The Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) is pleased to announce the launch of a new, mobile-first design for Texas.gov, the State’s official website. This mobile-first approach offers users a seamless experience across a wide range of Internet-enabled devices – from mobile phones and tablets to traditional desktop or laptop computers. When Texas.gov is viewed on a tablet or mobile device, multi-column layouts are reduced, larger images disappear, and the need for left-and-right scrolling is eliminated.

“A mobile-first strategy matters more than ever for the state portal since nearly 25 percent of all visitors to Texas.gov come from a mobile phone or tablet,” said Karen Robinson, State of Texas CIO and executive director of DIR. “We must be responsive to the needs of all Texans. Providing them with access to information and online services via the fully accessible, multi-lingual, and now mobile-first Texas.gov is a great start.”

When citizens visit the new Texas.gov, they will encounter the clean, classic black and white theme that was first introduced last year. Photographs showcasing the stunning beauty of our state now feature more information for each photo, including the photographer, location, and related links of interest.

Other notable features of the new Texas.gov include:

• Long scrolling homepage. Scrolling has become a natural action for users, so Texas.gov accommodated this behavior with a long-scrolling home page. Horizontal blocks of content organize the homepage into clear, useful sections that visitors can view across all screen resolutions.
• Enhanced navigation. On traditional desktop or laptop computers, in-page navigation icons associated with each content block let users jump directly to the information they need. Expandable mega-navigation menus for Do, Discover, Connect, and Ask help users access services and information across these key areas of Texas.gov.
• Helpful search functionality. One in six visits to Texas.gov includes a search. The front-and-center search bar that Texas.gov pioneered remains prominent and offers even more functionality. It includes an auto-complete feature that displays suggestions as users type, and promoted links for popular services on Texas.gov such as vehicle registration renewal and driver license renewal.
• Robust geo-location. Info Near You, an interactive area of Texas.gov, helps Texans locate government information and services near them. Utilizing HTML5 geo-location APIs, users can find physical location information for state agencies, driver license and vehicle registration offices, job centers, libraries, K-12 schools, and more.

“Our guiding principle is to always put users first. The new Texas.gov demonstrates our commitment to not only providing an attractive, functional website; but more importantly, helping all visitors take care of their government business online securely and with ease,” said Erin Hutchins, General Manager and Director of Portal Operations for Texas.gov.

For a guided tour highlighting even more of the new features on Texas.gov, visit the Texas.gov Website Tour 2014.

About Texas.gov

Texas.gov is the official website of the state of Texas (www.texas.gov) and is a collaborative public/private partnership managed by the Department of Information Resources (DIR). Texas.gov helps state and local government entities Web-enable their services and operates without tax funds through a partnership between the state and Texas NICUSA, LLC. Texas NICUSA builds, operates, maintains, and markets Texas.gov and is part of eGovernment firm NIC’s (NASDAQ: EGOV) family of companies. Since its launch in 2000, Texas.gov has securely processed more than 201 million financial transactions and collected more than $30 billion on behalf of participating entities.

About NIC

NIC Inc. is the nation’s leading provider of official government websites, online services, and secure payment processing solutions. The company’s innovative eGovernment services help reduce costs and increase efficiencies for government agencies, citizens, and businesses across the country. Our popular self-funded solution allows government to put in-demand services online without using taxpayer funds. The NIC family of companies currently provides cost-effective eGovernment solutions for more than 3,500 federal, state, and local agencies in the United States. Additional information is available at www.egov.com.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20140514005311/en/