Webcredible claims UK local authority web sites are failing their public because they are difficult to navigate and do not make critical information easy to find. The study found that key tasks, like paying council tax online, are made unnecessarily difficult and sometimes impossible, because of inadequate attention to basic web usability practices.
In a web usability survey examining 20 of the UK’s leading local council websites, only four achieved a score of more than 60 , with more than half of those sites scoring less than 50 per cent. An average usability rating of 45.5 per cent across all 20 sites suggests local authorities need to review the online service they provide to the public. Two London boroughs, Camden and Lambeth, were found to offer users the best online experience, scoring 68 and 67 out of a potential 100 respectively. Barking and Dagenham scored lowest at 24.
The Webcredible study benchmarked the Socitm Top 20 local authority websites against a set of 20 best practice guidelines for ensuring optimum user experience. These guidelines were developed by Webcredible specifically for local authority websites. With a growth of 27 per cent in council website usage between 2005 and 2006, councils are in a strong position to use their websites to improve their communication and access to services, as well as achieve significant cost savings.
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