HONOLULU -- (Business Wire)

Hawaii’s Nā Ala Hele Trail and Access Program launched a new website on National Trails Day with cutting-edge features and a new design making it the prime resource for state forest trail hikers in Hawaii. National Trails Day is the largest celebration of trails and the thousands of volunteers who maintain trails across the country.

Managed by the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) and Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW), one of the most important features of the new site, hawaiitrails.org, is its mobile-responsive design allowing it to adjust to a variety of different devices and screen sizes.

In addition, the updated website provides hikers with useful resources and content not found on or provided by other online sources such as trail head directions via GPS, detailed information on approved trail use activities, trail features, amenities, and timely weather and safety/hazard warnings. Specifically, features of the new and improved Nā Ala Hele website include:

• Google map interface
• Integrated GPS trail head location finder
• Mobile first responsive web design
• Click on trail or search for trail options
• Trail details and information search engine
• Easy-to-read, divided trail information sections
• Updated photos and content

“We wanted an entirely new look and to establish it as the ‘Official Site’ for all authorized public forestry program trails and roads,” said Aaron Lowe, Nā Ala Hele’s acting program manager and project lead. “We have created the one and only stop for people who are looking for sanctioned improved trails. All other trails, with the exception of a few other state and city trails, are not improved, and therefore are most likely closed and/or dangerous. People need to know this.”

In addition to the new features, the Nā Ala Hele staff has been working hard at collecting new photographs of trailhead signs, trail features, amenities, points of interest, and views to upload to the new site. The program hired renowned Hawai‘i trail writer Stuart Ball to update trail descriptions statewide starting with O‘ahu.

The Nā Ala Hele program contracted the Hawai‘i Information Consortium (HIC) to redesign and build the site. Since that time, both Nā Ala Hele staff and HIC have been working diligently to make the website and mobile version user-friendly. HIC used a User-Centered Design (UCD) approach by inviting multiple users with varying degrees of technical ability to perform different assigned tasks on the new site. This provided developers an opportunity to collect user feedback about what worked and what needed to be fixed or changed.

“UCD allows us to put the users first and design a site to meet their needs rather than expecting them to adapt to the site,” said Russell Castagnaro, HIC General Manager. “This has been a fun and exciting project to be a part of. It is always a pleasure working with Aaron and the Nā Ala Hele staff, and we look forward to the opportunity to continue to work with Nā Ala Hele in the future.”

DLNR’s Division of State Parks maintains its own website with information about state parks in Hawaii and hiking trails in the parks, at http://dlnr.hawaii.gov/dsp/.

The Nā Ala Hele Trail and Access System is created in partnership with Hawaii Information Consortium, LLC, the official Internet portal manager of eHawaii.gov.

About eHawaii.gov

Hawaii’s official Internet portal, portal.ehawaii.gov, is managed by Hawaii Information Consortium, LLC, a Hawaii corporation and wholly owned subsidiary of eGovernment firm, NIC Inc. (NASDAQ: EGOV). Hawaii Information Consortium, LLC partners with Hawaii state and county government agencies to bring more services online and improve public access to government information.

About NIC

Founded in 1992, NIC (NASDAQ: EGOV) is the nation's leading provider of official government websites, online services, and secure payment processing solutions. The company's innovative eGovernment services help make government more accessible to everyone through technology. The family of NIC companies provides eGovernment solutions for more than 4,500 federal, state, and local agencies in the United States and has a library of more than 11,300 services. In 2015, NIC’s partner states comprised the top 10 awards in the Best of the Web competition sponsored by the Center for Digital Government. Additional information is available at http://www.egov.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160608005281/en/

Contacts:

eHawaii.gov
Russell Castagnaro, 808-695-4615
russell@ehawaii.gov

Source: eHawaii.gov