Rating Congressional Web sites

The Congress Online Project today posted their report on second annual report on congressional Web sites. The report:

• Briefly describes the methodology and process we used to evaluate all 610 congressional Member office, standing committee, and leadership Web sites;
• Provides a detailed assessment of the overall performance of these sites;
• Identifies the 75 best Web sites on Capitol Hill — the Congress Online Gold, Silver, and Bronze Mouse Award winners — which can serve as models for offices wishing to improve their own sites;
• Identifies five fundamental building blocks for effective Web sites — and explains how offices can incorporate them into their own sites; and
• Describes the mistakes congressional offices are making with their online practices.

Lots of useful info here, though I wonder why the authors would talk to citizens to develop the methdology of the study, but not as part of the actual analysis itself.