Lawmakers' websites improving, report finds

The overall quality of congressional websites is on the rise, but many still lack basic educational and transparency features, according to a new report.

House websites — including member, committee and leadership office sites — saw some degree of improvement from 2009 to 2011, while the Senate saw a small decline, according to the report released outlining best practices in online communications on Capitol Hill. New members elected in 2010 were also found to have developed much better websites in their first year in office compared with their Senate counterparts, the Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) found. Roughly 61 percent of websites from House freshmen earned high marks for their sites from CMF, versus just 31 percent for new senators. The CMF singled out several lawmakers and committees for excellent online communications, with top marks going to Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) for best Senate member website, and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) for best House member website. The best committee website went to the House Education and the Workforce Committee majority, chaired by Rep. John Kline (R-MN). The best leadership website mark went to House Democratic Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).

But there is still much work to be done in both House and Senate communications, as a significant number of member websites were found to lack basic educational and transparency features and content valuable to their constituents. According to the report, many member websites still do not offer basic information about their activities, the work of Congress or the legislative process.