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From: SocialGovernment
[Here is an interesting idea for those of us, who are most of us, that sometimes need to retrieve from or interact with the federal government.]
By Ethan Klapper on March 7th, 2009
We live in an era of bombardment. Competition for your attention on the Web is at an all-time high. Subsequently, your attention span on the Web is at an all-time low.
You need to look at what the government is doing about affordable housing, so you head over to HUD’s cluttered Web site. You’re presented with many links, small type and very few visuals to guide your search.
Unfortunately, this situation is all too common in government Web sites. While more and more Web sites are getting redesigned with the new administration, finding government information on the Web still feels like finding a needle in a haystack.
In recent years, the federal government has sought to fix this. Webcontent.gov has been a great resource for federal Webmasters, with a myriad of laws, regulations, guidelines and suggestions for making the ideal government Web site. Many of these are strict requirements, like Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, which governs accessibility requirements (and is now 11 years old). Others are suggestions by working groups like the Federal Web Managers Council, which in a 2008 white paper also addresses clutter.
But my answer to these problems, which have existed as long as the World Wide Web, is a simple one: Web 2.0 — and a very strong implementation of Web 2.o.
My ambitious suggestion is to create a government-wide social network. Every U.S. citizen would be granted a login, and every secure function currently done on every individual Web site would be done from this single hub. Think of it as OpenID for government, only better.
Citizens will be able to e-file taxes, submit the FAFSA, collect Social Security benefits, and yes, find affordable housing. Each agency would be represented as a module in this social network — and it would be designed with as little clutter as possible.
Social networking features would play key role with this hub. Each agency would have represenatatives online to answer questions. And of course, every citizen would be able to communicate with each other to receive advice, support and just to hello. Forms would be online, and everyone would be able to comment and give tips on filling out each form.
This project would be an unprecedented undertaking. It would cost a lot of money, and face regulatory hurdles from the start. But this all can be addressed.
Creating a centralized system like this is the best way for the government to serve its citizens. It would be designed for people with short attention spans and would be easy to use.
In my mind, this is the only permanent fix to the government’s Web woes. The possiblites are endless.
>All Things Reform Mobile: allthingsreform.mofuse.mobi >Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121 (not toll-free) >US House/Senate Mobile: bit.ly/members >Contact your reps tips: bit.ly/dear >Shortened All Things Reform URL: bit.ly/dw
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