Council websites 'not user- friendly', says survey

A new survey has found that most Irish County Council websites are not sufficiently user-friendly and can discourage users.

The study was conducted by a research team at Ennis Information Age Services (EIAS), which was established in 2003 to help private and public sector organisations get more from technology investment.

“A highly usable website can save money and boost service to citizens,” commented Pat Febin (Head of Usability, Ennis Information Age Services).

"Our research finds that most Irish County Councils have mirrored the physical structure of their organization on their websites, rather than create a virtual office structure that focuses on the needs of the user.

"For example, one site held driving licence options within the motor taxation section rather than simply providing a direct link to the driving licence application form."

The study also found that many County Council sites are too heavy in copy. "You need a different writing style for the web," said Pat Fehin.

"Reading online is 25% slower than reading hard copy. Dumping brochure copy onto a website results in needless scrolling, eye strain and is a turn-off for the user. Where it is necessary to use a long document such as a brochure or pdf file, an easy print option should be provided for the user."

It's not all bad news though. Many County Councils performed extremely well in responding to emails to their sites. 22 out of 34 County and City Councils responded to test email enquiries in less than two hours. Six responded within one working day. Another five, however, did not respond at all.

Despite the benefits from a usability perspective, only one council had an autoreply service for their email contacts.

"The lesson here for private as well as public sector websites is that if you can't respond promptly to email enquiries, it is better not to provide the facility at all," said Pat Fehin.

The survey showed that most of the websites were developed without a clear understanding of the users needs, how users interact with software, and the relevant standards and guidelines that should be used as a guide in their design.