Sunday Special: City of Seattle website

City of Seattle: http://www.seattle.gov/

Transparency:  Seattle has the best City Council page that I’ve reviewed. First, its easy to find from the top right side of the website. Next, they feature a “Council Live” feed from the City Council page and there is also a “Committee & Agenda” tab that takes you to a well-organized list of committees with links to video archives and also has agendas and minutes linked as well.  Best of all, its lists not only full council meeting but specialized committees such as housing and public safety.  “A+”

Feedback:  Sadly, Seattle isn’t cutting edge in this regard.  I’m still looking for the city that posts comments or has an interactive social media element to their website. However, Seattle does provide citizens an easy-to-use form to connect with the Mayor’s office.  There is also on excellent one-page feedback form for the police department.  “B-“

Richness of information: Seattle does an excellent job at both providing great amount of information and instruction on its website and displaying it in a readable way.  Even better, the website provide an excellent overview of how the City government works and how to use and interact with it.  For example, at the “Department of Planning and Development” it provides three clear and useful sections; “Planning,” “Permits” “Compliance” and clearly delineates what kinds of information to expect these sections to contain.  I selected “Permits” and then three more sections appear “Permit Types” “Process Overview” “Inspections” with clear explanations beneath in each area.  Without having spent more than seconds reading through these pages, I learn a great deal about the nature of this departments work and processes.  “A+”

Transacting business:  To apply for a business license, you have to register and then the website takes you through a series of forms.  One thing I liked about this process is that at the top of the page there are a series of tabs that outlines all the steps and as you enter data it shows you where you are in the process.  So often you start a transaction not aware of what you are being asked or how many pages you will have to click through.  “A”

Overall: The City of Seattle has an excellent website; its attractive, easy-to-use, clearly laid-out, with clear and concise information on every page. They provide a wealth of material including video and most importantly the site is gear around providing the user with functionality rather than simply information. For example, there is no big photo of the department head with a long “welcome” page. This is useless and self-serving on a website. Instead there is news and clear explanations of how a department work and how to work with it.  I hope Seattle is also in the forefront of social media and will implement those features to its site soon.  “A”

Tags: City of Seattle website, Linkedin, municipalities, Seattle, Sunshine Resources