How (and why) to test the general health of your government website

Posted on February 15, 2019


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There are a number of factors that go into ensuring your website meets general digital government standards and provides a great user experience for the communities you serve.

If you are unfamiliar with foundational standards, there are a few tools you can use to test whether your website meets these or needs upgrading.

Core areas

Core areas that are key indicators of how “healthy” a government website is when it comes to digital best practices include:

Test your website

Accessibility

Web accessibility is more complex than simply running a single test, as some errors and alerts are weighted more than others. However, there are several tools that will help you evaluate specific page issues to get a temperature reading of how accessible your website is. The most widely referenced public tool is WAVE (Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool), powered by WebAIM, and it gives you a breakdown of areas for improvement.

Mobility

As mobile visits to government websites increase, especially during disasters, a responsive, mobile-friendly site is essential. Mobile-Friendly Test, powered by Google, is a simple tool that will tell you if your website is mobile-friendly.

Security

Government website encryption is important for protecting user privacy as well as showing your community you truly care about its security. SSL Checker, powered by SSL Shopper, is a simple tool that will tell you if your website is effectively encrypted.

Questions?

Contact us if you have questions about the health of your government website.

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