Nine-tenths of federal agency websites fall short of meeting standards on security and measures of usability, according to a study by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.
The study examined 297 of the most-used government sites and found that 92 percent of them failed in at least one category. For example, 33 percent failed a standard for encrypted communications, 22 percent failed a speed test for desktops and 64 percent failed that test for mobile devices, 42 percent failed an accessibility test for users with disabilities, and 41 percent were deemed not mobile-friendly.
“Despite years of progress in digital government, a striking number of federal websites do not even meet many of the U.S. government’s own requirements, let alone private-sector best practices. Considering that many constituents rely on federal websites to interact with government, it is incumbent upon the new administration, supported by Congress, to make websites more convenient, accessible, and secure,” said a statement.
It rated the five highest-performing sites as healthdata.gov, healthfinder.gov, consumerfinance.gov, whitehouse.gov and usembassy.gov. The lowest-ranked were ipcc-wg2.gov, trade.gov, osti.gov, fmc.gov and usphs.gov.