Local authority websites in the UK are struggling keep pace with rapid rise in mobile access to their services, with one in three accessing websites via smartphones, a new report revealed.
According to Socitm’s Better Connected survey, only 31% of council websites have reached the ‘Better Connected’ standard for mobile access.
The report added that the number of sites with four star rating declined from 39 last year to 31 this year, while the number of three-star sites also plunged to 157 from 165.
The report said: "Results from the latest Better Connected survey of council website performance suggest that the websites are struggling to adapt fast enough to the rapid growth in the use of mobiles to access online services."
"One third of last year’s four-star sites did not achieve our mobile standard this year," the report added.
Overall, the survey noted that the results offered from mobile phones were half on a par with those executed from desktops.
Socitm Insight programme manager Martin Greenwood told the Local Government Chronicle that the technological developments happen so rapidly that it can be tricky for local authorities to assure their websites are apt for the latest mobile devices.
"This survey reinforces the importance of ensuring council websites are suitable for mobile devices," Greenwood added.
"It may be that it [the money needed to upgrade a website] is an issue for some councils, but they should not just upgrade the site every five years and move on to something else – the way to do it is to continually tweak the site."
