Evanston unveils redesigned city website; officials mark 15 years of 311 service
March 10, 2026 | Evanston, Cook County, Illinois
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The City of Evanston on March 9 demonstrated a redesigned city website and recognized the 15th anniversary of its 311 service, highlighting easier navigation, accessibility improvements and new tools meant to connect residents with city services.
City Manager Luke Stowe introduced the presentation and asked the 311 team forward to be recognized for handling nearly 2 million calls, about 36,000 chats and 455,000 service requests over 15 years. “We are very proud to celebrate the fifteenth anniversary of our 311 center,” Stowe said, thanking staff for their work in emergency coordination and day‑to‑day service intake.
Caroline McCraw, who led the site redesign, said the new site launched Feb. 27 after a yearlong effort to reduce clutter and improve usability. “Our previous website was last updated in 2017,” McCraw told the council. She described a process guided by analytics, peer-city research and community feedback that cut roughly 1,700 pages to under 900, reorganized permits and licenses into a single directory and clarified content ownership across departments.
McCraw emphasized accessibility upgrades tied to a Department of Justice deadline: the city integrated accessibility remediation throughout the redesign and is implementing accessible‑PDF tooling and expanded multilingual support. She also said the city will add an AI chatbot to help residents find information and reduce routine 311 inquiries.
Sue Panarelli, the city’s 311 manager, thanked the mayor and council for the recognition and commended her team. Councilmember Rogers, who the mayor cited for leadership on the proclamation that preceded the presentation, added personal thanks to the 311 staff for helping route resident issues to the right departments.
The city asked residents to send feedback and 311 success stories to communications@cityofevanston.org or by texting 311 to (847) 448‑4311. City staff said they will continue content migration into the document center and monitor reports of issues through a website problem form in the site footer.
The council did not take formal action on the website presentation; staff said items such as full document migration and search‑engine indexing remain ongoing work and that follow‑up surveys and usability testing are planned.
City Manager Luke Stowe introduced the presentation and asked the 311 team forward to be recognized for handling nearly 2 million calls, about 36,000 chats and 455,000 service requests over 15 years. “We are very proud to celebrate the fifteenth anniversary of our 311 center,” Stowe said, thanking staff for their work in emergency coordination and day‑to‑day service intake.
Caroline McCraw, who led the site redesign, said the new site launched Feb. 27 after a yearlong effort to reduce clutter and improve usability. “Our previous website was last updated in 2017,” McCraw told the council. She described a process guided by analytics, peer-city research and community feedback that cut roughly 1,700 pages to under 900, reorganized permits and licenses into a single directory and clarified content ownership across departments.
McCraw emphasized accessibility upgrades tied to a Department of Justice deadline: the city integrated accessibility remediation throughout the redesign and is implementing accessible‑PDF tooling and expanded multilingual support. She also said the city will add an AI chatbot to help residents find information and reduce routine 311 inquiries.
Sue Panarelli, the city’s 311 manager, thanked the mayor and council for the recognition and commended her team. Councilmember Rogers, who the mayor cited for leadership on the proclamation that preceded the presentation, added personal thanks to the 311 staff for helping route resident issues to the right departments.
The city asked residents to send feedback and 311 success stories to communications@cityofevanston.org or by texting 311 to (847) 448‑4311. City staff said they will continue content migration into the document center and monitor reports of issues through a website problem form in the site footer.
The council did not take formal action on the website presentation; staff said items such as full document migration and search‑engine indexing remain ongoing work and that follow‑up surveys and usability testing are planned.
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