Call for overhaul of UK Parliament site
1 June 2005
The official website of the UK Parliament needs a drastic overhaul if it is to communicate effectively with the public, a new report claims.
The Hansard Society said better search facilities and more interactivity were needed for the site to become an effective portal for democracy.
The report, 'Members Only? Parliament in the Public Eye', describes the organisation, procedures and general ethos of Parliament as "seriously out of date" and criticises its failure to fully utilise modern communication methods such as the internet.
Hansard is a non-profit organisation set up to defend parliamentary democracy. The Hansard Society Commission makes 39 recommendations to improve communication with the public and states: "It (the Parliament website) remains, in essence, an online archival resource, impenetrable to most people, difficult to navigate, with almost no opportunity for interaction and a wholly inadequate search engine."
Describing the site as "dry and unengaging, the report calls for better search facilities, improved links to other sites, a dedicated webmaster, and more focus on using the site to get in touch with MPs. The report suggests virtual tours of the parliamentary buildings and discussion forums as ways of helping people connect with Parliament.
Gemma Rosenblatt, the clerk to the Commission, commented: "The website is an opportunity for people to find out directly what is going on in Parliament and is a great way to engage a far wider audience than it currently does."
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