Craigavon Borough Council’s Website Survey (January 07 – December 07)
CRAIGAVON BOROUGH COUNCIL
WEBSITE VISITOR SURVEY
January – December 2007
SMR
Social & Market Research
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE SURVEY 3
1.2 RESPONSE TO THE SURVEY AND PROFILE OF RESPONDENTS (2007) 3
1.3 FINDING THE WEBSITE 4
1.4 MAIN REASON FOR VISITING THE WEBSITE 5
1.5 FIND THE INFORMATION LOOKING FOR ON THE WEBSITE 5
1.6 EASE OF USING THE WEBISTE 7
1.7 ACCESSING INFORMATION 8
1.8 SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVING THE WEBSITE 9
1.9 OVERALL SATISFACTION WITH COUNCIL WEBSITE 10
1.10 REASONS FOR DISSATISFACTION WITH THE COUNCIL’S WEBSITE 11
1.11 DISABILITY 12
1.12 ADDITIONAL COMMENTS MADE BY RESPONDENTS 12
APPENDIX 1 – QUESTIONNAIRE 14
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE SURVEY
This report presents the findings from the Council’s website survey for the period January to December 2007. The survey was conducted independently by Social and Market Research (SMR) and was commissioned by Craigavon Borough Council. The survey has run continuously since 2003 with the questions changing to reflect the differing information needs of the Council. The current survey has the following objectives:
- to profile the characteristics of visitors to the site;
- to elicit feedback on the website;
- to find out how residents access Council services; and,
- to measure overall satisfaction with the website.
1.2 RESPONSE TO THE SURVEY AND PROFILE OF RESPONDENTS (2007)
In the period January 2007 to December 2007, a total of 146 unique visitors to the Council’s website provided feedback via the online survey. Overall 54% of respondents were male and 46% female, with 16 to 29 year olds representing the largest age group (42%). As was the case with previous editions of the survey, the majority of visitors were council residents (71%), with 8% having a disability.
Table 1 Profile of RespondentsJan – Jun ‘07 / Jul – Dec ‘07 / Jan – Dec ‘07
% / % / %
Sex / Male / 54 / 54 / 54
Female / 47 / 46 / 46
Age / Under 16 / 6 / 7 / 6
16-29 / 46 / 38 / 42
30-49 / 40 / 39 / 40
50-64 / 8 / 13 / 11
65+ / 3 / 1
Residency Status / Resident / 65 / 78 / 71
Non-resident (NI) / 22 / 16 / 19
Other / 13 / 6 / 9
Disability / Yes / 6 / 10 / 8
No / 94 / 90 / 92
Base: 147
1.3 FINDING THE WEBSITE
Over the 12 month period, the majority (55%) of respondents had found the website as a result of a deliberate search using a search engine, with 25% finding the website via a deliberate search using the correct web address. In 12% of cases respondents said that they had found the website via a link from another website, with 5% arriving at the site by chance. One percent (1%) had found the website from the Council’s ‘In Touch’ magazine, with 1% citing a recommendation from someone they know. There was little difference in the response to this question between the survey periods (January – June 2007 and July – December 2007).
1.4 MAIN REASON FOR VISITING THE WEBSITE
The most popular reason for visiting the council’s website was to ‘seek information on council services’ (38%, Table 2), with jobs / recruitment mentioned by 15% of respondents. Twelve percent said they visited the council’s website to get contact details for the Council, with 12% visiting the site to get visitor / tourist information.
Table 2 Main Reason For Visiting The Council’s Website (n=137)Jan – Jun ‘07 / Jul – Dec ‘07 / Jan – Dec ‘07
% / % / %
Seeking information on Council services / 38 / 38 / 38
Jobs / recruitment / 15 / 14 / 15
To get contact details for the Council / 14 / 10 / 12
To get visitor / tourist information / 12 / 11 / 12
Seeking business / economic information / 7 / 5 / 6
To use an online service / 1 / 6 / 4
To see a press release / 1 / 3 / 2
Other reasons / 12 / 13 / 12
1.5 FIND THE INFORMATION LOOKING FOR ON THE WEBSITE
In most cases (59%) visitors said that they found the information that they were looking for on the website, with 58% of the January to June sample stating that this was the case compared with 59% of the July to December sample. Thirty seven percent (37%) of respondents said they were unable to find the information they were looking for, and their comments are listed on a verbatim basis in Table 3 below.
Table 3 Information Which Respondents Could Not Find On The Website (N=54)Arts Manager
Awful Website
Can You Train Your Bin Men To Stop Leaving The Empty Bins In The Middle Of People Drives. This Is Most Annoying Upon Returning To The House And The Bin Is In The Middle Of The Drive Way, This Means We Have To Seek Alternative Parking Until We Move Our Bins.
Concession Rates For Leisure Activities
Detailed Map Of Council Area
Details Of Facilities And Times For Craigavon Leisure Centre
E-Mail For DOE Roads Service CBC
Email Address, Department Phone Number And Department Fax Number Also Person In Charge Of Each Department
Food Service Plan
Future Population Profiles Broken Down By Area And Age (E.G. Expected Population Of Waringstown / Donacloney Etc By Age Profile For 2010 - 2015 And Possibly 2020.
Geographical Things About Craigavon
Grants For Window Replacement In Housing Executive House
How Leisure Is Funded.. The Councils Aims.. Their Objectives..
Http://Www.Craigavon.Gov.Uk/Index.Asp?Url=Leisure.Asp On This Page Link To Rushmere Shopping Centre Doesn’t' Work
I Was Specifically Looking To Email The Leisure Services Department. I Have Emailed This Website Before But Never Get A Reply From Anyone.
I Thought There Would Have Been Stuff On Healthy Living As It Is A Very Important Thing In All Our Lives. It Should Have A Piece On The Front Page.
I Was Looking For Information Regarding Your Customer Service Charter, Mission Statement And Codes Of Conduct
Info On Oxford Island.
Information On Bin Collection In Waringstown
Information On What’s On Was Outdated Substantially No Insight As To Regular Meetings Or Events Within The Craigavon Area Involving Any Groups Or Organisations
Looking For Up-To-Date Funding Information Offered By The Council.
My Blue Bin Is To Be Emptied On Easter Tuesday? But I See It Is A Bank Holiday, And Now I Don’t Know When It Will Be Empty? And I Don’t Buy Newspapers.
Neighbourhood Renewal Minutes. They Are Available Online But Not Accessible Through The Council's Website.
New Regulations For Disposing Of Waste At Amenity Sites
Opening Hours Of Cascades
Opening Times For Leisure Centres, In Particular Public Swimming Times
Opening Times Of Civic Centre Offices Specifically The Hours Of The Births Deaths And Marriages Office.
Our Children Had A Great Day At The Water Sports Ctr. In June And Wan To Return There By Bus From Belfast As There Are Too Many For One Car. So..... How To Get There Would Be A Great Link!! ... Don’t U Think!!!???
Pages Not Found, Links Failed
Planning Details For A Domestic Wind Turbine
Planning Permission
Progress Of Planning Application Through Schedule Of Recommendations
Rates Information 07/08
Recycling
Should Be More Info On Drinking Spots
Site Too Much Of A PR Rather Than Customer (Rate Payer) Focus
Suitable Employment
Tanaghmore Bird Fair
Telephone Number
The 2007 Dates For The Brown Bin Collection To Stop. The Leaflet On The Site Is For 2006. The Printed 2006 Version Had The Service Stopping For January And February. The 2007 Printed Version Doesn't Have The Brown Bin Mentioned.
There Was No Information On The Opening Times Of The Swimming Pools. The Swimming Pools Should Have There Own Web Site To Allow New Customers To See What Is Available To Them. I Was Very Disappointed In The Standard Of The Web-Site.
To Inquire Why Large Domestic Items Were Not Collected From A Request 2 Months Ago On Line
Tree Height Between Houses
Wade Exhibition
Wanted To Find Out Who Mayor Is
Was Looking For Contact Details For Lurgan Show But No Details Given On Website To Get Schedule For Entries
Watersports Courses At Craigavon Lakes
Were Do I Apply For A Fireworks Licence
What The Council Actually Does
Where The Tip Is Located To Take Rubbish To. Only Shows Recycling Centres
N=54
1.6 EASE OF USING THE WEBISTE
Finding the website easy to use was the experience of 44% of visitors, with 20% finding it ‘very easy’ to use and 24% finding it ‘quite easy’ to use. Just 24% found using the website ‘not easy’ to use. There was little difference in the response to this question between the survey periods (January – June 2007 and July – December 2007).
Table 4 presents the reasons, on a verbatim basis, why some visitors (n=33) found the website difficult to use.
Table 4 Reasons Why Visitors Found The Website ‘Not Easy’ To Use (N=33)Cookstown Borough Council Web Site Is A Good Example
Could Not Find The Information I Required
Fairly Ok
Finding Things Very Difficult, Too Much Guess Work
I Have Accessed This Site From The Direct.Gov.Uk Site. It's A Maze Of Websites And Information.
Images Used For Text Make Text Hard To Use. The Vertical Scroll Bar On The Home Page Is Unnecessary And I Couldn't Enlarge Text Anywhere.
Looks Poor Quality And Impossible To Navigate. Not User Friendly. Information Is Out Of Date.
No Clear Links
No Clear Links On Home Page
Not Very User Friendly Or Accessible, Links Don’t Appeal Or Jump Out, Even Basic Things Like Dog Licensing Is Long Awkward Link To Find
Not Welcoming, Not Intuitive. Poor Information Content Regarding Tourism
Only Gives Telephone Numbers Of Departments But No Separate Webpage That I Could Find
Out Of Date
Poorly Designed, Content Only Regularly Changed In A Few Areas (E.G. Jobs), Very Poor Compared To Other Councils Websites.
The Info I Was Looking Wasn't Where I Thought It Should Have Been. Maybe A More Thorough Menu Would Help. I Was Looking Under The Civic Centre Info But The Phone No I Needed Was In Contacts
The Menu Needs To Be More Clear And In Larger Text. Additionally I Would Suggest That The Menu Was Placed Down The Left Hand Column.
The On-Line Application Form Did Not Allow Me To Save My Application Form. Then Tried To Apply By Sending An Email To Requesting An Application Form But This Didn't Work Either.
Very Poor Front Page - The Images Top Left Mean Nothing Without Words And The Links At The Bottom Are Ambiguous. Much Better To Go On A 'What Do You Want To Achieve Approach'. The Site Seems To Assume That You Know What Each Department Does.
Very Poor Navigation & Little Content
Couldn't Find Information.
I Wanted To Find Out About The Fireworks Display At Halloween. The Layout Of The Text In The Events Section Is Terrible. It Is Very Difficult To Work Out Which Text Belongs To Which Date.
I Reported This Last Year As Well And It Still Hasn't Been Changed.
Limited Information
Looks Awful And Has A Bad Search And Poor Links.
Lots Of Links Simply Take You To The Search Engine Rather Than Actually Providing The Information
Messy Layout – Text / Menus Don't Fit Screens Etc
No Map
Not Enough Info
Not Very Intuitively Arranged
Pretty Average. Could Be More Professional But Then Again Craigavon Borough Council Leaves A Lot To Be Desired.
The Images On The Front Page Take Up Room And Have No Written Explanation Below Or In Them. The Menu At The Bottom Is Small And Non-Expandable Meaning That Clicks Can Be Wasted Trying To Find Which Department Or Link Will Yield What You Want.
The Information I Needed Was Not There.
Writing Very Small, Not Easy To Navigate And Unappealing
Your Website Isn't Fully Navigable - Scroll Down Bar On Right Doesn't Enable Scroll Down To Full Menu Of Links At The Bottom.
1.7 ACCESSING INFORMATION
Visitors were asked how they would normally find information on Council services. In response, just under half (45%) said they would use the Council’s website, with 28% ringing the Council offices, and 19% using the local newspaper. The pattern of response to this question was consistent across the survey periods.
1.8 SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVING THE WEBSITE
Thirty one percent (31%) of visitors made suggestions on how the website could be further improved, and these are listed on a verbatim basis in Table 5 below.
Table 5 Suggestions For Improving Website (N=45)Simpler Navigation, Some Basic Information On What The Community Is Doing Or Involved In, Things That Would Interest Residents Or Even Potential Residents Are Lacking
Complete Revamp. Up-To-Date Information Is Vital.
Could Be Re Designed By A Proper Web Designer But Designed In A Way That The Information Is Quick And Easy To Find. Loose The Scroll Bars.
Council Is For The Better Of The Communities And Be Socially Inclusive For All. There Are No Mention Of Any Special Services Or Special Rates To Council Owned Facilities For Those Who Have Autism Yet In Belfast And Lisburn Council Do Advertise And Welcome These Groups.
Does Not Need To Be Improved-Very Clear And Easy To Find Anything.