Five Scottish council websites achieve top ranking in SOCITM Better Connected survey

SOCITM Better Connected website - Image credit: SOCITM

Five Scottish local authorities have achieved the top ranking in an annual test of council websites.

Argyll and Bute, East Renfrewshire, Falkirk, Midlothian and South Ayrshire all achieved an overall four star or ‘very good’ score and a pass for accessibility in this year’s SOCITM Better Connected survey.

Only 39 local authorities across the UK achieved four star status out of a total of 418 councils.

Argyll and Bute Council’s policy lead for corporate services, Councillor Rory Colville, said: “This is a great achievement for the council’s web team and one which they should be very, very proud of.

“The website not only contains lots of useful information for our residents, businesses and visitors, it also offers a wide range of online services that make contacting the council quick and convenient.

“We had over 3.6 million page views last year – the figure speaks for itself.”

Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Angus, Clackmannanshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Perth and Kinross, South Lanarkshire, Stirling, West Dunbartonshire and West Lothian were all rated ‘good’, with three stars overall.

However, of the three-starred councils only Angus, Dumfries and Galloway and West Dunbartonshire passed the disabilities accessibility test.

The lowest ranked councils in Scotland were Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, Inverclyde, Orkney, Renfrewshire and the Scottish Borders. They were all ranked ‘poor’, with one star.

The remaining Scottish local authorities – East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Lothian, Fife, Highland, Moray and Shetland – were classed as ‘unsatisfactory’ or two star.

SOCITM, the society for public sector IT, has been assessing local authorities’ online performance since 1999.

Each year its testers rate council websites based around ease of carrying out common searches or tasks.

This year the survey checked Scottish councils’ websites to see how easy it was to find information about roadworks, childcare, e-resources in libraries and rubbish and recycling collections.

In addition, councils that subscribe to SOCITM are tested by the Digital Accessibility Centre to make sure they are optimised for people with disabilities.

A pass in the accessibility test is required to achieve an overall four-star rating.