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Kablenet.com, 6 August 2003
Plans to improve the UK's public sector websites will need more money, says an industry expert.
The e-envoy's plan to make government websites more accessible risks being shelved because the public sector doesn't have sufficient budget for web development, according to internet usage experts.
Catriona Campbell, chair of the Usability Company and a contributor to the e-envoy's website design framework, warns that improvements may never emerge due to the lack of funding.
The plan, Quality Framework for the UK Government Website Design, was published last month as part of the e-envoy's campaign to boost take up of online public services.
Campbell told Government Computing News on 6 August 2003 that the document, which took close to a year to develop, is based on "seven steps" set out in the International Standards Organisation's "ISO 13407" internet guidelines.
The "steps" aim to ensure usability through design and management processes, in particular by gaining a good understanding of how a site will be used and by implementing a system of regular checking to ensure high standards.
"To carry out the seven steps properly requires people who are well skilled and sufficient budget," Campbell explained. "Public sector organisations will find it difficult to find the necessary skills in-house. Outsourcing to professionals is the best thing they can do."
At the launch of the plan, e-envoy Andrew Pinder said: "It is vital that government websites are accessible and easy to use as possible". Making this a reality will involve the redesign of the 800 or so official websites. But as Campbell points out, it is not cheap to test for accessibility and usability.
"The e-envoy's office has done a wonderful thing by highlighting usability needs and in the next financial year perhaps the government will put the budget aside to do this properly," she said.
In July 2003 the Usability Company judged a Central Office of Information competition for the government websites with the best usability. It chose Opportunity Wales ; MMR the facts; National Statistics and the army's recruitment site.
Source: Kable's Government Computing Publication date: 06/08/2003 01:15:07 PM
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