Public Less Satisfied With Government Web Sites

PUBLIC LESS SATISFIED WITH GOVERNMENT WEB SITES
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Steve Barr]
Citizen satisfaction with federal government Web sites slipped in the first quarter of the year, with some data showing that the gap between the government's score and private-sector scores has started to widen. Electronic government received a score of 73.4, out of 100, on the University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index released yesterday -- down half a point from the last quarter of 2006. Comparable private-sector scores were higher, ranging from 76.5 to 80. The government's score has been more or less flat since September 2005, indicating that private-sector Web advances, such as speedier software applications, and the increasing popularity of social networking and user-generated content are beginning to raise customer expectations in ways that the government will find difficult to match. "The challenge for government sites is keeping up with this," said Larry Freed, president and chief executive of ForeSee Results, a Michigan company that helps Web sites develop strategies for building audiences and improving services.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/20/AR2007032001338.html
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