A big "oops" for the state's Government Accountability Board

A word commonly used in politics and government these days is "accountability." Here in Wisconsin we've even gone from having a State Elections Board to having a Government Accountability Board. And the board has started the year off on the wrong foot.

According to this story a new web site recently rolled out by the board, which will feature campaign finance information, shows the wrong skyline on its home page! Instead of featuring artwork depicting the Madison skyline or some other imagine altogether, the site contains a photo of the Minneapolis skyline. You can see the mistake by clicking here.

According to Ethics specialist Tommy Winkler, the Connecticut-based company developing the site was merely using the Minneapolis skyline image as a "placeholder" until it found a copyright-free image of the Madison skyline. Now, I don't develop or design web sites for a living, but it seems to me if your client is in Wisconsin, you should try using images from that state until you can get exactly what you're looking for. And if you can't find what you're looking for, contract with someone to take that copyright-free shot you need.

This was a poor choice on the part of the design company and it also seems like someone in the Government Accountability Board office should have signed off on this before it went "live." Question of the day: Who should be held accountable for this gaffe?