Leahy’s Website Again Tops Congressional Awards
. . . Ease And
Usability Are Keys To Leahy Site’s Three-Peat
WASHINGTON (Monday, Feb. 26) -- Sen. Patrick Leahy’s award-winning
website (leahy.senate.gov) comes up a winner again in a new
independent analysis of all official websites on Capitol Hill,
released Monday by the non-profit, nonpartisan Congressional
Management Foundation (CMF).
Funded by a grant from the National
Science Foundation, the study -- The 2006 Gold Mouse Report:
Recognizing the Best Web Sites on Capitol Hill -- evaluated 615
congressional websites, including those of all Senate and House
members and delegates, committees (both majority and minority sites)
and official leadership sites. Research partners in the project
were the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University,
the University of California-Riverside, and The Ohio State
University.
Leahy is a three-time “Gold Mouse”
winner and the only member of the Senate or House to earn a Gold
Mouse Award every time they have been given. According to the
report, of the 85 Mouse Awards given this time, there were 18 Gold
(A plus), 27 Silver (A) and 40 Bronze (A minus). CMF has been
studying congressional websites since 1998 and produced two previous
reports in 2002 and 2003.
“Al Gore took home an Oscar, but I’ll
settle for a Gold Mouse,” said Leahy. “I want our website to
incorporate the work of our office as fully and as seamlessly as we
can. The Internet increasingly is the primary way that Vermonters
and Americans everywhere interact with friends, businesses and
government. Keeping the content fresh, abundant and easy to use is
the key to a website that works. It’s a never ending process, but
by now it’s second nature to us.”
Leahy was the second senator to start
a website, in 1995, and also the first senator to start a blog. He
was co-founder and remains Senate co-chair of the Congressional
Internet Caucus. A lifelong technophile, Leahy on occasion has been
dubbed “the cyber senator” for his enthusiasm for and leadership on
Internet issues. A leading advocate of the public’s right to know,
Leahy also has championed key legislation to strengthen the Freedom
of Information Act. He also posts on his website significant
correspondence with Administration officials, timely reports from
the Congressional Research Service, and a variety of other important
public documents.
Leahy’s website blog, “More From The
Floor,” chronicles debate and action on the Senate Floor. He also
blogged during the confirmation hearings of Chief Justice John
Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito in his hearings blog,
“Heard At The Hearings.” Leahy’s website now also features audio
and video, and he has become one of the first senators to post a
podcast through the widely used iTunes music store.
In its report, CMF notes Leahy’s
understanding of his “audience.” “Senator Leahy’s site is a
resource for the residents of Vermont, with features and content
crafted to meet their needs,” the report concludes.
"One of the key purposes of the awards
is to highlight best practices so offices can improve their sites by
learning from those doing a good job," says Beverly Bell, CMF’s
executive director.
According to CMF, websites were
evaluated based on how well they incorporate five basic building
blocks that extensive research has identified as critical for
effectiveness: audience, content, usability, interactivity, and
innovation. CMF officials say that using these building blocks, an
evaluation framework was developed that would be fair and objective,
while still taking into account important qualitative factors that
affect a visitor's experience on a website. The qualitative factors
included: the quality and tone of the information presented; the
usability and navigability of the site; its look and feel; and the
degree to which the information meets visitor's needs.
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