SEATTLE -- When it comes to city government web sites, the City of Seattle has the best in the nation.
In Government Technology's 2011 Best of the Web awards, Seattle tied for first place with Arkansas and Stearns County, Minnesota, for the top state, county and city web portals in the U.S. Seattle.gov won the city category.
The web sites were judged on several factors, including accessibility, innovation, cost-savings, ease of use and exceptional service to the public.
Government Technology credited Seattle Chief Technology Officer Bill Schrier, Mayor Mike McGinn's Chief of Staff Julie McCoy and their staff for improving the look and feel of Seattle.gov. Judges also liked Seattle's emphasis on blogging.
“CityLink blogs not only enable transparency, but this content is also pushed to RSS feeds and widgets so content is fresh,” one judge said, adding that there are numerous blogs that allow for public comment.
“Many sites have blogs, but they don’t allow public comments,” added a judge. “This defeats the purpose of a blog. Seattle does it right.”
Schrier points out the site's "My Neighborhood Map" function, which allows residents to easily find services, events and information. The function also connects to Data.seattle.gov, which gives information on police and fire 911 calls, crimes and other public safety information by moving a cursor over an icon on a map.
CLICK HERE to view the full list of winners.
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