Public satisfaction with federal websites appears to have stabilized in the past 18 months at about 75 on a scale of 100, according to the latest quarterly survey of public opinion on electronic government conducted using American Customer Satisfaction Index methodology by ForeSee Results of Ann Arbor, Mich.

The survey, which solicited feedback from more than 330,000 users of 110 federal websites during the first quarter of 2011, finds that the public currently has an overall satisfaction score of 75 with federal websites.

Within minor variances worth less than a single point, that has been the steady satisfaction score the public has assigned to federal websites since the third quarter of 2009.

If federal websites have hit a satisfaction plateau, however, it's a slightly higher one than in the 27 month period between the fourth quarter of 2005 and the third quarter of 2007, when satisfaction scores hovered between 73 and 74.

Private sector websites score better on average the federal websites, says ForeSee Results, but the firm notes that the best-scoring federal websites outperform the best-scoring private-sector websites, including those of Amazon, Netflix, and Google.

The top three federal websites with the greatest scores all come from the Social Security Administration. The agency's online application tool, its retirement estimator, and its site for help with Medicare prescription drug plan costs garnered satisfaction scores of 91, 90 and 89, respectively.

As a category, federal websites used for processing transactions gained the most satisfaction, with an overall score of 79. Federal news and information sites gained the lowest satisfaction score, with an average of 74.

For more:
- see a ForeSee press release on the latest quarterly results
- download a ForeSee quarterly report (reg. req.)

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