Report says federal Web sites need improvement

While federal agencies and state governments have improved their online presence in the past year, they still can do more, according to a study released Monday. "The major things that distinguish[ed] top sites from poorly performing sites were online information, online services and attention to privacy and security," said Darrell West, director of the Taubman Center for Public Policy at Brown University, who authored "State and Federal E-Government In The United States, 2001." The Food and Drug Administration, the Agriculture Department and the FCC snagged the top three rankings for federal Web sites. The courts fared the worst in the e-goverment rankings, the report found. The federal judiciary contains relatively little online information compared to other government sites. The report ranked Indiana, Michigan, Texas, Tennessee and Washington in the top five slots according to the content of their Web sites, while Oklahoma, New Mexico, Alabama, New Hampshire and Wyoming rounded out the list.