Surfing At The White House
The White House has overhauled its web site. Web surfers clicking on to www.whitehouse.gov will find a noticeably less cluttered look to the presidential home page. Of course President Bush is still the star attraction. He is mentioned in almost every posting. He is seen in "photo essays" and extensive video selections. A search engine check of " President Bush" or " George W. Bush" brings tens of thousands of results.
David Almacy, Internet and E-Communications Director in the White House Office of Media Affairs, described the site as "a fluid, living document" that has evolved from a relatively simple blue template that was used when George W.Bush took office. The latest and largest redesign of the site was a year in the making. The White House web chief said the changes were based on internal research and in response to changes in web standards and usability. Almacy noted the web team "wanted to give the site a fresher look so people could find information more easily." Almacy said it was time to move the site "into the web 2.0 world." He points to more convenient access to audio and video.
The site averages up to seven million weekly page hits. A history section featuring presidential biographies is among the most popular areas. President Bush's video tour of the Oval Office averages about 20,000 weekly hits.
Almacy says President Bush has been known to check out the site but Mr. Bush has "no current plans" to become a blogger.
While the web site design has been changed, some old faces still merit a place of honor. Although Donald Rumsfeld stepped down as Defense Secretary last year, his smiling visage is still pictured in a montage trio with the president and vice president. Interestingly, the president's dog, Barney also gets top billing. The canine has his own Barney.gov link.