Broadband Plan: Test Fed Sites

The national broadband plan released by the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday presents federal Web managers with a somewhat impossible mission.

The plan recommends that the Office of Management and Budget measure federal Web sites against private sector sites and hold federal sites that don't stack up accountable for improving each year.

"Because public sector Web sites lag the private sector in usability and design, the Federal Web Managers Council should benchmark the design and usability of government Web sites against leading industry best practices," the roadmap states.

At the same time, the plan observes that current privacy laws prevent federal sites from copying commercial strategies, such as using persistent cookies - files deposited on a user's computer to track online activity. Popular private sector sites regularly deploy cookies to learn user preferences and automatically personalize content for them.

The Privacy Act "provides no guidance on new technologies that have privacy implications, such as the use of persistent cookies on Web sites," the plan states. "Congress should consider re-examining the Privacy Act to facilitate the delivery of online government services and to account for changes in technology."