Test results for Newcastle City Council
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| Totals | Navigation | A-Z | Site search | Readability | Score | Tests | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total scores | 477 | 434 | 495 | 505 | 550 | 2461 | ||
| Number of tests | 67 | 67 | 63 | 67 | 60 | 324 | ||
| Usability Index (total score ÷ number of tests) | 7 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 |
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. Thus each task will have up to five tests counted against it when a user tests it.
As users test any given task, the score for each aspect of each task becomes a rolling mean average of individual test scores, and thus as 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 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.
Specific comments testers have made about this council
Address - change mine on council systems - 2014-12-18
The main reason it was difficult is that the option to change your address is only available in relation to your council tax.
If you were simply looking to update your address you may not think to look in the Council Tax section.
Council meeting - read the last full council minutes - 2015-01-15
The process is not very easy because it takes you out to an older part of the site which is styled differently and is not as readable.
Council tax - pay it - 2015-01-15
To pay you are taken to a part of the site that looks different and has a lot of information on it making it more difficult to read. Without this it would have probably been very easy.
Cycling strategy - find it - 2014-03-03
The flyout above the website search box is too trigger happy using a desktop and mouse
Death - register one - 2015-01-16
The relevant pages are found under 'Communities and Neighbourhoods which made it difficult to find when trying to navigate to find them.
Food hygiene problem - report one - 2015-01-16
Navigation and index searching was complicated by the fact you have to follow Environment and Waste to get to Environmental Health and Pest Control. I would have been more inclined to look under Social Care and Health or Report.
Local history - find out about - 2015-01-05
Took me three attempts before I found the correct category. Explore heritage wasn't a particularly helpful title when looking for local history. A-Z lacked the terms history or heritage.
Open Data - find some - 2015-01-14
In order to find open data using the A-Z index you had to look under Data Protection which would not necessarily be a natural place to look.
Population and census information - find it - 2015-02-11
You are lead out to a separate site that provides the relevant information which you have to read as PDFs.
Read the council's greenhouse gas emissions report for the previous year - 2015-02-04
The relevant information can be found under 'Environmental Policies and Strategy' which not only requires several clicks to get to but did not feel like the natural place to look.
The results from Google returned earlier reports higher up the search results than the current report. The current report was titled 'Annual Greenhouse Report 2010-11' but when you click into the PDF it is the 2013-14 report
Scrutiny committee reports and minutes - find them - 2015-02-04
it would have been very easy to find them if it had not involved being taken to a part of the site that was branded differently and had a long list of links that were difficult to read.
Senior staff and politicians in the council - find their names - 2015-01-14
It was very easy to find councillors using the internal search. It was only easy to find senior staff using the internal and Google search as I knew the terminology we use within the council for those posts.
Social media accounts - find them - 2014-12-18
Although I gave up on the A-Z search the social media buttons were directly below the menu and in reality I would have used these.
Supplying the council - find out how - 2015-02-11
Very easy to find the relevant pages but made slightly more difficult by having to visit a number of external sites for further information.
With the internal search and the Google search you can only find the relevant pages if you look for "doing business with the council" and not "supplying the council". It requires you to know the exact phrasing/terminology
Sustainability and climate change - find information on - 2015-01-21
When carrying out the internal search and google search "climate change" returned the relevant pages but "sustainability" didn't otherwise it would have been very easy
Taxi licence - apply for one - 2015-02-09
Takes you to a PDF form rather than being an online form
Telephone number - find the main one - 2015-01-15
Although I gave up on looking for contact details using the A-Z index in reality the main contact details appear in the footer of every page so I would be able to find them this way.
Vulnerable child - express concern about one - 2015-01-30
The internal search was easy to use but it requires you to use the correct terminology to find the right pages. The same applies for using Google.
Welfare reform - find information about - 2015-01-15
Using a Google search it wasn't possible to find the right pages using the same terms as the internal search i.e. welfare reform. However, if you rephrased it as "changes to benefits Newcastle City Council" then the pages could be found.
Welfare reform - find information about - 2015-01-15
Using a Google search it wasn't possible to find the right pages using the same terms as the internal search i.e. welfare reform. However, if you rephrased it as "changes to benefits Newcastle City Council" then the pages could be found.
Youth clubs in the area - find information - 2015-02-04
Eventually you get to a link for an external website but it is difficult to find