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City of Seattle
NOTE: This news release has been retained for historical use ONLY! While the text was accurate at the date of the release, the contact information may be out of date.
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NEWS ADVISORY
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| SUBJECT: Government Technology magazine names Seattle’s web site best local government site in nation
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
8/25/2000 |
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Rona Zevin - (206) 684-8264
Kathy Sugiyama (206) 684-0909
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City of Seattle’s web site named best in nation among local
governments
(SEATTLE) — Today Government Technology magazine named the city of
Seattle’s web site the best local government site in the nation. This
"2000-Best-of-Web" award includes a $5,000 cash prize and, as one of the top-10
state and local government finalists, Seattle will receive national recognition in Government
Technology magazine and will also be listed on the contest sponsor home pages (http://www.govtech.net/news/news.phtml?docid=2000.08.25-2030000000000187). Seattle’s
site can be reached at "http://www.cityofseattle.net/"
The amount of interaction and business that citizens can do with a government agency
via their Internet site is the primary criterion used to choose the top candidates for
this annual award. Entrants were judged by "innovation," "efficiency,"
"economy" and "functionality." As an awards recipient, Seattle has
been invited, free of charge, to attend the awards banquet in Albany, N.Y., in September.
Seattle officials were pleased with the honors. "We’re committed to improving
service delivery to our citizens and our web site is just one more example of how
we’re broadening government’s accessibility," Seattle Mayor Paul Schell
says. "A tremendous amount of useful information is available via Seattle’s site
and people know it. That’s one reason we’re consistently one of the top-rated
web sites in the country."
"Seattle’s web team has done a terrific job in its effort to bring citizens
with Internet access closer to their government," says City Councilmember Jim
Compton, chair of the Council’s Public Safety and Technology Committee.
"I’m proud of our employees who have responded to the challenge of creating a
premier web site that continues to receive national accolades. Our shared goal — to
find better ways to serve Seattle’s citizens — keeps the city’s site on the
cutting-edge," Compton adds.
The Seattle web site’s primary purpose is to provide a 24-hour "city
hall" for Seattle’s citizens, allowing them to obtain vital information and
initiate, if not complete, transactions required to secure City services. In addition, the
site also provides citizens with information about City activities, goals, and policy objectives, and with a way to contact City
staff and elected officials directly with questions, concerns or comments. The site has
also been leveraged to promote economic development in the region by providing useful
information to visitors, and new and existing Seattle businesses. It receives more than 7
million hits each month.
The information posted on Seattle’s web site falls within three major categories:
citizen, visitor and business. The city spent the first part of the year redesigning the
site and the revamped site debuted in mid-June with a fresh, new look and many newly
enhanced features. The new top-level pages were developed using the portal concept to
deliver "one-stop shopping" for site visitors.
Enhancements include:
- City Highlights.
This new section on the home page lists links to new city home
pages, new on-line applications, significant citywide news and updates to important
web-based information. These City Highlights may change every day during the work week,
depending on what’s happening within the city and the city web.
- Seattle Services Drop-down Menu.
This new drop-down menu on the home page lists
links to significant and often-requested city services.
- City Home Pages Drop-down Menu.
This new drop-down menu on the home page lists links
to the home pages of all the major departments, divisions and groups within the city.
- Search function.
The search function can now be used to search the entire city of
Seattle web site from any page on the city’s web site.
- New Topics, Sub-Topics and Subjects.
These serve as a portal not only to information
on the city web, but also to information out on the World Wide Web. The new topics are
called: "Living in Seattle," "Doing Business in Seattle" and
"Visiting Seattle." These three new top-level topics correspond roughly to the
previous web pages entitled Citizen Information, Business Information and Visitor
Information, but the new topics have been expanded to provide more sub-topics and more
links to city web pages and world wide web pages.
- New Links to Important Information.
The home page also features more links to
much-requested information on the city web, such as the Mayor’s home page, the City
Council’s home page and "hot information," featuring links to large-scale
city webs of exceptional and long-term public interest.
- On-line Services and Forms.
A new link on the home page leads to a new page listing
all on-line services and forms, making it easier to do business with Seattle.
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