Seattle Housing Web site renamed, updated

New sections for residents and housing applicants added

SEATTLE—February 4, 2004—The Seattle Housing Authority has launched a major content upgrade and revision of its agency Web site, according to Communications Director Virginia Felton.

"We have updated the site to make it easier to read with larger type and easier to navigate. Information for people interested in renting has been redesigned to be more complete, and a new section designed specifically for residents has been added."

The "Housing" section of the site allows interested renters to choose from among the different types of housing, then walks them through the application process step by step. In fact, applications for housing can be downloaded from the web site in six different languages: English, Chinese, Russian, Spanish, Somali and Vietnamese. Click here to explore the new Housing section.

The "For Residents" section features information for those currently living in SHA housing. Sub-categories include: tenant information, career assistance, health and social services, computer access and getting involved. "We wanted to provide one place where residents could get information that would make being an SHA tenant more convenient. We see this as an extension of our customer service efforts," said Felton. Click here to explore For Residents.

In addition to these two major re-designs, every section of the site has been updated. The new site address is www.seattlehousing.org. According to Felton, "We recognize that the new name is a little longer than the old one, but we believe it will be easier to remember and more intuitive to use." The former name of the Web site (www.sea-pha.org) will still work for at least six months.

The Web site re-design was accomplished by SHA staff from various departments working as volunteers on the project. Contributing staff included Ryan Spear (Housing), Tricia Smiley (For Residents), Mike Purdy (Business Opportunities), Andria Lazaga (Development), Marc Nilsen and Karen Brock (Employment) and Virginia Felton (Newsroom and About Us).