Analysis of Municipal and Federal Websites: Austin, Texas, and the Department of Health and Human Services

Municipal and government websites are critical portals for information and communication between the public and their representatives. As such, it is important for these big websites to maintain high-quality standards in key areas of privacy and/or security, usability, content, services offered, and social engagement. By looking at two websites—one for the city of Austin, Texas and one for the Department of Health and Human Services—it becomes possible to understand which key areas are used well by local and federal government and which need improvement.

Privacy and Security Policies

According to the privacy policy of the official website of Austin, Texas, all visits to the site are logged and tracked. However, the site claims that the information collected is generalized and non-identifying and includes only usage statistics such as time and day the site was visited, the browser used, the user’s operating system, and the user’s navigation through the site. The website also claims that all information is subject to the Texas Public Information Act, though it does not make clear how or in what capacity that would be applicable (The Official Website of the City of Austin Texas, 2013). The website allows for the payment of municipal utilities and court fines online. Again, according to the security policy, all transactions use 128-bit encryption. 

The Department of Health and Human Service’s website also collects usage and statistical data from visitors and also claims not to capture personally-identifying information. The privacy policy offers in-depth information about how data is collected, and even includes some tips for user behavior and security, such as “Visiting an Official Page on Third-Party Websites” and “Interaction with Children Online” (United States Department of Health and Human Services, 2013). The privacy policy ends with a disclaimer of how personal information might be determined, stating, “We use software programs to monitor traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information or otherwise cause damage. In the event of law enforcement investigations and as part of any required legal process, information from these sources may be used to help identify an individual” (United States Department of Health and Human Services, 2013).

Usability

The website for Austin is highly useful because it incorporates an open design with large icons and buttons and the pages within the site are uniformly designed, helping visitors find patterns and information easily. The site is organized around different areas/pages: resident, business, development, government, and environment. Some of the top menus are rollover buttons that show a sub-menu of options. This helps users understand the page and gives them access to a deeper subset of options without being intrusive or cluttered. Overall, the usability is high because of the clean and open look and consistent organization. However, the site is also written entirely in English, and the button for changing the language is labeled “translate” which is both English and not entirely clear about its function (The Official Website of the City of Austin Texas, 2013). The Austin site also includes bandwidth-intensive features, such as an embedded YouTube channel that might not be usable by people with slow or low data rate connections.

The HHS website is an open design that is spacious and divides content into sections. Links are easily identifiable, but when highlighted with the mouse, there is no rollover information. This leaves users to interpret what content each link might bring. The site is written entirely in English, with no visible language switching option. This is a major deficit in the usability of the site, as it restricts it to users who are literate in English. There is not a lot of content to slow downloading or navigating the page, making it accessible without requiring a fast Internet connection.

Content and Services Offered

The Austin website divides content among different section: residential, business, development, government, and environment. Each section includes content related to that section, such as links for permit applications under business and information about adopting pets under residential. Each section also features a calendar of events, news headlines, a YouTube channel, and links to social media. The YouTube channel is one of the page’s most interesting features, as the content developers have attempted to include video content relative to residents, business owners, and users interested in the city’s development and operations.  The most effective is the stored city council meetings, as this is content pertinent to that page of the site. The content on the business section is not very relevant and includes news clips of parties or human-interest business stories. Something more useful might be explanations for doing business in the city, such as a how-to video for applying for a building permit.

The HHS website has minimal content on its landing page and is mostly links to other departments or pages within the site. It features Tweets and links to current event topics, called “Priorities” such as the upcoming Health Insurance Marketplace and information about bullying (United States Department of Health and Human Services, 2013). The site does not invite a lot of clicking, and the landing page itself is not particularly helpful in helping visitors understand better what they are looking for when they come to the site.

Social Engagement

The site for Austin has a lot of social engagement features. Each section of the site features links and a calendar of events useful for residents. Because Austin is a city and not a huge federal agency, it seems easier for the site to focus on a more narrow audience, namely visitors, residents, and business owners. The site uses social media, including Facebook, Twitter, and others. The Resident section is the most socially engaged, as the entire section of the site is meant to help citizens of Austin connect and get information and services. In this way, the site is extremely successful as a resource for citizens, and while it might not build community in the same way a social media site can, it connects the community with the calendar of events and headlines that are current and directly relevant to people in the city.

The HHS site encourages some engagement, as one of the largest functions for the website seems to be education. Each link on the main page loads content that has some aspect of social engagement, whether giving tips to visitors about different health issues or encouraging visitors to a call to action or further education. However, the engagement is typically limited to information being delivered, with an only limited amount of feedback in the form of a button allowing visitors to answer “yes” or “no” to whether or not that particular piece of information was relevant (United States Department of Health and Human Services, 2013).

Overall, both sites have standard security policies; employ good design elements to keep the pages open, accessible, and easy to scan; as well as offer a lot of information and education to visitors. The Austin site seems more useful, though again this is probably because the audience is narrower and therefore the content can be more focused. Both are socially engaged by the nature of their content, though the HHS page seems less useful, intuitive, or informative because of the format of the content and the limited feedback or interface visitors are allowed. 

References

The Official Website of the City of Austin, Texas. (n.d.) Home. Retrieved from http://austintexas.gov/

United States Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.) Home. Retrieved from http://www.hhs.gov/