City E-Gov Evaluations

San Diego, San Jose, and Seattle are among the best city "e-government" websites in the U.S., according to the August 2001 Civic Resources Group report and Brown University's Taubman Center September 2001 report. The three cities took top spots on both lists. The Civic Resource Group (CRG) study examined 70 variables among 224 sites for cities with populations of over 100,000 people. While 97% of sites listed information about elected officials and 92% provided listings of departments, only 64% of sites provided e-mail addresses for executives (such as mayors and city managers). Online participation mechanisms were limited to 11% of sites, and only 5% provided online forms for citizens to provide feedback or complaints. Some 31% of sites did provide the means for citizens to request services online -- without requiring knowledge of the specific department to access -- but only 9% offered the means to conduct full-scale online transactions (usually paying parking tickets). While 40% of sites used "cookies," only 8% of sites had any privacy statements. The CRG study also found that meeting agendas (for example, from city councils) and meeting minutes were available on 79% and 57% of sites respectively, and that meeting content was available in the form of video (5%) and audio (3%). In general, multimedia content was available as audio and video on 6% and 10% on all city government websites studied. Only 5% of sites, however, followed standard accessibility guidelines established by the World Wide Web Consortium. The Brown University study -- directed by Prof. Darrell West, author of two previous federal and state e-government comparison studies -- examined over 1500 websites in 70 major metropolitan areas, including those of "one-stop" portals, mayor and city managers, city councils, and a range of agencies, including public safety, transportation, health and human services, and economic development. Websites were evaluated with respect to 28 features, including the level of public accessibility to information, type of content available, range of services offered, privacy and security, interactivity, support for e-commerce, subject taxonomy reflecting the interests and needs of citizens, ability to receive updates, multimedia content, and linkages through portals with other branches of government.
  • Phone numbers and postal addresses for government offices were available on most city websites -- 92% and 83% respectively, but only 69% of cities provided contact e-mail addresses for someone other than the webmaster. The means to provide online comments (through message boards and chat rooms) was present in only 2% of sites.
  • 75% of city government websites provided an online portal that aggregated a range of government information
  • 85% of sites utilized citizen-friendly subject taxonomies and indices, while only 54% provided a search engine or other means for locating information. Personalization features, allowing users to customize how and what information is presented to them, were present in only 0.3% of sites examined.
  • 14% had privacy and security statements, and of those, only 10% explicitly prohibited commercial use of information collected, 9% prohibited sharing of personal information, 4% mentioned their use of technology to monitor site traffic, and 2% explicitly barred the use of "cookies" on their sites.
  • Only 13% of sites, however, had the means to conduct full-fledged services online, with 1% able to provide at least four online services. Most services consisted of filing complaints against nuisances, and responding to traffic and parking violations. One reason suggested for the limited range and number of services offered is the widespread unavailability of e-commerce mechanisms on sites. Only 4% of city government sites can accept credit card payments, while 0.2% have the means to accommodate digital signatures, long recognized as an important security feature on e-commerce sites. Online services, frequently touted for their potential to save users and agencies money and time, were evaluated by the degree to which transactions could be initiated and fulfilled online, versus those enabling limited fulfillment (such as access that still requires users to download, print, and mail forms back to a government entity).
  • 11% had minimal accommodation for physical disabilities online, with only 2% certified as "BOBBY-approved," 2% conforming to disability-access guidelines outlined by the World Wide Web Consortium, and 6% providing text-only alternatives to Web content.
  • 7% had the capacity to provide content in at least two languages (English and Spanish most often), either by direct link to a canned online translation of pages, or an online translation tool. Police departments were most likely to this capacity
  • Multimedia content -- more often a short greeting or speech from the mayor or city manager -- was available in the form of audio (1%) and video (3%) on city sites. Streaming or online broadcast media (such as Internet radio) was present on 2% of sites.
  • None of the sites required user fees to access information or services, and less than 1% had commercial ads. Those sites most likely to use commercial ads were those for transportation or tourism boards, which utilize outreach and marketing in the course of their operations.
The Brown study is interesting for the comparisons it makes with respect to the features present in city executive, legislative, and "one stop" websites. With the exception of contact information (mailing address and phone numbers), portals tended to have more features than executive or legislative sites. This might be attributed to the greater volume of information and audiences likely to visit those sites. Compared to legislative sites, executive sites tended to provide more links to other resources, feature privacy statements, disability access in some form, search engines and databases, and full-scale online services, more than legislative sites. Legislative sites were more likely than executive sites to have more online content, mailing address information, multilingual content, citizen-friendly subject indices, e-commerce mechanisms, and video content. Overall, both reports suggest that city government websites need to pay particular attention to their audiences, including the geographic, cultural, and physical access needs. Greater use of e-commerce and online feedback mechanisms -- with attendant privacy and security measures -- are recommended as one way to increase greater citizen use and institutional accountability. Sites are also encouraged to apply information standards and integrated approaches, especially through greater use of portals, that reduce citizen dependence on unique navigation approaches proprietary to individual government entities.
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