Municipal Websites Evaluated for Content and Ease of Use

By FRED COLDREN
For Cape Issues
Information content, accessibility, and ease of use on Internet websites and social media posts provided by municipalities are now being evaluated in detail, compared, and rated by independent pollsters and citizen groups.
An analysis this week by ‘Cape Issues’ of the latest detailed Monmouth University Polling Institute (MUPI) evaluation of 16 websites authorized by Cape May County municipalities were determined this week to have an average combined county rating score at sixth best (No. 6) of comparable county average scores of 540 municipal websites (there are 565 municipalities) in New Jersey’s 21 counties.
MUPI reported to Herald that the Sea Isle City municipal website earned the best (No. 1) score in Cape May County and was No. 81 in New Jersey when the survey was completed last year. Lower Township’s municipal website was second (No. 2) best in Cape May County and earned No. 94 ranking statewide in the top 100 of the 540 websites reviewed.
In the top 200 municipal websites statewide according to MUPI was Stone Harbor (No. 103), Wildwood City (No. 142), Ocean City (No. 145), North Wildwood (No. 154), and Middle Township (No. 182).
The remaining Cape May County municipal websites were ranked among the 540 sites statewide as: Upper Township (No. 211), West Cape May (No. 271), Cape May City (No. 277), Wildwood Crest (No. 278), Avalon (No. 298), Dennis Township (No. 306), Cape May Point (No. 402) Woodbine (No. 415), and West Wildwood (No. 527).
Scores and state rankings of all 16 municipal websites in Cape May County, including comparable scores for their content, ease of use, and citizen interaction are displayed in the table and clickable at the Herald’s http://www.capemaycountyherald.com/ website in the Public Records directory.
“The use of websites by the public sector is gaining significant attention in recent years among practitioners and academics in the fields of public policy, public affairs, and communication. Websites have become one of the most important tools for citizens to get information about municipalities,” explained Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Initiative. Complete background details on the results of the MUPI survey statewide are accessible at www.monmouth.edu/polling.
Municipal websites, Facebook pages, email broadcasts, Twitter notes, and other social and public media are constantly being updated and improved, so “more than 100 discrete pieces of information and online activities were identified in the statewide poll as being important for government website design,” according to the official MUPI release.
After careful analysis of the scores and rankings received from MUPI, ‘Cape Issues’ citizen advisors to The Herald grouped the 540 New Jersey municipal websites by county, then averaged their ranks to learn that Mercer County municipalities had the best average county rank (91) in the state, followed by Middlesex (129), Essex (186), Morris (194), Bergen (212) and municipalities in Cape May County had an average website quality rank of 243, sixth best (No. 6) of the 21 counties in New Jersey.
Cape May County’s municipal websites averaged best (No. 1) in the statewide county rankings in the “Ease of Use” category, 12th (No. 12) out of 21 county averages in the “Content” category, and was 14th (No. 14) in the “Citizen Interaction” category.
There is plenty of room for improvement on all municipal websites to meet the latest, ever-changing technology on how to provide convenient public information for citizens on their smart phones, tablets, laptops, desktop computers and other modern media.
Murray pointed out that a 2011 Monmouth University poll showed that “municipal websites are the first place New Jerseyans go for information about their hometowns. In fact, nearly six in 10 say they have looked up information about their town on the Internet – about the same number who say they have paid a visit to Town Hall. Moreover, Garden State residents are far more likely to visit a municipal website than to call or write a town official.”
“There is a growing appreciation of how municipal websites can be critical tools to inform the public, create efficiencies in the provision of public services, and engage residents. This trend is also recognized by the State of New Jersey which requires that certain information, such as town budgets, be available online. Websites are vehicles to increase public sector transparency, facilitate open government, and increase public trust in government,” he added.
The MUPI director said quality municipal websites “can also streamline citizen interaction with local government and reduce the burden on municipal staff. Efforts to incorporate technology into public sector service delivery and interact with the public are referred to as E-Government.”
Of the 565 municipalities in the Garden State, the best municipal website of the 540 found and surveyed by MUPI was Middletown Township in Monmouth County, based on a combination of content availability and ease of use.
When honored in Spring 2013 with a statewide “E-Government” award, that municipality’s Mayor Gerard P. Scharfenberger noted that “the township also earned top marks in the individual categories of ease of use, citizen interaction and content. We’re very proud that Monmouth University’s findings confirmed our assertion that we’re on the right track in using the web as a primary tool to interact with our citizens.”
The 86 pieces of content searched for on the municipal websites were grouped for the MUPI poll evaluation into four categories:
• Information for Citizens – basic information readily available to citizens, such as the names and contact information of elected officials and key personnel, meeting schedules and minutes, garbage pickup, permit and zoning information, and police, fire, and EMS (emergency medical service) contacts.
• Citizen Interaction – opportunities for citizens to engage in government by posting information about citizen advisory committees or professional positions, allowing direct email contact with key officials and staff, emergency alert signup, publication of bidding opportunities, and the provision of a website search function.
• Online Government Services – the ability to conduct online transactions for the convenience of citizens and more efficient public services, including the provision of downloadable forms, online applications (e.g., dog licensing), online payment for parking tickets, taxes, or dog licenses, and online public records requests (OPRA).
• Social Networking – while there remain many questions about best practices in how public agencies should harness the web to engage the public, many elected officials and administrators now use these tools to connect with constituents, including Twitter and/or Facebook, videos, photo sharing, and blogs.
The full report New Jersey E-Government: Best Practices for Municipal Websites can be found at www.monmouth.edu/polling .
The June edition of New Jersey Municipalities magazine included a feature article about the thorough websites evaluation by MUPI. It’s is published for all elected and other municipal officials and staff in New Jersey and is posted for public access at http://www.njslom.org/magazine/2013-06/websites.pdf .
Copies of pertinent reports, comparison tables, and evaluation results are posted on The Herald’s website at http://www.capemaycountyherald.com/ in the Public Records directory.
(ED. NOTE: Cape Issues is a nonpartisan, volunteer group that examines various public issues with the aim, among other things, offering possible ways to achieve more efficient, economical methods of spending public funds.)