New Year, New Features from Representable.org!

We hope you have had a wonderful holiday season. Over the past few weeks, the Representable team has been diligently working to improve our website based on user feedback so that the tool is better than ever! These changes include the following:

Security Improvements

• There is the optional ability to require user addresses when creating a mapping drive
• Captcha has been added to protect against bots
• Unique hashes are now included on map submissions to ensure data security
• After submission, users have the option to receive an email receipt with their map attached

Features

• Now users can view all maps created in a state — this includes those submitted to orgs and drives for that state. Additionally, there is an export functionality for the state map pages.
• Population data is now calculated real-time while drawing a map, displayed, and then included when viewing a community
• Questions have been added regarding community interests to reflect discussions with experts and partners. They guide users towards a more reflective community mapping process
• Users now have the option to employ a school districts data layer
• There is now an ability to export communities as a CSV file with information about the community, coordinates, etc.
• A multi-export functionality has been added for when viewing communities in aggregate

Design Changes

• There has been a comprehensive site redesign to include more information about communities of interest and why they’re important. There has also been a switch to a “step-by-step” format to improve the user experience.
• The site infrastructure has been optimized for increased speed and accessibility, especially on mobile devices.

The new Representable redesign clearly explains the concept of a Community of Interest so that users understand how their map influences redistricting

In addition to design and feature improvements, the Representable team has developed additional educational materials. The additions include the following:

Our outreach team has developed an educational video that provides an overview of redistricting, gerrymandering, and how Representable can be used to address this issue using communities of interest. Additionally, there are now two demonstration videos of the website available which walk through the new site design for both users and organizations. All of these resources are available on the Representable YouTube playlist as well as the webinar slides linked below.

Our educational videos explain the concepts behind redistricting and how the people can make their voices heard.

Attached to this email is the updated Representable one-pager which can be shared with community members and organizations. Furthermore, users can now access “glossary” and “FAQs” pages on the website. Our organization guide has been updated to reflect the changes made to the website and the addition of the educational materials.

Lastly, there is an updated example webinar slide deck. This includes some FAQs and the new digital demonstration videos.

We are looking forward to supporting you all as we enter this new year. If you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions, feel free to contact team@representable.org!