Invitation to Participate in the National Dialogue on Improving Government Websites

Calling all web visionaries, creative thinkers and interested parties !

Starting Monday, GSA will launch a two-week online conversation with web experts and the public called the National Dialogue for Improving Federal Websites. This is part of the .gov Reform Initiative that many govies have been supporting at their agencies.

The dialogue will launch Monday, Sept. 19 at 2 pm ET and run until Friday, Sept. 30. You’ll be able to access it at: http://www.usa.gov/webreform/dialogue.shtml

The purpose is to allow people to submit and vote on ideas for improving various aspects of improving federal websites, such as: content, search, usability, accessibility, social media, multilingual content, and online services. The .gov Task Force will review the ideas and consider them as they develop a National Web Strategy and make recommendations for streamlining federal websites, strengthening federal web policy, and improving citizens’ experience with federal websites.

We know there is a goldmine of good ideas from our community, so we hope–and expect– that you’ll actively participate in the discussion and share your expertise and knowledge. We want to hear what’s working well, what can be improved, innovative ways to rethink the federal web, and specific examples you have from your agency or elsewhere.

Although the focus is on federal websites, we’d love to get the perspective of all of you in state and local government too, since many of the challenges and opportunities are the same.

A number of prominent web experts will serve as discussion catalysts, to help spur the conversation, such as Jakob Nielsen, Steve Krug, Craig Newmark, Vanessa Fox, Danny Sullivan, and Annetta Cheek.