Government communications are not all the same, and Sitemorse have the evidence to prove it with their latest survey covering the major UK central government websites.

Leading the way is the Health and Safety Executive site which scored a vigorous 8.97 out of a possible ten marks for function, accessibility, code quality and performance.

The sprightly HSE website has stayed at the top  but other major government departments did not fare so well.

Skidding off the road and falling 272 places since the last Sitemorse survey with an overall score of just 1.09 is the Department for Transport (DfT). The DfT came bottom of the list this time.

Top websites in the survey also included HM Revenue and Customs, the UK Atomic Energy Authority, and NI Direct, the official government site for Northern Ireland citizens which aims to make it easier to access government information and services.

But well-known names at the bottom of our table also included the Scottish National Party and the Driving Standards Agency (part of the aforementioned DfT). Its mission may be Safe Driving for Life, but the DSA’s web standards seem to be falling, and from a position around half-way down the table it has fallen almost to the bottom.

A pet hate for web users is a slow-loading site, so no cigar for the UK Legislation, Department for Regional Development and the National Assembly of Wales websites, obviously a law unto themselves and the worst performers this time.

And while on the subject of the law, since it’s against the disability discrimination act to have a website which isn’t accessible, you might be surprised to find that no less than 20 of the government sector sites tested failed basic accessibility checks on every page. Worst offenders here included the UK Border Agency, Royal Mail regulator the Postal Services Commission, and Get Safe Online, which advises users how to protect themselves from identity theft. More about this and other Sitemorse surveys on their website.