City of Columbus website: seen better

City of Columbus

http://www.columbus.gov/

Transparency:  Not one of the better municipal websites on this count.  There is no mention of streaming video of Council meetings where the agendas and other materials are located.  And while they have agendas posted as well as highlights, bulletins and other materials, its not clear that they have actual minutes of the meetings.  If they have videos and minutes of past meetings, they didn’t make them easy to find. “D”

Feedback: There is a link from the label for “Residents” to “report a problem” but when you get that page its a list of various services with no indication of how you would report a problem. “F”

Richness of Information:  Though its buried on a page for “business” there is an extensive series of links and information made available to building and construction issues including zoning, permits, taxes and inspections.  “B+”

Transacting business: Under the business tab there is a section called, “Starting a Business” which I thought would provide me the information I needed to get a City of Columbus business permit but instead its a series of links to other government sites where I can get information.  I think its a bad idea not to label links that leave the website as such.  “Resources” is the appropriate name for such links.  “D”

Overall: This website is like the old Universal Studio “Main Street” set which looks inviting but once you dip beneath the surface you find doors that don’t open and windows with painted views.  The site is slow to load, has unclear navigation and limited resources.  I was impressed with the building and construction section which allows me to bump up its rating to: “C-“

Tags: Columbus Ohio, Linkedin, municipal website, Sunshine Resources