The Society of IT Management, which has set the standards for local authority website performance with its annual Better connected report, is raising the bar on what it expects councils to achieve in this vital area for modern public services.

Better connected: aiming high, a new report now available from Socitm Insight, sets out changes that are being made to the Better connected ranking system.  From January 2007 a new rank will be added to the existing ranks of P (promotional), C (content), C+ (content plus) and T (transactional).  The new rank of 'E' - for an 'excellent' website that is also effective, efficient and engaging - will be positioned higher than the current transactional status. 

The changes will come into effect after the Better connected assessment now in train is completed and published in March 2006 and are being brought at a time when the 2005 deadline of 100% availability of government transactions is past and has been replaced by the new challenges of transformation and efficiency. 

Socitm Insight's 'useful, usable and used' criteria, which are used to help rank sites, have been fully reviewed and brought up to date and version 2 of the framework is set out in Better connected: aiming high.  The report also provides an explanation of criteria used by Socitm Insight to judge what makes a website a compelling user experience.

Examples of twelve sites that offer a compelling user experience are provided in the report along with detailed analysis from the Better connected team of what makes them such good websites. Six of the sites are from local government: these are from Birmingham City Council; London Borough of Brent; Maidstone Borough Council; Borough of Poole; Surrey County Council; and Wrexham County Borough Council.  The rest are outstanding examples from other sectors, namely Amazon, Easyjet, Visit Britain, Friends Reunited, the Equal Opportunities Commission, and the BBC.

The analysis draws out lessons from these websites that others can aspire to, match and even exceed.  According to the Better connected reviewers, all the sites are characterised by their user-orientation and their demonstrable understanding of why visitors might be going the site. Managers of these sites understand that the home page is the most important page, as it is the most frequently seen, used, and returned to. They have made all frequently used tasks readily available from the home page, and the sites are highly functional with usability and accessibility throughout being their most important attribute. 

Martin Greenwood, programme manager for Socitm Insight, says that the criteria by which Better connected judges public sector websites needed updating post 2005, not least because managers of sites that have achieved the coveted 'T' status need new incentives to strive for continuous improvement. 'We also needed a way to deal an emerging phenomenon we have called the 'patchwork' site, one which is great in some areas – let us say online forms - but dire in others, maybe its A to Z navigation or its accessibility. The new system of assessment will make clear where each site is doing well and equally where it needs to do better.'

The current ranking system (P, C, C+ and T) will be used for the last time in that format in the 2006 Better connected report.  The P ranking is expected to drop out by default as all sites will develop beyond that stage during 2006.  The C and C+ rankings will be phased out over time, although at
what pace is not yet clear. The E ranking will not be formally introduced until 2007, although the
2006 report will start to move in that direction.  Advantages of the new approach include:

● making the assessment process more transparent
● giving current transactional sites clear targets for improvement
● encouraging all sites to aim for excellence.

Better connected: aiming high is a 64 pp report published on 4 January.  It is available free of charge to Socitm Insight subscribers and costs £175 to others. Copies can be ordered from the Socitm website.

Note for Editors

The main Better connected report, 2006 edition will be published on 1 March.  The report publishes results and commentary on Socitm Insight's annual survey of all local authority websites.

Currently, Socitm Insight uses a four-point classification to reflect the state of development of local authority websites. This has been in place since the first survey in 1999 as has stood the test of time in an area where there has been very rapid change.

P is for promotional site. Such sites provide basic promotional information about the organisation with very little scope for interaction. They might typically concentrate on tourism, economic development and basic departmental information, with limited information on individual services beyond an A to Z with telephone contact numbers. Little use will be made of e-mail or online feedback, although a few gateway links might be provided.

C is for content site. Such sites provide useful content and encourage some interaction. They
have more sophisticated promotional information (eg accommodation search, downloadable files) and include features such as What's New pages, A to Z service listings and keyword site search facilities. They usually include some basic user interaction (eg clicking on an area map to find details of local councillors) and make use of e-mail and online feedback on home pages.

C+ is for content plus site. Such sites provide very useful content and offer some examples of more advanced online self-service features. They allow individual users to define their own search criteria (eg search by postcode for service information, refine searches of local tourist accommodation by type and price), and may include links to services such as Girobank for online payment and online databases for items such as library catalogues, planning applications, committee minutes. Service information is comprehensive and makes widespread use of e-mail, online feedback and even discussion forums. Such sites also typically host information on behalf of the wider local community.

T is for transactional site. Essential content and self-service values drive the whole of such sites and combine to offer a compelling user experience. Such sites demand attention for their accessibility, completeness, thoughtfulness and coherence. They have developed more than one type of online interaction (eg payment, applications, consultation, bookings) and also offer examples of customer recognition (eg ability to check outstanding council tax balance, renew
library books). They also provide specific e-mail contacts for different service enquiries and make widespread use of databases, downloadable forms and online form filling (eg for service requests, appointments). They routinely utilise the potential of the internet for joined-up government (eg OFSTED reports listed alongside schools listings, life event scenarios) and offer unique examples of the application of the medium in a local government context. Readers must be clear in understanding that our assessment is based entirely on the evidence before our eyes. From this we assess the state of development of websites, not whether they are actually delivering benefits, or even being well used or efficiently managed. To do that would involve in-depth discussion with webmasters and others which goes beyond the scope of this survey.