The federal Web portal FirstGov.gov and the U.S.
Department of Agriculture's home page are the most highly rated
federal Web sites, according to the seventh annual e-government
analysis by Brown University.
The survey listed Texas and New Jersey as the best
states for e-government.
"FirstGov.gov was our most highly rated site this year, and the
IRS Web site was rated sixth out of 61 government Web sites," said
Darrell West, director of the Taubman Center for Public Policy at
Brown in Providence, R.I. "There are a variety of different
features that make them stand out. Those sites have a lot of online
services, and they take issues of privacy and security pretty
seriously. They are also generally bilingual and provide language
accessibility to non-English speakers."
West and a team of researchers examined 1,564 Web sites; 1,503
state sites (or an average of 30 sites per state), plus 48 federal
government sites and 13 federal court sites.
The evaluations of the Web sites were based on a number of
features, including online publications, databases, foreign
language content or language translation services, advertisements,
user payments or fees, disability access, privacy and security
statements, the number of online services available, support for
credit card payments, e-mail addresses, comment forms, automatic
e-mail updates, PDA accessibility, and readability level.
"What we found over the course of the project is the steady
improvement in the number of online services and how seriously
government agencies are treating privacy and security," West said.
"There still remain design issues -- a lot of agencies have their
own look, meaning that it's hard for visitors to navigate those
sites. So we suggest there needs to be greater standardization of
government Web sites."
West said every year the sites with the lowest rankings seem to
be the court sites, and he doesn't understand why they're not
getting better.
"I think the problem is that courts are more insular, and they
don't define public outreach as a really important mission for
them, so they don't really have much in the way of online
services," West said. "They don't put a lot of information online.
They need to get a lot better at it."
The survey found that most of the state Web sites prominently
display key features and services on the main page or they provide
a link to online services.
The TexasOnline portal site has a simple, effective navigation
system and an exhaustive list of more than 500 online services
contained within its Web sites -- the most of all sites assessed,
the survey found. The electronic services are divided into 15
categories and organized alphabetically, allowing for quick access
to the most-wanted services, including online sales tax payment,
vehicle registration renewals and searchable license records
databases.
In addition, TexasOnline features audio and video clips on the
majority of its Web site, as well as a Spanish version of nearly
every page, West said.
"Overall, Texas has made a strong effort to deliver convenient
access to a vast number of online services, thus topping our
rankings," West said.
New Jersey's Web site, ranked the No. 2 state Web site in the
study, offers users the chance to personalize the portal page.
Registered users of MyNewJersey can customize the site by selecting
the layout of the home page and the news content displayed, the
study found.
New Jersey also provides easy access to online services via
drop-down boxes that direct the user to common e-services such as
paying traffic violations or searching unclaimed property.
Furthermore, the site contains direct links to live online support
and a form to e-mail the governor.
Some states, the study found, do a poor job presenting their
services, burying the most useful functions of their sites. The
Wyoming portal page, for instance, has little mention of the
services offered by the state's Web site, making navigation
difficult, according to the survey. States could make their sites
more user-friendly by providing quick access to e-services and
useful features from the main departmental and portal pages, West
said.
The top-rated federal Web sites also include the Department of
Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Commerce, the
Department of the Treasury, the Internal Revenue Service, the
Postal Service, the Department of Education, the Social Security
Administration and the Department of State.
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