Test results for Harrow Council

According to our records, this website hasn't had a major update since it was first registered with us - webteam members can update this information themselves.

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TaskNavigationA-ZGoogleSite searchReadabilityScoreTestsImportance
Address - change mine on council systemsUntestedUntestedVery easyUntested943
Adult education courses - find informationUntestedVery easyVery easyUntested953
Antisocial behaviour - complain about itUntestedVery easyVery easyVery easy1072
Blue badge - apply for one
Broken street lights - reportUntestedDifficultDifficultUntested653
Bulky waste or other special waste collection - book
Complain about something the council has doneUntestedDifficultEasyUntested554
Council housing - apply for itUntestedUntestedEasyUntested623
Council meeting - read the last full council minutes
Council news - find itUntestedUntestedEasyUntested523
Council tax - pay itUntestedUntestedVery easyUntested1043
Council tax / housing benefit - applyUntestedUntestedDifficultUntested643
Council tip - find a nearby one
Councillors - find who mine areUntestedVery easyVery easyUntested1053
Cycling strategy - find itUntestedGave upGave upUntested153
Death - register one
Economic condition and strategy for the area - find itUntestedGave upGave upUntested253
Elections - find out when the next ones areUntestedGave upGave upUntested153
Employment help for people with disabilities - find information onUntestedGave upGave upUntested152
Events - find council onesUntestedDifficultEasyUntested554
Flood protection - find information
Food hygiene problem - report one
Freedom of Information Act request - make one
Housing repair - request oneUntestedUntestedVery easyUntested1043
Jobs - find a council jobUntestedUntestedVery easyUntested923
Leisure centres close to me - find oneUntestedDifficultDifficultUntested553
Leisure discount card - apply for one
Library book - renewUntestedVery easyVery easyUntested1033
Local history - find out aboutUntestedGave upDifficultUntested353
Local library opening hours - find them
Local services and information on a map - look atGave upGave upGave upUntested145
Market stall trading - find information aboutUntestedGave upGave upUntested133
Meals on Wheels - find information
Missed bin collection - complain about oneUntestedUntestedEasyUntested923
Noise nuisance - complain about it
Open Data - find some
Parking - find out how much it costsUntestedGave upGave upUntested253
Parking fine - pay oneUntestedVery easyVery easyUntested1053
Petitions - create one
Planning application - comment on oneUntestedUntestedVery easyUntested1043
Planning committee meeting - find when the next one is
Planning or building control violation - report one
Planning permission - apply for it
Population and census information - find itUntestedVery easyVery easyEasy893
Pothole - report oneUntestedUntestedVery easyUntested1023
Public toilets - find them
Read the council's greenhouse gas emissions report for the previous year
Regulation of children on stage, film, and television - find information
School places - apply for oneUntestedUntestedVery easyUntested1023
School term dates - find themUntestedVery easyVery easyUntested954
Scrutiny committee reports and minutes - find themUntestedVery easyVery easyUntested753
Senior staff and politicians in the council - find their names
Small business support - find informationUntestedEasyEasyUntested853
Social media accounts - find them
Stopping smoking services - find information
Supplying the council - find out how
Sustainability and climate change - find information onUntestedUntestedDifficultUntested423
Taxi driver - complain about oneUntestedGave upGave upUntested153
Taxi licence - apply for oneUntestedUntestedGave upUntested123
Telephone number - find the main oneUntestedDifficultDifficultUntested635
Trading Standards - complain about a dodgy item from a shop
Travellers - find information about them
Tree preservation order - apply for one
Unitary Development Plan / Local Development Plan - find itUntestedGave upGave upUntested253
Voting - register toUntestedUntestedVery easyUntested923
Vulnerable adult - express concern about oneUntestedUntestedEasyUntested843
Vulnerable child - express concern about oneUntestedUntestedGave upUntested523
Watch a webcast of a recent council or committee meeting
Welfare reform - find information aboutUntestedVery easyVery easyUntested1053
Youth clubs in the area - find information
TotalsNavigationA-ZGoogleSite searchReadabilityScoreTests 
Total scores243112826018650  
Number of tests69127692 168 
Usability Index (total score ÷ number of tests)415494  

About the scores

Each task can be tested according to five different criteria - navigation from the home page, navigation using the A-Z directory (where present), searching on Google, searching using the site's internal search, and the readability of the page. Scores are assigned according to 10 = Very easy, 8 = Easy, 4 = Difficult, and 1 = Gave up. As more users complete any given test, the score for each aspect of each task becomes a mean average of all the individual testers scores, and thus the more tests are completed the more reliable an indication of the usability of the website can be seen. The total scores in the table are thus the sum of the averaged scores for the whole suite of tasks which have been tested.

The Usability Index is the sum of the scores of all the tests which have been carried out, divided by the number of tests which have been taken for this council, resulting in an index score between 1 and 10, with 6 being the score which a nominallly usable website with room for improvement might be expected to achieve. If any criteria have had fewer than 15 tests, or the site as a whole has had fewer than 50 individually tested items, the final Index scores are shown in a grey background to indicate insufficient testing for the result to be a reliable indicator.

The Importance column shows the mean average of how important all the testers considered the ability to complete this task to be, ranging from 0 = Unimportant to 5 = Very important.

Specific comments made about this council

Broken street lights - report - 2013-12-17
Is under residents; 'broken street light' in search didn't work at all.

Complain about something the council has done - 2013-12-17
Maybe not as hard as difficult, but harder than easy!

Council tax / housing benefit - apply - 2013-12-03
Housing benefit is easy, council tax benefit isn't

Cycling strategy - find it - 2013-12-17
Is a function of the GLA, not borough councils.

Economic condition and strategy for the area - find it - 2013-12-17
'Harrow informed'

Employment help for people with disabilities - find information on - 2013-12-17
Presumably not a service provided by this council?

Events - find council ones - 2013-12-17
Poor events provision; typing 'what's on' into search gives poor results

Leisure centres close to me - find one - 2013-12-04
It's not immediately clear where each leisure centre actually is.

Local history - find out about - 2013-12-04
Only had a page about how the local history library has moved to the museum.

Local services and information on a map - look at - 2014-02-11
Google search returns only one LB Harrow page - the home page. Nothing evident on home page that leads to map of the area. Click on some of the tabs. Nothing happens. Give up. Internal search returns nothing relevant. Random click on second link - map is highlighted. Not relevant. Gave up. No A to Z. Nothing evident on home page. Nothing in hover-over tabs. Clicked on "transport" - surely there's a map there. No. A couple more clicks on "roads". Nothing. Gave up. Are there maps here?

Market stall trading - find information about - 2013-12-17
Only remotely related thing in navigation was market stalls for people on the dole.

Missed bin collection - complain about one - 2013-12-03
Typing rubbish rather than bin makes it slightly less easy

Parking - find out how much it costs - 2013-12-17
Couldn't find any information about on-street parking.

Small business support - find information - 2013-12-17
Not much actual information.

Telephone number - find the main one - 2013-12-17
Only 'contact' in search returned a useful result

Voting - register to - 2013-12-03
Having to click on something unrelated to get to council and democracy could be problematic

Vulnerable adult - express concern about one - 2013-12-03
I did like the good use of attachments as things to download and put up in relevant places

Vulnerable child - express concern about one - 2013-12-03
Under health and social care - may not necessarily be the best place these days; search didn't find 'report child abuse'

Welfare reform - find information about - 2013-12-04
Although not much information there.