FCC site ranks No. 1 in government sites

In the third annual e-government study of state and federal government Web sites, researchers at Brown University have determined that the Federal Communication Commission's Web site at www.fcc.gov is the top federal agency Web site.

According to an announcement from the FCC, The Taubman Center for Public Policy at Brown University and a team of researchers examined 1,265 state and federal Web sites and evaluated the variety and quality of the electronic services offered. The sites were ranked on a 100-point scale based on information and service availability, quality of citizen access, and material that would help citizens.

The FCC Web site received the highest score, 92 points, up 16 points from the previous year when it was ranked third in federal agency Web sites.

In describing best practices of top federal Web sites, the study said, "The Federal Communications Commission earned first place in our survey of federal Web sites for its support of online services and features such as antenna structure registration, searchable databases, a comprehensive privacy and security policy, language translation availability, publication access, and live audio/video events. All in all, the FCC's Web site possessed an impressive 92 percent of critical features surveyed for. The layout of the Web site . . . was logical and presented the information in a clear, concise format."

FCC Chairman Michael Powell said, "I am proud of the dedicated employees of the FCC whose strong commitment to public service and public information, and whose hard work in Web design and maintenance, has earned us this accolade as the best federal agency Web site.

"I congratulate each and every FCC bureau and office for their ongoing contributions to our user-friendly Web site and pledge that we will continue to maintain a program of Web site excellence in the months and years ahead."