Connecting with Citizens Online
During the first stage of e-Government 2005, all government bodies were required to create an online presence. The second phase is now in full swing and involves refining Web sites into smarter, more intuitive and user-friendly formats. Councils are being urged to reinvent their services to focus more strongly on the citizen, to implement shared services between councils and to save costs and improve efficiency. Local government Web sites must be highly functional, usable and accessible, but to guarantee this IT managers need to be up to date on the latest technological developments and what approaches work best. This article will look at the areas councils should focus on to create a strong, citizen-friendly Web site.
The first caveat for councils should be that their Web sites must be available to all, including those with disabilities and those who have difficultly accessing the web for whatever reason. This means making sure that sites are as user-friendly and accessible as possible. Reigate and Banstead Borough Council’s Web site is a prime example of what to do to fulfil these criteria. It boasts a wide range of features designed to help people with various disabilities and impairments. Among the special accessibility features created using web content management, Web users can increase the text size on all pages at the click of a button, and people who are colour blind can change the background colour to increase the contrast. Those who have difficulty using a mouse can navigate around the site using special access keys. What is more, a range of technical help is built in to pages to help people using screen-readers to get the information they need quickly and simply.
The Web site is also designed to be extremely versatile, so potentially it will translate well to other devices such as PDAs and mobile phones – and therefore be made accessible to people without PCs.
Functionality as seen on Reigate and Banstead’s site is easy to implement using the right software and fulfils the criteria of making the Web site more accessible and usable for all. However, the Government has also said that to provide the best service to customers, councils need to follow a ‘joined-up’ approach. This kind of approach means that customers can access one Web site and get all the information they need, rather than having to go from site to site. This means we are likely to see more integration of third party Web site applications, to support new initiatives such as Ken Livingstone’s plan for a ‘joined-up’ London where all local government bodies and councils share resources to encourage tourists to visit the capital and residents to make the most of their local area.
In fact, that was the driving force behind the improvements to the GLA Web site, which used web content management to standardise all existing London-related sites onto one site. This site is designed to give residents and visitors access to a range of information on facilities, travel information and services in and around the capital.
Mid Beds Council chose to integrate in a slightly different way, creating a joint web portal with neighbouring South Bedfordshire. The portal is called Citizone and provides customers with a single gateway to more than 150 local services. This makes the process of accessing information easier for residents but has also saved Mid Beds council 50 per cent on its content management costs. These cases are both good examples of how councils can fulfil government guidelines and also make life easier and save time for their customers and themselves.
However, although integrated, accessible sites are necessary for a council to deliver its services in the most clear and helpful way possible, there is still more that can be done to ensure customers’ needs are met in the most effective way possible. The rise of so-called “Web 2.0” sites such as Facebook, Wikipedia, blogs and so on, has shown that people like to be able to interact on the web. Councils can appeal to their customers by using elements from such sites reworked to fit the purpose of local government. For instance, a council could create a feedback form on the refuse collection service, allowing customers to give their views and suggest improvements. Or local government could really embrace Web 2.0 and have blogs on podcasts on their site from different councillors, allowing residents to find out what is happening in their area in a far more personal way. Such functionality helps bring to life the idea of an easier two-way exchange between councils and their customers.
Councils have to make very few changes in order to connect more effectively with residents and visitors – the key is in understanding what customers want and then facilitating their needs in all communication. By using web content management to update their Web sites councils can ensure all customers are able to access the information they need when and how they wish, can feedback on council services and can do this with ease. The Government’s guidelines on council Web sites may seem daunting, but bodies such as the GLA and Mid Beds Council have proved how effectively they can be fulfilled.