Web winners!

Many legislatures have good web sites to help people connect with lawmakers and vice versa, but only Washington state can boast that we have the best state legislative web site in the nation.

The National Conference of State Legislatures has just announced that Washington is the 2010 winner of the coveted Online Democracy Award, which is presented annually to the legislature, legislative chamber or caucus whose website stands above all others “for making democracy user-friendly."

We don’t want to be accused of bragging about this latest coup, so we’ll let the national experts do it for us. Here is what the NCSL says about why Washington has the best state legislative web site of them all:

“The Washington Legislature’s website won for providing extensive information that is simple to find and understand, for its easy and accurate search function, downloadable web services, and for student pages geared to different grade levels.

Some of the other notable winning features of the website include:

• Detailed explanations on web pages about available functions and features.
• Voluminous reports and data.
• Print and Spanish versions of web pages.
• Site accessibility and prominent information related to the Americans with Disabilities Act.”

Deputy Chief Clerk Bernard Dean spoke for the entire House when he responded to Washington’s triumph by saying: “Earlier, we received accolades from Congress.org for having one of the best legislative websites in the country, but this award is even more gratifying since it comes from our peers in other states.”