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From
the:
Dated Wednesday, February
26, 2003
Web
gurus: Benson Site Gets
a C – Experts Offer
a Few Tips to Improve
the Grade
By
JENNIFER SKALKA
Monitor staff
---------------------------
Gov. Craig Benson campaigned
as a tech savvy businessman
who would make government
more customer service
oriented and efficient.
His campaign even circulated
a plan for constructing
an e-government and "moving
New Hampshire from bricks
to clicks."
"(New Hampshire)
has one of the highest
concentrations of high-tech
businesses in the nation,
yet (the state) is ranked
48th, tied with Alabama,
in providing government
services online,"
Benson is quoted as saying
in that plan. "It
is time to bring state
government into the 21st
Century. Why should .
. . residents stand in
line for things which
can be done online?"
But six weeks into Benson's
term, the cyber doorway
to his administration
- the governor's Web site
- remains simple to navigate
but simply lacks key information,
according to four New
Hampshire Web designers
interviewed by the Monitor.
"There's nothing
really there to make it
advantageous for someone
to want to go there if
you're not a Benson supporter,"
said Brett Turlo, director
of client services for
Impact Pixel, a Concord
Web design and marketing
firm.
Kelly Ayotte, a spokeswoman
for the governor, couldn't
say yesterday who designed
Benson's site or who maintains
it. But she did say the
administration recently
hired techie Bob Anderson
to redo the site. Anderson
will be Benson's head
of technology implementation.
"He is going to
be re-examining the Web
site and redoing it to
make it more user friendly,"
Ayotte said.
Well, Anderson better
get cracking, according
to those four Web experts
who perused the site and
gave it mediocre marks
overall: three C's and
one C+.
Turlo said his mixed
review is mainly due to
the site's lack of content
and because it isn't graphically
appealing. He also said
the site is slow. And
he didn't like that the
link to the state's site
takes the user off the
governor's page.
Turlo also thought it
was odd that the press
release section is so
spare. Yesterday, a click
on the press release link
off the home page sent
the user to a press release
from Jan. 21 announcing
that Health and Human
Services nominee (and
now director) Nick Vailas
receives bipartisan praise.
Turlo wondered why the
site lacks a press release
archive.
"It's nothing to
put up past press releases
and put up links to those
press releases,"
he said.
Turlo also said someone
new to New Hampshire might
want more information
about the governor's staff,
who are listed, without
contact information, on
a link from the home page.
"Who's George Bald?"
Turlo asked of the Department
of Resources and Economic
Development commissioner.
"I've never heard
of him."
On the up side, Turlo
said Benson's site is
easy to navigate. "You're
able to find the information
that you want," he
said, adding, "if
it's there."
Mei Chau, a partner with
the Bedford graphics and
Web design firm Scribble
Graphics, focused her
criticism on aesthetics.
She said the homepage's
banner, which is stripped
across the top of the
site, includes old photographs.
Chau said one picture
of the Old Man of the
Mountain has a greenish
tint. And the shot of
the gold State House dome
flush against a blue sky
is grainy, almost dusty
looking.
"It doesn't look
contemporary," she
said. "It makes the
site look old."
In assessing Benson's
site, Chau took a look
at a few other governors'
pages. She said many included
pictures of the governor's
family, and sometimes
the state's first spouse
had his or her own page,
complete with biographical
information and personal
priorities.
Benson's has neither.
His daughters' names aren't
even mentioned on his
bio page.
Like Turlo, Chau said
the site should have a
press release archive.
Though the site offers
a suggestion box, of sorts,
and an opportunity to
send a general e-mail
to the governor's office,
Chau said a direct e-mail
to the governor should
be provided as well.
Chau concluded that Benson's
site is informational
but not service oriented.
"The site overall,
nothing really stands
out to me," she said.
"Compared to other
governors, he's average.
It's not like there's
anything great about it."
Tom Obrey, chief operating
officer of Portsmouth's
PixelMEDIA Inc., also
said the governor's site
is clean. In terms of
content, Obrey pointed
out that the site pushes
Benson's agenda. The homepage
provides links to the
governor's budget, budget
address and slide presentation.
It also lists the governor's
most recent initiatives,
including garage grants,
No Community Left Behind
and e-Ticket to Leaning,
a matching grant program
for e-learning and distance
learning programs. (Only
three of the initiatives
listed are linked to a
program description.)
"This is a Web site
about Craig and his governorship
and what his visions are,"
Obrey said.
Obrey, who in the interest
of full disclosure said
his company is under contract
with the state, said he'd
like the site to include
weekly updates, a kind
of brief State of the
State. And, Obrey said,
"I'd love to see
a chronological update
of happenings since he
went into office."
Bill Shaw, managing partner
of Sitesurfer Publishing,
LLC in Concord, was the
only reviewer to give
Benson's site a C+. He
said the site is clean,
but he wants to see more
content, such as snippets
of the governor's schedule
and transcripts or video
of some of his speeches.
Neither are included now.
Like Chau, Shaw said
the governor should have
an e-mail address available
for his constituents.
"I found it odd
that there was no e-mail
address directly to the
governor," he said.
"I don't expect the
governor to answer every
e-mail but as a consumer,
it makes you feel good."
Shaw said the site is
a good first step, but
it's still a shell of
what it should be.
"I voted for the
governor," Shaw said.
"I'm expecting more."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Jennifer Skalka can be
reached at 224-5301, ext.
325, or by e-mail at jskalka@cmonitor.com.)Wednesday,
Feb 26, 2003
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