract has two additional extensions, but it's not yet determined whether they'll be needed.
City communications and information technology officials previously said the redesign was needed to improve the website's organization and accessibility. Changes were long overdue, they said, as the previous version was overcrowded with thousands of individual webpages and proved difficult to navigate for some.
What's next?
The digital overhaul was effective as of 8 a.m. March 19, and the city said it would revert to its previous site in case of any problems during the transition.
The redesign advanced with some community feedback that was used to lay out the site's new features and overall experience. That process involved analyzing user behavior data and analytics to review interactions with the site, setting up interviews with Austinites using the website, and launching online surveys where residents could share input.
"Those interviews and surveys gave us more information to better understand pain points and opportunities for improvement. To ensure that the site meets all service needs and is easy to update and maintain, stakeholder and internal interviews were also a part of our discovery in addition to competitive and technical analyses," the spokesperson said.
Over the next few weeks, residents will also be prompted to provide more input about the digital platform changes through a short survey meant to guide further improvements and site fixes.
