Assessing the Quality of Municipal Government Web Sites

MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENTS have a reputation for quickly adopting new technologies to engage and serve constituents (Gronlund 2001). Web sites, one of the latest of these technologies, are key tools for communication and service provision to multiple constituencies. A recent International City/County Management Association (ICMA) survey of more than 4,000 local governments in the United States found that over 85 percent of the responding municipalities had active Web sites (Moon 2002). More recent research shows that the number of people who access government Web sites in the United States tripled between 2001 and 2003 (Horrigan 2004). Many policymakers, e-government service providers, and scholars argue that the World Wide Web offers unprecedented potential for governments to improve effi ciency and effectiveness, and ultimately strengthen democracy and public trust (see Accenture 2004; Caldow 2004; Fountain 2001).1 This potential seems particularly important at local levels at which the most basic public services are provided and citizens are most connected to government. With few exceptions (see Kaylor, Deshazo, and Van Eck 2001; Scott, forthcoming; The E-Government Institute 2003; West 2002; Musso, Weare, and Hale 2001), research rarely examines the content of local government Web sites.2 In fact, no offi cial standards or guidelines of service quality are available to guide the development of U.S. municipal government Web sites.3 More research is needed to assess the effects of local government Web sites on citizen involvement, democratic practice, and public trust. Research is also needed on how the dynamic, competitive Web culture affects citizen (and other user) demands for e-service quality, e-security, privacy, and accountability. As Web content and use continues to increase, municipal governments must regularly monitor and enhance the quality of their sites to attract and satisfy users. This article proposes a set of quantifi able quality indicators for use in assessing this process and reports how 100 municipal government Web sites measure against the indicators. The study draws on a review of quality standards applied in commercial or other high-traffi c Web sites and on data collected from a recent content analysis of municipal government Web sites (Scott, forthcoming). First, the research problem is presented in light of recent trends. Second, fi ve quality standards for local government Web sites are proposed based on previous research and emerging best practices. The research design, which applies these standards to 100 U.S. municipal governPRACTITIONER’S CORNER