Whitehouse.Gov Completely Revamped: New President, New White House Website

Minutes after President Barack H. Obama was sworn in as America's 44th President, the White House web site at Whitehouse.gov underwent a complete overhaul. The new site features four prominent photo essays on the frontpage, in addition to a gorgeous aesthetic that makes the White House logo highly visible and central to the site's design, and yet quite small-perhaps indicative of the new administration's focus on the American public and its needs. Navigation tabs include "The Agenda", which outlines the President's views on civil rights, defense, disabilities, poverty, taxes, education, the economy, and many other key areas in which government can have an impact. Another tab is "About the White House" which provides general background information on the institution of the White House and a "Contact Us" button which directs visitors, perhaps surprisingly, to an online contact form.

Below that, the web site encourages visitors to "also call or write" President Obama, and the White House's official address at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW is listed.

Smaller links at the bottom of each page appear in gray font. These links include Obama's "Weekly Video Address", a reiteration of the administration's agenda pages, and also an email address that may be used to contact the administration.

As a tech savvy young voter who barely remembers life pre-Internet, these are all significant-and symbolic-steps forward. The new web site isn't merely a placeholder as the previous administration's was-this web site appears highly informative, meticulously designed, and intent upon fostering actual communication between citizens and government.

There is also a column at the bottom entitled The Administration. It lists, in this order, the administration's members: President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, First Lady Michelle Obama, Dr. Jill Biden, The Cabinet, White House Staff, and the Executive Office of the President.

This appears to be another wise attempt at showing the American public that government can be trusted again-no one is hiding behind an official title or office.

I was highly amused earlier today when I tried to imagine what a hypothetical "McCain Administration White House" web site would look like. Would it have mismatching fonts and Javascript error messages? Would graphics appear sharp and in focus, or would they be blurry, poorly compressed JPEG images? I suppose we will never know, but it is still amusing to think about.

It will be interesting to see if the Obama Administration's commitment to its online presence will continue over the next four years. It certainly seems like a novel way for government to communicate with citizens-it's about time!