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MIFFLINTOWN -- For the first time in more than a decade, Juniata County residents are logging onto a website that finally looks and feels like the community it serves.
After years of operating on a platform built in 2011, the county has officially launched its redesigned and ADA-compliant website -- a modern, cleaner, more accessible digital front door for residents, businesses and visitors.
The overhaul has been months in the making, driven by a simple reality: expectations have changed. Phones are different, screens are different, and the way people search for information has evolved. The old site, county officials said, simply couldn't keep up.
"We're working up a design for a brand-new website and wanted new photos of Juniata County to go on our new site," Mike Hower, director of geographic information system and assessment, said prior to the site's launch.
From the beginning, the redesign wasn't just about technology -- it was about identity. The county wanted a site that looked like Juniata, not a generic government template. That meant real images, real places and real moments captured by the people who live here.
Residents responded with courthouse angles, farmland horizons, forest trails, river bends, Port Royal Speedway dust clouds and Juniata County Fair nights -- the visuals that locals instantly recognize as home.
Hower emphasized that the goal was volume, authenticity and a library of images that could evolve with the seasons.
While the photo call helped shape the site's look, the redesign itself was a deeper, structural rebuild.
During the Juniata County Commissioners meeting, county administrator Steve Russell said the new site is not only more user-friendly but also fully compliant with Americans With Disabilities Act regulations -- a requirement for government websites that the old platform could no longer meet.
"The government as well as its websites need to be more ADA compliant, and our old site was not," Russell said during a commissioners meeting. ADA standards require that public websites be usable by people with hearing or vision impairments, including compatibility with screen readers and other assistive technologies.
To meet those standards, the county partnered with CivicPlus, a company specializing in government website design. "They created our new website," Russell said. The result is a platform that looks different from the original site but is far easier to navigate, with cleaner layouts, clearer menus and improved access to county services.
Russell encouraged residents to explore the new site and reach out if they have questions. "If you have any questions about the new website, please let us know," he said. The web address remains the same: www.juniataco.org.
The redesign is expected to serve residents more intuitively, whether they're looking for tax information, meeting agendas, emergency updates or departmental contacts. It also gives the county a more polished public presence -- one that reflects both its rural character and its commitment to modern accessibility.
For Juniata County, the launch marks more than a technical upgrade. It's a step into the present, a chance to better represent the community online and an invitation for residents to help shape how their home is seen by the wider world. After years of waiting, the county now has a website that's not only functional and compliant but unmistakably Juniata.