New Look Makes Finding Popular Services Even Easier

Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security, has unveiled the agency’s newly redesigned home page at www.socialsecurity.gov that will help visitors more quickly and easily find the information and services they need.

One of the key features of the redesigned home page is a service channeling guide, which appears in the left hand column of the page. The guide links users directly to the most popular pages on Social Security’s web site -- the services visitors are most likely to want to use.

“We set out to make Social Security’s new home page even easier for visitors to find the services and information they need,” Commissioner Astrue said, "and our new look reflects the useful feedback we received from the public during testing. Almost everyone either needs the information on our site or can use it to help a relative or neighbor. See for yourself at www.socialsecurity.gov.”

Other features of the new home page include a rotating “showcase” that provides high visibility for significant agency initiatives that benefit the American public. Redesigned subpages for the major Social Security benefit programs -- Retirement, Disability, Survivors, SSI, and Medicare -- are easily accessed by clicking on the row of horizontal blue buttons at the top of the home page. An additional button -- Business Services -- links to a portal with information and services Social Security offers to businesses. A news section keeps readers up-to-date on important Social Security announcements, and a large question mark on the right side of the page takes visitors to frequently asked questions. While the look of the website may have changed, the bookmarked links to users' favorite pages have not.

According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index, Social Security has the three highest rated online services in all of government – the Retirement Estimator, online benefit application, and the Help with Medicare Prescription Drug Plan Costs application. The customer satisfaction scores for these online services exceed the top-rated commercial site, Netflix.

To visit Social Security’s redesigned home page go to www.socialsecurity.gov.