In March 1994, the Census Bureau became one of the first government agencies to offer a WWW portal. Although the Census Bureau had long been a pioneer in using computer- technology, developing the first electrical tabulating machines for the 1890 census and the UNIVAC computer for the 1950 census — activation of the Web site marked the first availability of “point-and-click” access to its vast storehouse of statistics.
“For much of the past two centuries, only the most data-savvy researchers and librarians could access — let alone digest — statistics collected by the Census Bureau, but all of that has changed during the past decade,” said Commerce Secretary Don Evans.
Visitors to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Internet site view more than 1.5 million pages of information a day, 13,000 percent more than 10 years ago when they accessed only about 12,000 pages a day.
The Census Bureau also has created an Internet feature showing how the site’s home page has changed over the years. Feedback from customers and focus groups has been used by Internet developers at the Census Bureau, who say making their site easier to navigate is a priority as new customers and data are continuously added.
Census.gov Homepage – 1997
Census.gov Homepage – 2004
