Vicky Sargent Better Connected testing and findings 2016-17

betterconnected.socitm.net
@btrconnected
betterconnected.socitm.net @btrconnected
Director, Better Connected
programme
Vicky Sargent
Better Connected testing and findings 2016-17

@btrconnected
Better Connected
2016/17
• 3108 surveys created,
completed and
published
• 416 overall BC ‘star
rankings’ awarded
• 16 Better Connected
awards 2017

@btrconnected
• Greater access &
transparency
• Headline results for all
surveys for all councils
are now free for all to
view with no registration
or login required
• Easier sharing
• Provides context and
added value via links at
head of each headline
results page – eg on
digital exclusion
BC now been online for
two annual survey
cycles

@btrconnected
Access and transparency
• Easy feedback route
appreciated by users
• Discussion on issues can be
shared with other site visitors
• More on this to come for 2016-
17

@btrconnected
Focus on online services
not just ‘the website’
Service-based surveys now ‘stand
alone’ and get BC stars
‘…release of survey results
with star ratings for each scenario
has proved to be invaluable in
raising the profile with our senior
team’
‘my team.…find the new
website and format very helpful in
terms of engaging with service
managers’
Service-based approach extended
in CLG Live concept

@btrconnected
For each website we test:
4 service area tasks (eg council tax,
planning, social care, etc) drawn
form most popular services
Experience when site accessed
from a mobile device
Performance of search/navigation
and A-Z
Accessibility to people with
disabilities including those using
assistive technologies

@btrconnected
Developments in 2016-17
• Testing method largely unchanged
• Some service questions sets harder as we made length more consistent
• Overall scores now on 0-4 rather than 0-3 scale
• Continued focus on ‘top tasks within top service areas’
• Sites not purposed for mobile get 0 for mobile and 1 star only overall
• Mobile test significantly harder this year
• Accessibility: only member councils passing stage 1 go to stage 2
• Sites with less than 2 on accessibility at stage 2 can’t get 4* overall

@btrconnected
Headline results: star performance
16-17 No % 15-16 No %
4 36 9 - 4 44 11
3 190 46 ++ 3 136 33
2 144 35 2 146 35
1 46 11 - 1 88 21
416 100 416 100
• Non-members can’t get four stars – there are 7 potential 4 stars among
them (ie met all 4* criteria and passed stage 1 accessibility test)
• 44 of 46 one star sites are not mobile responsive

@btrconnected
Headline results by council type: percentage
3 & 4 stars
16-17 15-16
no % no %
County council 22 81 + 19 70
London borough 22 67 + 19 58
Scottish Unitary 19 60 + 17 53
Shire district 107 54 ++ 67 34
Met distirct 18 50 - 23 64
Welsh unitary 11 50 + 10 45
English unitary 25 45 26 46
Northern ireland 2 18 1 9

@btrconnected
Service tasks

@btrconnected
Service task testing
Question sets more
consistent
Dropped task
promotion question
Now just a single
overall score
Scale changed to 0-4

@btrconnected
Headline results: service tasks
Service area Task 3&4 stars
Highways Find out about roadworks 85%
Parking Apply for resident’s parking permit 67%
Council tax Apply for single person’s discount 62%
Business Apply for occasional licence (Scotland) 54%
Social Care Find local care support for older person 51%
Social Care Request care assessment for elderly relative 49%
Business Apply for temporary event notice (E&W) 48%
Rubbish & recycling Order bulky waste collection (m) 46%
Libraries Sign up for eResources 44%
Planning & Bldg Control Apply for building control (E&W) 43%
Housing Find out how to apply for housing 42%
Planning & Bldg Control Apply for building warrant (Scotland) 34%
Leisure Find out about children’s sports activities 0%

@btrconnected
Headline issues: service tasks
Simple plain English
• Long complicated text slows customer journey
• It leads to misunderstanding and calls
• Average reading age is 9
• Even experts prefer simple
• Read GDS advice on writing
• Copy bits from GOV.UK

@btrconnected
Content presentation
• Short, meaningful headers and subheads
• Bullet points
• Well segmented
• Written in active voice so good tone
• Clear call to action
• Task-focused content
• Mobile first approach

@btrconnected
Drop the background
• No need for lots of information about Acts of Parliament
• Or building control’s ‘mission’
• Or what used to happen before the Care Act
• Or the benefits of a national eligibility threshold
• etc

@btrconnected
Process and customer jouney
• Outline whole the process at the start

@btrconnected
Access from mobiles
• 89% now purposed for mobiles: up from 80% last year (57% in 2014-5)
• 52% provide good/very good experience: down from 68% (31% in 2015)
Navigation/search/A-Z
• 68% provide good/very good experience across board (66% last year)
• Search good (89% pass); A-Z less good; navigation remains problematic
Accessibility
• 69% of those tested pass vs 64% of all councils last year – but 77% of cohort
tested this year passed in last year
• 43% passed in 2015 and 26% in 2014
Headline results: usability

@btrconnected
Mobile testing

@btrconnected
Testing whether sites are purposed for mobile
• We tested all UK councils on mobile with a mobile-specific test
focused on finding things by navigation
• Plus one service test per council completed on a mobile (order
bulky waste collection, find out about roadworks, apply for
resident’s parking)
• 89% now offer a responsive or mobile website
• Compared to 80% last year, and 57% in 14-15
• Separate mobile sites are increasingly rare – fewer than 5%
• Un-optimised sites can only get one star in BC. All but 2 of the
46 one-star sites are so because they were non-mobile.

@btrconnected
Non mobile purposed sites by council type 2017
• 46 sites of 416 (11%) are still not purposed for mobile
no percent
Welsh unitary 4 18
Scottish unitary 4 13
Shire distirct 24 12
English unitary 6 11
Northern Ireland district 1 9
County council 2 7
Metropolitan district 2 6
London borough 1 3

@btrconnected
• Sites not purposed for mobile will fail accessibility test
for mobile task
• Sites with will fail accessibility tests that involve
transactions and interactions (pay, report, apply etc) if
they have no forms or forms not purposed for mobile
• More on this in our accessibility session
• Procurement should always specify responsive and
accessible sites and forms
Non mobile purposed sites: accessibility implication

@btrconnected
Headline findings for mobile 2016-17
• compares with 68% in 2016 (when
the test was simpler)
• 32% in 2015
• Still nearly a quarter providing awful
experience

@btrconnected
This year’s mobile test was harder!
4 stars in 2016-17 4 stars in 2015-16
1 Minimum score of 15 from 6 ‘how
quickly’ questions (max 24)
Minimum score of 10 from 5 'how
quickly' questions (max 15)
2 Minimum 5 from 6 ‘yes’ questions n/a
3 Overall 4/4 Overall 3/3

@btrconnected
First, we test whether sites are fully purposed for mobile.
reviewers are asked to :
Enter CONSULTATIONS into mobile device search. What type
of site are you presented with? (If you are offered a mobile
option, accept it)
When you enter the council URL into your web browser, what
type of site are you presented with?
If reviewers are offered a mobile site, they accept it
If the site is not purposed for mobile, we don’t continue and site
scores 0
Testing whether purposed for mobile

@btrconnected
• page with information about the council's 2017/18 budget
• online form to complain
• corporate contact phone number for the council
CC & single tier only
• my nearest library using a postcode OR a map
• list of local primary schools
• where to register a new baby
Districts only
• band C charge for 2017-18
• my nearest park using a postcode OR a map
• info about Neighbourhood Planning in the council area ?
‘How quickly’ questions: reviewers used navigation only

@btrconnected
‘How quickly’ questions: scores
average 0-4
Page with information about the council's 2017/18 budget 2.1
Online form to complain 2.3
Corporate contact phone number for the council 2.8
CC & single tier only
My nearest library using a postcode OR a map 0.9
List of local primary schools 2.6
Where to register a new baby 2.6
Districts only
Band C charge for 2017-18 2.5
My nearest park using a postcode OR a map n/a
Info about Neighbourhood Planning in the council area ? 2
Outlier is libraries – many failed to link from libraries page to ‘Find my nearest

@btrconnected
We added a series of ‘Yes’ questions in 2016-17 Yes
1 Is it easy to access services from the home page 75%
2 Is site search obvious/explicit?
68%
3 Confirm that your visit experience did NOT include being
taken to the destop version of the site
74%
4 Confirm that during your visit you did NOT need to zoom in
(eg to see/use a link or other feature) 67%
5 Is the complaint form optimised for mobile (x if no online
facility 58%
6 Confirm that your browsing of this site on your mobile
device was free of errors that prevented you completing
one or more questions?
80%
NB figures include non mobile sites all of which will have scored ‘No’

@btrconnected
Mobile Scoring
4 stars
minimum score of 15 from 6 ‘how quickly’ questions (max 24)
minimum score of 5 from ‘yes’ qns
Overall score (Q15) 4
3 stars
2 stars
1 star – the rest

@btrconnected
Accessibility testing

@btrconnected
• Introduction if two stage testing
• 66% of all councils passed accessibility stage one test
• Test looked at home page only for all 14 test criteria
• Identified sites that would have failed because of home page alone
• Member sites that failed were offered a re-test
• Member sites that passed including retested sites put forward for stage two
• Stage two was exactly same test as in previous years
• 69% of those tested passed vs 64% of all councils last year – but 77% of
cohort tested this year passed in last year
• 43% passed in 2015 and 26% in 2014
Testing accessibility

@btrconnected
• 69% of those tested passed vs 64% of all councils last year
• but 77% of cohort tested this year passed in last year
• 43% passed in 2015 and 26% in 2014
• Failures due to things like sites not purposed for mobile
Accessibility results

@btrconnected
Coming next….......

@btrconnected
Paid for re-reviews
Introduced in response to demand:
Councils may request paid for re-reviews for individual
surveys, where they have updated/upgraded their site
since the original survey was conducted. A site's overall
star ranking will reflect re-review results.
Cost is £795 + VAT for two tasks (accessibility re-test
covers all four tasks)
Booking from July 1

@btrconnected
• Relationships started with Better Connected Live 2016
• There is an appetite among these professions to discuss ‘digital’
• Each profession has own digital vision/priorities
• Engagement with Better Connected surveys is part of this
• We are also starting to work with voluntary sector eg Independent Age
supported the social care surveys and probably will again
Greater engagement with professional bodies in planning,
revs & bens, libraries, waste management etc

@btrconnected
Add slide about more stuff at top
of landing pages

@btrconnected
Kirklees Council: doing
some great digital
innovation despite not
such great Better
Connected scores
Why not use BC site to
highlight these
projects?
Process needs to be
really easy and
simple…....

@btrconnected
We publish Public
Service Digital to
carry editorial
features about
digital
developments
including Better
Connected
research findings
and commentary

@btrconnected
…....PSD
eXchange has
been created
as a linked
subdomain

@btrconnected
Anyone can
upload projects,
no registration
required but
some details
mandatory

@btrconnected
We encourage
brevity and links
to own content

@btrconnected
`````````````````````` Local authority-
led projects get
highlighted on
the Better
Connected
website

@btrconnected
Live events facilitate engagement…....
Projects to feature at events are selected
from PSD eXchange uploads
boilerhouse.co.uk

@btrconnected
Innovators should upload to: https://exchange.publicservicedigital.com/
Event details: https://connectedlocalgovernment.co.uk/

@btrconnected
Thank you: questions?
@btrconnected
@vickysargent
@socitm

Vicky Sargent Better Connected testing and findings 2016-17

Recomendados

Recomendados

Más contenido relacionado

Similar a Vicky Sargent Better Connected testing and findings 2016-17

Similar a Vicky Sargent Better Connected testing and findings 2016-17 (20)

Más de Boilerhouse Communications

Más de Boilerhouse Communications (20)

Último

Último (20)

Vicky Sargent Better Connected testing and findings 2016-17

Notas del editor