CommentWorks^SM Features

Communicating with the Public Receive comments on the Web Post comments and other materials on the Web Managing Comments Use the secure client interface Categorize comments by issue Draft comment summaries and responses Perform tracking, reporting, and administrative tasks

CommentWorksSM e-Tour

Communicating with the Public

Receive Comments on the Web

With this optional feature, the public can enter comments directly into a CommentWorks^SM database through your Web site. You can do the following:

• Specify what background information they must complete
• Ask specific questions
• Allow them to type their comments or attach a file

This feature can improve stakeholder feedback by making it easier to submit comments.

Post Comments and Other Materials on the Web

On an agency Web site, the public can view comment letters and other documents in the CommentWorks^SM database. You choose what documents they can see. Allow them, for example, to view and search comment letters and background reports and final summaries and responses. This feature can demonstrate agency accountability.

Managing Comments

Use the Secure Client Interface

Use your Web browser to access CommentWorks^SM through a secure password-protected site. All the information is at your fingertips. The main screen has four re-sizable panels. They are configured to streamline key tasks.

Other screens are designed for key tasks, such as categorizing comments or creating summaries and responses.

Categorize Comments by Issue

Typically, comment analysis is organized by the issues the public raises. To start your analysis, enter an issue outline to organize the comment excerpts, summaries, and responses.

Next, read the comments and assign excerpts--such as sentences or paragraphs--to one or more issues. CommentWorks^SM streamlines this process:

• Highlight the excerpts
• Drag and drop them into the issue outline (or use a drop-down menu)

Then, you have a list of excerpts for each issue and linked documentation of how each comment has been assigned.

It's easy to modify the issue outline with CommentWorks^SM. When you expand or rearrange the outline, section numbers and excerpts already coded to affected sections are automatically renumbered. Also, with just a few key strokes you can recode specific excerpts.

Draft Comment Summaries and Responses

After assigning excerpts to issues, you may choose to summarize the excerpts for each issue. CommentWorks^SM has features to facilitate writing and reviewing summaries.

• To help start a summary, copy the best written or most comprehensive excerpts into the summary and edit them.
• To review a summary, click through the list of excerpts to ensure each excerpt is captured in the summary.
• To understand a confusing excerpt, double click on it to quickly review its context within the entire comment letter.

These side-by-side summary and response panels facilitate drafting responses. Also, as you refine a response, you can easily re-examine relevant excerpts.

Perform Tracking, Reporting, and Administrative Tasks

• Share documents among team members
• Search the full text of comments and reference documents
• Track the status of each stage in the comment-response process
• Post and respond to messages among team members
• Print or download excerpts, summaries, responses, comment indices, and other data on demand
• Assign different levels of access (view, draft, edit, approve) to team members
• Select what types of data to include with each comment

For more information or to arrange a demonstration of CommentWorks^SM, contact Gary Light at glight@icfi.com or 1.703.934.3928.