Union Rural Electric Cooperative

Overview

About

Union Rural Electric Cooperative (URE) is an electric and natural gas distribution cooperative that operates as a not-for-profit organization. Unlike other businesses, URE’s profits are not sent to investors in distant parts of the world. Instead, they are distributed among members based on their usage. URE prides themselves on their commitment to their members.

Bridging the Digital Divide

The digital lives of Americans with lower and higher incomes are immensely different. About 4 in 10 adults with lower incomes do not have broadband services (43%) or a desktop or laptop computers (41%). In comparison, Americans with higher household incomes are more likely to have multiple devices with access to the internet. With fewer options for online access, Americans with lower incomes rely heavily on smartphones.

Most members visit URE’s website to login and pay a bill, start or stop services, browse job postings, search the service territory, or get outage, rebate, or contact information. A member or customer using a smartphone may be left having to pinch and zoom or scroll right to left in order to see all of the page content. Without a mobile-first website design, these tasks can leave families with lower incomes more likely to face obstacles while navigating a website. To bridge this digital divide, URE redesigned their website to cater to those with limited access to the internet.

Responsive and adaptable website design ultimately decreases the disparity in online access.

Mobile Mindset

Mobile-first web design reinforces URE’s commitment to accessibility. By adapting to new technologies, URE puts their members at the forefront of their design process. Read more about how URE’s newly-designed website is turning heads and making a true impact as featured in Ohio Cooperative Living Magazine.