On Friday, 19 February, the new website for the Swiss parliament goes online. The website is modern and designed to meet the more demanding needs of today’s users. The site employs responsive web design, i.e. it is optimised for all user devices.

​The new Parliament website will go live on 19 February, shortly before the start of the spring session. The complete redesign, which took two years, was essential due to increasingly high user demands and rapid technological progress. “The parliament.ch website showcases the Swiss Federal Assembly,” says Mark Stucki, Head of Information at the Parliamentary Services. “This is where Parliament accounts for the work it does and where citizens can find out about everything that the National Council and Council of States are debating and deciding.”

The contract for designing and creating the new website, including the complex integration of various databases, was awarded in 2014 in a WTO tendering process. The total cost of the project amounts to just under CHF 2.7 million.

 

Simpler to use, accurate searches

The relaunch allows users to navigate more easily through the wealth of information available on parlament.ch. The new website is modern, simple to use and works on all user devices: news and schedules appear directly on the home page and give users a summary of forthcoming committee meetings, events and sessions, etc.

Anyone searching for an item of parliamentary business in Curia Vista, transcripts of proceedings in the Official Bulletin or biographies of members of parliament can do so using the new search tool. The search results can now be filtered, as users require, thus improving the accuracy of the results. Users can also activate an automatic email alert function in relation to individual members or items of business.

The Official Bulletin has also expanded its services: users not only have rapid access to transcripts of proceedings, but can also view video recordings of the Council debates. Individual videos can be downloaded and added to content on other websites or on social media channels.

 

Barrier-free access and available in five languages

People with visual disabilities can enjoy barrier-free access to the website, and so can surf parlament.ch with ease. And whether your speak German, French, Italian, Romansh or English, you will still find what you want in each of these five languages.

 

For further information and first impressions of the new website, check out the information video.

 

 

Bern, 18 February 2016 Parliamentary Services