In today’s digital-first world, a local government’s website is often the first and sometimes only interaction a resident has with their city or county. Whether it’s paying a parking ticket, finding out when recycling is picked up, or applying for a business license, residents expect websites to be functional, clear, and easy to use.
Yet, government web design isn’t like designing for a business or a nonprofit. It comes with unique challenges, mandates, and responsibilities. Done right, it improves transparency and builds trust. Done poorly, it frustrates users and leaves people feeling disconnected from their local government.
This article outlines the realities of web design for local governments, highlighting the pros, the cons, and the considerations that matter.
The Pros: Why Good Web Design Matters for Local Governments
1. Improved Public Access to Services
When designed well, a local government website becomes a 24/7 public service portal. Residents can pay bills, file complaints, submit forms, and get information without stepping into an office or making a phone call.
Example: Online permitting systems or zoning information portals can save hours for residents and staff alike.
2. Increased Transparency
A well-structured website makes it easy to find budgets, council meeting minutes, and contact information. This kind of open access helps foster public trust and reduces information bottlenecks.
Transparency doesn’t mean dumping PDFs onto a webpage. It means making data digestible and easy to find.
3. Cost Efficiency Over Time
While upfront costs can be significant, digital self-service tools can reduce pressure on phone lines, in-person visits, and clerical work. Over time, this can mean significant savings for cities and counties.
4. Accessibility & Equity
Modern government web design, when done with care, follows accessibility standards (like WCAG 2.1), ensuring people with disabilities can interact with services independently. For underserved or marginalized communities, an inclusive website can be a bridge to resources.
The Cons: Where Things Often Go Wrong
1. Budget and Procurement Constraints
Many local governments are tied to rigid procurement processes that favor the lowest bid, not necessarily the best design partner. This can lead to outdated designs or bloated, one-size-fits-all platforms that aren’t customized to community needs.
Translation: You often get what you pay for, and in local government, budgets are tight.
2. Overreliance on Templates or Vendors
While CMS platforms like Granicus, CivicPlus, or Municode can offer compliance and security, they can also result in websites that look nearly identical across municipalities. Customization is possible but it costs more and requires in-house capacity. These same vendors will tell you about how they have the best customer service team, but forget to mention that they don’t respond to request half the time.
3. Maintenance and Content Rot
Websites are living tools, they are not one-time project things. Many departments upload PDFs or create pages without a centralized strategy. Over time, this leads to clutter, broken links, outdated content, and a confusing user experience.
Without governance for your website, your web design doesn’t matter.
4. Accessibility Gaps
Even with good intentions, many local sites still fall short on accessibility. Inconsistent heading structures, missing alt text, or poor color contrast can make websites unusable for people who rely on screen readers or keyboard navigation.
YOU CAN BE SUED FOR NOT HAVING A WEBSITE THAT IS ACCESSIBLE.
5. Slow Decision-Making
From our point of view, one of the most frustrating parts of working on local government web design isn’t the technology, it’s the process. Internal bureaucracy can turn even the smallest web update into a multi-month ordeal.
Let’s say we need to update a basic form, maybe the building permit PDF has a wrong date or the formatting is confusing. Simple fix, right? But that form might belong to the Planning Department, which needs to run the change by Legal, which then loops in the City Clerk, and before you know it, it’s in a queue for the next council meeting. Meanwhile, residents are still downloading the outdated version and calling the front desk for clarification.
From a user experience perspective, this delay looks like a broken system. And in a way, it is but it’s not because people aren’t doing their jobs. It’s because the system is built for caution, not speed.
From their point of view, the departments, the leadership, the legal team, that caution makes sense.
They’re trying to minimize risk. A form that gets updated without oversight could accidentally violate a policy, or expose the city to liability. Most staff are juggling multiple roles, and web content isn’t always their top priority. Their decisions are shaped by years of internal protocols, legal compliance, and a valid fear of public missteps.
But the disconnect is this: Residents don’t see the internal complexity. They just want things to work. They assume the website is the source of truth and when it’s out of date or inconsistent, their trust erodes. Worse, they call, email, or walk in, which adds even more strain to the system we were trying to streamline in the first place.
The reality is, both sides are doing their best within the constraints they’ve been given. But to move forward, there needs to be:
- Clear content ownership: Who’s responsible for what? And do they have the authority to make updates quickly?
- Workflow tools or CMS permissions that let departments safely manage their own content with versioning or approval flows, instead of bottlenecking everything through a central gatekeeper.
- A shift in mindset from “protect the organization” to “serve the resident” without sacrificing accuracy or oversight.
- Trust. Between departments. Between staff and leadership. Between IT and communications. Because without trust, everything slows down.
What Should Local Governments Prioritize?
Start With the User
Conduct real usability testing. Talk to residents. Watch how people actually use your site, not how you think they use it.
Simplify Navigation
Government information is already complex. Your website shouldn’t be. Use plain language. Avoid government jargon. Group content by tasks, not departments.
Design for Mobile First
A significant portion of residents, especially in lower-income communities access government services exclusively via smartphones. Your site should work beautifully on mobile from the start.
Build Content Governance
Decide who owns which parts of the site, and put in place regular review cycles for outdated content.
Accessibility Is Non-Negotiable
Follow legal standards (Section 508, WCAG), and go beyond compliance, accessibility improves usability for everyone.
- Welcome all ideas: No idea is too wild or impractical during the brainstorming phase. Encourage free thinking.
- Build on each other’s ideas: Collaborative brainstorming often leads to breakthroughs when ideas are combined or expanded.
- Avoid criticism: Judgment can stifle creativity. Save evaluation for later stages.
Final Thoughts
There’s no perfect government website, but the bar is rising. Residents expect the same ease and clarity from their local government as they do from the best commercial apps and websites. And while the challenges are real from budget limitations to internal red tape, there are also growing opportunities.
Whether your city has 500 residents or 5 million, investing in thoughtful, accessible, and user-centered web design isn’t just a technical upgrade. It’s a service commitment.
After all, a government website isn’t just a place to post information.
