FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:    Mike Skweir, Lee County Public Resources
                (941) 335-2591

FORT MYERS, Fla. (July 11, 2001) – Lee County Government’s web site www.lee-county.com can now be viewed in Spanish, German and French.

To view the site in a foreign language, access the county’s Internet front page, go to "Translate Lee County’s Site Into," and click on either Spanish, German or French. The front page then will reload into the requested language. The translation also applies to linked county departmental web sites, news releases, hurricane information and County Commission agendas and minutes. It doesn’t translate graphics or documents in Adobe Acrobat format.

"Especially with this area’s growing Hispanic population and existing German-speaking residents, this will provide another way to communicate important information to those who don’t read English," says Mike Skweir, the county’s web site program manager. "It will be especially useful for getting out emergency information."

The new feature uses technology from "google" combined with an in-house county program developed by Skweir and Alwin Rodriguez with Affiliated Computer Services (ACS), the county’s contract vendor for Information Technology Services. When you choose what language you want, the server converts the page immediately to your language preference. It will continue to convert every additional page you select into the same language.