Boston website wins national award

Boston’s municipal website, which has undergone a major overhaul over the past few years, was awarded first place last month in a national contest sponsored by the Center for Digital Government.

“It was easy to find your way around it and make use of it,” said Todd Sander, deputy director of the Sacramento, Calif.-based organization. “[And] it was one of the cleanest designs we saw, with the best balance between texts and images.”

Other qualities that made the Boston website (www.cityofboston.gov) stand out, according to Sander, were the site’s online payment system; a service for providing automated translations of site content in more than 30 languages; and a version of the website that is compatible for access via mobile phones.

Among the many features that have been introduced in the four years since the city’s Innovation and Technology Department was created is an iPhone application enabling residents to swiftly report sites of potholes, graffiti and other nuisances; GIS mapping capabilities; and far greater access to city data, forms and records.

A “Neighborhood Data Viewer,” for example, can display wards and city council districts; areas where snow emergency parking restrictions are in place; and the locations of polling booths, fire stations, public libraries, community centers and other facilities.

Bill Oates, director of Boston’s Innovation and Technology Department, noted that many of the website enhancements are designed to improve customer service.

“We’re always looking for that next capability – that next functionality – that’s going to add something for our constituents,” he said.