Whakatāne District Council has won the ALGIM Supreme Website Award, sponsored by ReadSpeaker, for the third year running at ALGIM’s 2017 Spring Web & Digital and Customer Experience Conference.
The winning website is based on a web audit carried out by ALGIM each year to encourage development of the digital customer experience in local government. The audit looks at what self-service functions the website provides, accessibility features, how it complies with best practice for websites, and how quickly councils respond to enquiries through email and social media channels.
ALGIM CEO Mike Manson said, "Coming out on top of 78 councils is a tough ask, given the amount of work going into enhancing online services in local government. To do it three years in a row is an admirable result, and one that Whakatāne District Council should certainly be proud of."
"ALGIM exists to encourage development of digital and ICT services in local government, and this web audit is just another way we do this. Keeping your website up-to-date and providing the online services your community wants is a constant job, and New Zealand's local authorities do a great job in meeting the challenge."
"It's also important that councils are able to meet the accessibility needs of a diverse population, and this forms a big part of this audit. Every member of the community needs to be able to access these services and we want to help councils ensure this happens."
The runner up in this category was Palmerston North City Council who have performed well in recent years, moving up one place from third in 2016.
The web audit also provided some interesting insights into the online services provided by councils. Rates can now be paid online at 80% of councils, dog rego renewals at 61%, and building consents at 44%.
The majority of councils now also see 25-50% of their traffic coming from mobile devices – meaning that mobile responsiveness is a crucial feature.
ALGIM serves the entirety of the New Zealand Local Government ICT sector, with all 78 Councils as members. The ALGIM Spring Conference Awards highlight the best and innovative digital and customer experience projects within our country’s local government sector.