Making Floridabar.org the best it can be.

• Author: Diner, Jesse H.
• Position: President's page

At the Bar's General Meeting in Tampa, Francine Walker, director of Public Information and Bar Services, sat in the hotel lobby with a sign that invited: "Help us make the Web site better."

Comments she gathered from Bar members confirmed what broader random surveys have shown: While the Bar's Web site is considered average or pretty good, we could do more to make it better and easier to navigate.

That's why we are spending $250,000 to make www.floridabar. org easier to use for our members.

The 2008 Economics & Law Office Management Survey revealed that 85 percent of those randomly surveyed did not have trouble finding what they were looking for on the Bar's Web site. The 15 percent who did listed the top two problems as navigation and site crashes.

I am shooting for 100 percent satisfaction to make our Web site the best it can be for all Bar members.

While more and more members visit the Bar's Web site--43 percent visited the site more than 10 times in 2008, up from only four percent in 2000--I am hoping an overwhelming majority of site visitors will find our Web site an indispensable treasure trove of useful information.

Our goal is to bring those buried treasures to the surface, with upgrades in usability listed in our request for proposals to make the site:

* "Visually attractive and easy to navigate;

* "Recognized by lawyers as a valuable and relevant resource for their practice;

* "Serve as a credible resource for use by the public when seeking legal services and information."

We're not just dressing up the Web site in a flashy new outfit. We're finding substantive ways to upgrade how the site is used and making it less cluttered and confusing to maneuver.

After reviewing Web sites of other large unified state bars, the subcommittee of the Bar's Communications Committee has recommended the addition of a Google site search as top priority. It replaces the current full site search that has proven problematic in finding information. Using Google to search for Florida Bar information will produce direct links to pages.

Quick links will be added to the Bar's home page, so with just one click you will be taken to certain...