The report is presented in three parts. Part A, Managing the website, draws on research with the management teams of 23 of the best local authority websites. This reports on what goes on ‘behind the scenes’, covering issues like who within the council ‘owns’ the website and who is responsible for direction; who contributes to the content; is the site managed centrally or devolved; how are transactional services developed; what planning processes are used; and what standards and guidelines are followed. The section also sets out a management model suitable for a larger council, and one for a smaller council, typically a shire district.
Part B of the report, Engaging with the user, shows what needs to be done to ensure that websites are useful, usable and used. It shows web managers how to answer positively three key questions about their site: does it contain the information people are looking for?; how easy is it to find the information?; and how well used is the website?
The section covers issues of currency, information provision, links, news value, email, forms, services and participation. It looks at navigational issues like search, and the A-Z function, as well as accessibility, readability, resilience, and how easy the site is to find through search engines. It also covers issues of take-up, including measurement of visitor numbers and experience, promotion, and the level of access potential users have to the internet. This section sets out clearly what it takes to achieve a ‘transactional’ website as defined by the Better Connected reports and as mentioned by the ODPM’s 2003 IEG guidance.
The final part of the report is of concerned primarily with the assessment process used for the Better Connected surveys of local authority and other public sector websites. Drawing on Part B of the report and the criteria it establishes for a transactional site, Part C sets out what levels of usefulness and usability are associated with sites ranked by Better Connected as ‘promotional’, ‘content’, ‘content plus’ and ‘transactional’.
Better Connected: building for the future – a best practice guide to website management in the public sector has been developed in conjunction with the LAWs, the National Project for local authority websites, the aim of which is to build a suite of tools to help local authorities to build transactional websites and meet the 2005 e-government targets.
The report is aimed at anyone involved in developing, supporting, and managing websites and eGovernment in the public sector. While the report has been developed within local government, the advice it contains applies across the whole of the public sector.
Quelle: PublicTechnology, 12.02.2004
