Thirty six local authorities have been identified as having the UK’s top council websites after performance surveys carried out from a customer perspective.
These councils, which run 9% of the UK’s 416 local authority websites, were given 4* rating by Socitm’s Better Connected research programme on a range of issues.
They were tested on four service-based tasks, e.g. ‘apply for a resident's parking permit’, ‘request care assessment for elderly relative’, and ‘find out about housing’.
They were also tested on the quality of experience when sites were accessed from a mobile phone, and the quality and functionality of the sites’ navigation, search and A-Z facilities.
The accessibility of sites to people with disabilities, including those using assistive technologies, was also assessed.
The four star list includes councils from across the UK as well as the very large (council councils), the very small (shire districts) and urban (London and metropolitan districts) and rural-based councils.
The proportion of 3 and 4 star sites has risen by 11% since 2015-16.
Although individual tests were different this year, Socitm, the society for IT practitioners in the public sector, reported that overall they were comparable and in some cases harder.
