Solutions: design/identity, content management
Vertical: government

The US Senate Committee on Indian Affairs has been in existence in one form or another since the early 19th century and has jurisdiction to study the unique problems of the American Indian, Native Hawaiian and Alaska Native peoples.  The Committee's role is to propose legislation to alleviate difficulties faced by the people in the communities they serve on issues including education, land development, economic development, land management, health care, trust responsibilities and claims against the United States. 

The Committee desired a new professional Web site which would better represent the Committee and the constituents it serves.  In addition to a new design, the Committee also desired to ensure that the new Web site would allow for easy site updates and maintenance by the internal Committee staff.

Fig Leaf Software designed and developed a new public Web site for the United States Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.  The new site was designed using Adobe Creative Suite and was implemented using the CommonSpot content management system (CMS), a product of PaperThin, Inc.  The CommonSpot browser based CMS makes it easy for non-technical Senate Committee staff to manage and maintain Web site content.

Fig Leaf Software worked closely with the Senate Committee staff during the creative process which began with a creative session and included the delivery of working prototype.  Once the new design was finalized Fig Leaf implemented the new design in the CMS and created functionality for tagging content by issue and content type.  Issues include:

    * American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
    * Appropriations and Budget
    * Federal Recognition of Tribes
    * Health Care Re-authorization and Reform
    * Indian Economic Development
    * Indian Education
    * Indian Energy
    * Indian Water Rights
    * Tribal Law and Order
    * Tribal Transportation

The new site provides direct links to Oversight Hearings, Legislative Hearings, Business Meetings, Nomination Hearings, Field Hearings, Listening Sessions and the ability to search all hearings.  Recent hearing views are available and a Committee Schedule / Calendar is included on the home page and in areas of the site where a calendar view is helpful to users.

Multimedia webcasts are linked throughout the site and Press can easily find news releases and press contacts and can sort items in the news room by month and year.

The new, easy-to-navigate site provides background information on the Committee, its Rules and Jurisdiction, as well as information about the Chairman, Vice Chairman and Committee Members.  All pages in the site are printer and email friendly and there is a rich RSS feed capability for users to subscribe to information based on topic or issue.

Fig Leaf Software integrated site-wide search using the Google Search Appliance thereby allowing users to quickly and easily find relevant information from throughout the site by search term.

The site is easy for staff members to use, and fits well with the Senate technical infrastructure, and Fig Leaf provides ongoing maintenance and support to the organization.