GobiernoUSA - Providing Greater Access through Mobile

July 2, 2011 :: Posted by: Carla Briceno

Laura Godfrey, the Manager of GobiernoUSA.gov, was the featured speaker at our June Reaching Latinos Online event. Her presentation focused on the rationale for developing a mobile-optimized version of GobiernoUSA for the growing Hispanic community. Many thanks to Laura for providing us with the Powerpoint version of her presentation.

Portal to Spanish Language Government Resources

As the portal to government websites in Spanish, GobiernoUSA provides easy access to official and free government information. In carrying out this function, it not only fulfills the directives in Executive Order 13166 by reaching out to Limited English Proficient (LEP) audiences, but also helps its users to acculturate and assimilate.

Why did GobiernoUSA go mobile?

Laura cited a number of factors that led to the decision to create a mobile optimized site:

Younger Hispanics, as important influencers who often pass on information to others, including friends and family, are heavy users of mobile.
Smartphones now outsell PCs - this trend is more pronounced among Hispanics, who are more likely to have connectivity in their pocket than at home.
The rapid increase in the number of users accessing the GobiernoUSA website via mobile - this number more than tripled between 2010 and 2011.

The Mobile Site

The key features of the mobile site are:

Search - this feature is front and center and links only to government websites (no commercial content)
Original content - developed specifically to address the needs and interests of the audience
Contact information - this provides users with different options (phone, email) to contact the government in Spanish to get their questions answered
Social media - because mobile users are very likely to use social media, this site is linked with Facebook and Twitter so that content can easily be shared with others on these social media platforms

Highlights from the Q&A

After her presentation, Laura took a number of questions from the audience. Here are some of the most interesting points she shared:

While GobiernoUSA does not collect personally identifying information from its users, the site surveys them to determine the best ways to reach them, e.g., by asking questions such as “Do you use mobile?" GobiernoUSA supplements this information with information gathered via e-mail or phone, the American Customer Satisfaction Index, and Web Trends.
By far, the most frequently searched term on GobiernoUSA.gov is “Immigration.”
While GobiernoUSA.gov provides a link to government agencies' Spanish-language content, it does not exert any control over the type or quantity of content they provide. Laura explained that a lack of Spanish-language content from a particular agency may reflect that agency's limited resources and competing priorities, but pointed out that individuals can influence this process by expressing their concerns to individual agencies - e.g., by asking that a particular document or resource be made available in Spanish.
Gobierno has established a YouTube channel to provide a another avenue for reaching its audience. YouTube ranks only second to Facebook for Hispanic social media users according to a study conducted by BigResearch.