Pennsylvania has launched a new website – PA.gov – with the end goal of creating a user-friendly and accessible digital experience and make it easier for Pennsylvania residents to find the services they need.
Pa. Gov. Josh Shapiro, along with the Commonwealth Office of Digital Experience (CODE PA), said in a statement that this is the first phase of an ongoing transformation for all commonwealth websites, with a completion date expected in early 2025.
With the launch of the new website, Pennsylvanians can see updated designs on the PA.gov homepage, Governor’s Office, Lieutenant Governor’s Office, and Department of Human Services sites – which facilitate some of the most commonly used digital services by Pennsylvanians. State leaders noted that 64 commonwealth agencies will transform their sites throughout the rest of 2024 and early 2025.
“Since Day One, my Administration has worked to meet the people of Pennsylvania where they are – both online and in their communities,” said Gov. Shapiro. “Just over a year since I signed an Executive Order establishing CODE PA, we have made the Commonwealth’s digital services easier to use and more accessible – and today we are beginning the process of creating a better PA.gov for Pennsylvanians.”
“The new PA.gov will help you find human-centered, user-friendly, and faster digital services online that provide you with the opportunity to take advantage of all the resources and benefits the Commonwealth offers,” the governor said.
The governor’s office explained that currently, PA.gov websites are individual, interlinked sites that prompt users to visit different sites for different services. As a result of the current design, state leaders said that Pennsylvanians often have to navigate through complicated pages to access critical services they need. The launch of the new PA.gov will create a service-focused, single-site experience where Pennsylvanians will now be able to search on the PA.gov homepage for a specific service and the results will direct them to the service they need in one user journey. As commonwealth agencies continue to transform their pages, the services directory will evolve to include more services.
To further improve user experience, the new website features a primary navigation tab where services are listed at the top, a search bar to help find topics and services, and an agency directory where services will be organized by commonwealth agency. State leaders said this will help residents find what they’re looking for, without needing to know which agency provides the service or even which services they might need.
“The new PA.gov will provide a better user experience for every Pennsylvanian. We have fundamentally re-imagined our digital presence from the perspective of our residents, putting their needs at the forefront of every design decision,” said Secretary of Administration Neil Weaver. “We conducted hundreds of hours of interviews and surveyed over 300 Pennsylvanians from all walks of life to ensure the new PA.gov helps everyone find what they need quickly and easily.”
In developing the new website, state leaders incorporated input from over 300 residents, included over 370 hours of moderated and unmoderated interviews, and solicited 189 survey responses. CODE PA also worked with First Lady Lori Shapiro to host “Lori Listens” focus groups sessions to gather input from Pennsylvanians on what digital services they need and where critical improvements can be made.
