Applying evaluation criteria to New Zealand government websites

Criteria for the evaluation of Government web sites were adapted from Esche nfelder, Beachboard; McClure, and Wyman ((1997) Gov. Inform Quart. 14(2), 1 73) and applied to a sample of five websites of NZ government entities. Iss ues that arose in applying the criteria are examined, and lessons for desig ners of government websites explored. In particular, it is important that w ebsites provide orientation information, that conditions for re-use of info rmation be made clear, that privacy concerns be addressed, that print mater ials be properly adapted to the web environment, that materials be kept cur rent, that contact details be available, that metadata be used effectively, that external links be made appropriately, that pages be accessible to use rs with disabilities, and that help information on search engines and other facilities be made available to users. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.