What should you do? Require that users register to participate or allow anonymous submissions? That is the question. In traditional online community applications, systems ask users to log in or register upfront in order to participate. As we’ve seen, asking users to register before they interact, deters some users from participating. So you end up with fewer submissions. But you don’t have to go all the way to allowing anonymous submissions. There’s a better way to do this.

Natural Resources Canada used 76engage to power their online consultations in support of the Canadian Minerals and Metals Plan. Read more to see an infographic of the early feedback received through the platform to-date.

As more and more people have access to the Internet, the connected city of the future will unequivocally incorporate citizens’ input in everyday decisions. Therefore, organizations must encourage, promote, support and participate in active dialogue with the communities they serve.

Participants must feel at ease knowing that organizations will respect their privacy and protect their personal information. When trust deteriorates, participants will simply stop providing input.

Visual interfaces are inherently deficient in addressing a visually-impaired audience. There is an argument to be made about embracing these limitations and seek solutions outside the CLI and GUI realms.

Governments are increasingly keen and open to listening to citizens through consultations and online civic engagement. A small set of data points by the Pew Research Center reminds us that while we are keen to include, the digital divide is still pretty much alive.

We are looking for Digital Content Producers to help us create and publish content on our clients’ websites. Freelancers are welcome to apply.

You will be using Content Management Systems (Drupal, WordPress) to create, edit and style content for the web. You will also help the web development team test and document website features and functionality.

The ideal candidate has:

• Experience using Drupal and/or WordPress to publish content
• Experience with inline HTML/CSS to style content
• Knowledge of WCAG and usability best practices concerning web content
• Knowledge of Photoshop or similar programs to crop, resize, retouch and compress images for web publishing
• A university or college degree in a related field

The following skills will be considered important additional assets:

• Bilingual English and French
• A background in Web or Graphic Design
• Video editing skills (video for the web and social media)
• Knowledge of user interface design and user experience principles

Interested candidates should submit a resume, portfolio and/or link to their work.

A recent IAP2 event got me thinking about why not more people participate in public engagement opportunities. One of the topics discussed was what could be done to get more people to participate in public engagement? The assumption was that even though some people do participate, more could be done to make engagements more inclusive.

We’ve all been there. We see a flyer on a street post inviting us to attend a town hall, only to realize that it happened last week. Or we made it to the event, but it was so crowded that the shy people at the back of the room, we didn’t feel confident enough to participate. All of this is gone when public engagement goes online.

The web is a great place for public engagement. But analyzing the growing amounts of data resulting from the increases in participation is discouraging some practitioners. Here’s how they can fight back.