The State of Government Web Sites

The Internet has revolutionized the way we share information and communicate to each other. In the past 15 years or so, we’ve seen small web companies becoming industry giants; social media bringing people closer; and individuals having the ability to become a publisher of their own content. New web technologies are emerging everyday, making what used to be a futuristic concept to reality.

The Bad News

Where do the U.S. government web sites stand in all this?

Unfortunately, the majority of the .gov sites are not up-to-date with industry standards. Many sites, local, state and federal suffer from the following problems:

• Labyrinth of links. Information is hard for the public to find, due to poor usability.
• No outreach to the public. Sites often come off as a monologue, instead of a conversation with the public.
• Old, invalid, underlying coding.
• Accessibility issues for the handicapped. Ironically, most government sites are not Section 508 compliant.
• Graphical designs lack elegance and clarity. Design work is often not done by trained professional designers.
• Inconsistent branding.

In the words of my web designer and developer friends who work in private sectors: “Gov sites are so 1995.”

Of course, it’s easy to be a critic. We want to provide solutions too. Going forward, our articles will focus on how to fix these problems. To address a few key areas:

• Have a clear vision of the site and architect information in a way that’s easy for the public to find.
• Take advantage of appropriate social media tools.
• In-house, contractor designers and developers must keep up with current web technology, usability and accessibility standards.
• IT Management needs to be on-board with the latest trends too. This, I think is the most important factor.

The Good News

This is an exciting time for people who work on government web sites, whether you’re a web designer, developer, public relations specialist or IT manager. The new administration has put a lot of emphasis on bringing the Federal government sites up-to-date. Many local and state websites have also revamped their sites to best serve the public.

There is also more participation and interest from the public as well. The Gov2.0 movement has brought the technology sector, the public and the government together.

ClearType☆Press

Hello and welcome to ClearType☆Press. We’re a group of passionate folks who want to see our government’s web sites up to standard, to best serve the people. Expect many posts from us on web design and development techniques, social media usage, event coverage and general gov web related issues.

Who is this web site for? Well, anyone who’s interested in making our government websites more modern and useful. We’re always in search for quality articles from others like us. Please drop us an email if you want to become a guest author.

3 Comments, please share your thoughts!

1

Bobby Borszich Oct 4 2009

I think this a much needed service for the current state of government websites. I thank both of you for all of your efforts in trying to help the public get a better user experience from their government!

Congrats Guys!

2

Bob Johnson Oct 14 2009

This is a good initiative and I will keep close and monitor/contribute when I can.

I think it will be interesting to note the similarities and differences between catagories of Gov sites. Depending on both the target audience, funding source, and type of content — these can drive very different look&feel approaches. Examples of different types:

general public news — dynamic and changing

public reference — for all people, but mostly as an encyclopedia or sorts (IRS.gov for example)

targeted public — site accessible but not of major interest to general public. Example: NIST (This is my relm mostly)

law enforcement driven — DOJ, FBI, etc.

military focus

secure sites (behind the wall)

3

Weekly Round-up ~ Oct 9, 09 Edition | ClearType Press - Building a Better Government Web Oct 14 2009

[...] The State of Government Web Sites [...]

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