Test results for City of Edinburgh Council
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| Totals | Navigation | A-Z | Site search | Readability | Score | Tests | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total scores | 132 | 138 | 149 | 145 | 44 | 608 | ||
| Number of tests | 23 | 24 | 21 | 22 | 5 | 95 | ||
| Usability Index (total score ÷ number of tests) | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 6 |
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
Broken street lights - report - 2014-02-12
I don't personally like 'report it' tabs on home pages, but since that's a personal opinion I didn't mark it down for this!
Council housing - apply for it - 2014-02-12
Getting to the application form was very easy. However, there was no online application process, but more critically, the form to download was a .pdf document meaning the only way to complete it would be to print it out and write on it, rather than being able to fill it on one's own computer had it been a word document.
Council tax - pay it - 2014-02-01
Navigation was clear enough, but there was at least one redundant intermediate page between clicking the link 'pay council tax online' and getting to the payment form.
Cycling strategy - find it - 2014-02-01
Nearest I got to it navigating from the home page was something called the Active Travel Action Plan.
The general 'page x of y' method of presenting information is very poor indeed.
Flood protection - find information - 2014-02-12
Was under Planning and Environment - separating the Environment from Planning in the menu structure would have made it easier still.
Freedom of Information Act request - make one - 2014-02-12
Adopting the UK-standard wording 'Freedom of Information' on the navigation rather than their own 'Access to information' would have made this easier.
Leisure discount card - apply for one - 2014-02-12
Seems to be an external organisation with an external website managing leisure facilities for Edinburgh, however the council website should still signpost to this.
Planning application - comment on one - 2014-02-01
Required me to be registered and logged in in order to make a comment.
Social media accounts - find them - 2015-02-26
Pages on social media acceptable policies - a hectoring tone. No actual links to social media accounts found.
Google search call up a "social media accounts" link, but it's a 404 - page not found.
Taxi driver - complain about one - 2014-02-12
Search took me to a page which initially looked promising, but on further reading seemed to be more about objecting to an application being made for a taxi licence rather than complaining about a specific driver.
Unitary Development Plan / Local Development Plan - find it - 2014-02-01
Was easy to find looking under Local plan in the A-Z index, but no entry under UDP, and it seems odd for it to be under Business rather than Planning in the menu structure.