[music]
[dial-up internet dialing tone]
The first worldwide website for the City of Seattle, the “Public Access Network” or
PAN site was activated on February 1, 1995.
33 users accessed the site that day.
[dial-up internet connecting tone]
The citizen business visitor model was launched in 1996.
This became one of the most used city navigation models in the world.
This design was later affectionately nicknamed “the blue whale” by the City web team.
The citizen page contained resources relevant to residents, such as information on legislation,
employment, public safety, the arts.
Elected representatives such as the Mayor and the City Council members,
and various City departments.
[dog barking, cat meowing]
The page for visitors had information geared towards tourists and potential residents.
It even had this virtual tour of Seattle where you could visit sites such as Pike Place Market
and the Kingdome. [crowd cheering]
The business sections included useful information such as how to get a permit from the Department
of Construction and Land Use and information on City contracting and requests for proposals.
There was also a search and directory page to help find information on the site with
department emails, phone numbers, as well as a place to sign up for electronic mailing lists.
[email sent notification whoosh]
By 2000 the original PAN site was retired.
The City launched a new address “cityofseattle.net” and had undergone a major redesign.
During the PAN years of the website, usership had grown from 10% in 1997 to 30% in 2000.
During that time, the structure of websites also evolved,
adding more technically complex designs, styles, and scripts.
To preserve these sites requires specialized knowledge and tools.
To find out more about the history of our website and how it's preserved,
contact us or visit our Digital Archives page on the Seattle Municipal Archives website
at www.seattle.gov/city archives. [typing on computer keyboard]
[background music concludes]