Tuesday 2 September 2008

Best Government Websites

And speaking of government websites, the online publication Government Computer News recently had an article about the "Top 10 Government Websites".
Here's their list:
Medline Plus:the National Library of Medicine’s site offers an astounding array of medical information on a user-friendly site - and gets over 40 million visitors a month!
CDC.gov: the Centers for Disease Control website focuses on visitor needs. It has a help page, complete with audio assistance, for navigating the site’s many resources, such as health information on everything from workplace conditions to the aging process. Users can adjust the text size or choose to read the pages in one of 10 languages.
DC CapStat: the city of Washington D.C. is undertaking a cross-agency accountability program, called CapStat, to tackle broad multiagency goals such as lowering crime and cleaning up the streets, with an award-nominated website for the public to follow.
SSA's Medicare Prescription Help: Through a series of questions, the site can determine if a senior citizen is eligible for discounts on medications and, if so, provides an online application the person can submit to SSA.
USA.gov: USA.gov is a pre-eminent search service for the federal government. It combines the best of a good spider engine — one that catches all the nooks and crannies of government Web sites — with Yahoo-style, human-built directories that help people find what they need. There’s even a complete version of the site in Spanish.
Massachusetts website: MA makes all state agencies easily accessible on the website, and services such as the ability to search state laws or the state budget also are offered on the home page by name rather than the state agency. It tries to foster a sense of community among state residents, offering pages that address the issues of the day.
Business.gov from the Small Business Agency: Just enter your ZIP code and the type of business you’d want to start, and it returns a page with pointers to the appropriate tax permits, entity filings, insurance requirements and even requirements for hiring workers.
US Geologic Survey: Water Science for Schools: this educational site on water offers almost everything anyone would ever want to know about water. And much of the material available on the site is presented in as many as 60 languages.
Cancer.gov from the National Cancer Institute includes descriptions of what cancer is, how to prevent it, how to treat it, and how to screen for it — all of it in simple, easy-to-understand language.
The Merit Systems Protection Board’s E-Appeal: site for government employees.

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