South Tyneside Council’s website has retained its position as one of the country’s top user-friendly local authority sites.
The website www.southtyneside.info has once again attained the highest possible four star ranking in a prestigious annual survey of the UK’s 424 local authority websites.
It’s the second year running that South Tyneside has been rated so highly in the survey conducted by the Society of IT Managers (SOCITM). Only three Councils have achieved this. Their report “Better Connected 2010” is the definitive assessment by which Council’s can judge website performance and is the authorities source of benchmarking progress in website development.
South Tyneside Council is one of only 11 local authorities to have received the top rating this year. It has also been ranked in the top 20 most developed sites and is rated within the top three for customer satisfaction by website users who completed an online survey.
Councillor Ed Malcolm, Lead Member for Resources is delighted that the website is earning such high profile recognition.
He said: “This is a fantastic news for the Council, the Web Team and the people who live, work and visit South Tyneside. Local people can access more services than ever through the Council’s website, from paying a bill to reporting fly tipping, and they can do so in the knowledge that they are using one of the best online facilities in the country.
“I’m delighted the work of the Web Team and their IT colleagues in BT South Tyneside has been recognised in this way. It’s a well-deserved accolade. I’d like to congratulate everyone involved in this success.”
In SOCITM’s report, one reviewer described South Tyneside’s website as “the most usable” Council site, which is clear in its design with “some great simple but effective content”, a “whole plethora of e-services and a wonderful ‘My South Tyneside’ of location related information”. Praise was also given for the way the website is driven by customer services and it was commended as being “an excellent, awe-inspiring one for other Council’s to gain inspiration from”.
Councillor Malcolm added: “The website is excellent and a lot of hard work has gone into making it extremely user-friendly. It’s full of useful easy-to-complete forms and information about the whole range of services the Council provides. I’m really happy see the website getting the credit it deserves and that it is being recognised as a beacon of good practice.”
The recognition comes weeks after the Council won an e-Government National Award 2009 for excellence in increasing usage of the website.
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