2011-2012 Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury Report County Updates the Look and Feel of Its Website Without Attention

Conclusions 3

• CL1 Page 4
  The County lacks a policy that governs website management, structure and content.
• CL2 Page 5
  The County website contains broken links and dead-ends, making it difficult to navigate.
• CL3 Page 4
  The County has invested time and money in developing and implementing its updated website and new content management tools. However, little attention has been paid to ensure the website content is current and adequately informs the public. While the new tools ease the task of updating content, there is no one responsible for ensuring department content is updated. The look and feel of the new website is generally improved; however, the website content is not improved. The Grand Jury remains concerned that the Office of the County Executive has not designated anyone with the overall responsibility for governance of the website. Based on what is presented through the website, departments are inconsistent in their content. Interviews indicated that not all County departments have assigned persons trained and responsible to update their segments of the portal with current, accessible and useful content. The Grand Jury found both the old and new websites lacked easy-to-access and useful information. A clear chain of responsibility for the content on the site did not seem to exist. The search engine typically returned hard to use and outdated content results. As the County’s primary means to deliver information to residents and businesses, the website quality and maintenance should be a priority for County management. Findings and Recommendations Finding 1 The County lacks a policy that governs website management, structure and content. Recommendation 1A The County should develop and implement a comprehensive website management policy. Recommendation 1B The County should assign an individual within the Office of the County Executive with countywide website management responsibility. Recommendation 1C The County policy should require departments to identify an individual responsible for department content and updates. 4 Finding 2 The County website contains broken links and dead-ends, making it difficult to navigate. Recommendation 2 The County should implement a website quality control function to ensure ease of access and functionality. 5 This report was PASSED and ADOPTED with a concurrence of at least 12 grand jurors on this 29th day of May, 2012. Kathryn G. Janoff Foreperson Alfred P. Bicho Foreperson pro tem James T. Messano Secretary 6

No Responses Found 2

Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.