Satisfaction with government websites inches up to a record high

Customer satisfaction with federal websites hit a new high in the second quarter of 2012, but remains slightly below the average for all online and offline businesses measured by the consultancy ForeSee, the company reported Tuesday.
 
The margins in both cases are so small as to be nearly nonexistent.
 
Average satisfaction with federal websites on the American Customer Satisfaction Index rose from its previous high of 75.5 of 100 in the second quarter of 2011 to 75.6 this quarter. The national ACSI score, which includes online and in-person satisfaction scores for ForeSee’s government and industry customers, is 75.9.
 
The average score has slowly risen from about 70 to about 75 since ForeSee began measuring agencies’ online satisfaction ratings in 2003, according to the company’s report. The average satisfaction score for government’s offline customer service is about 67.
 
ACSI scores are based on voluntary surveys offered to site visitors. The company collected about 300,000 surveys from people who visited federal websites during the second quarter of 2012.
 
The three highest scoring federal websites are specialized sites managed by the Social Security Administration, which all scored between 90 and 92. They are iClaim, a website for obtaining benefits; a retirement age estimator; and a site dedicated to Medicare prescription drug plan costs.