UK Goverment Sites get a Further Hammering

The UK Government needs to improve the quality of its websites - everybody keeps telling them so. Perhaps it's the amount of money known to be in the public sector for online services at the moment, or a genuine frustration with something potentially critical to society, but all sorts of consultancies have been taking a pop at government e-services.

The latest criticism comes following a series of tests by Keynote Systems. The internet performance company analysed 35 sites and found that more than half were too cumbersome and slow-to-load for people accessing them with dial-up connections, while seven out of ten had browser compatibility problems.

Another half had substantial numbers of broken links, including UKOnline.gov.uk, the Government's own gateway to information and services. The British Army site had most with 148 broken links.

'There were examples of "best practice", particularly among new sites or portals established specifically to deliver e-government services to the general public, alongside government Web sites which had a number of integrity issues such as poor image optimisation, large pages and broken links,' Keynote concluded.

While recent analyses of use show that speed is not everything, it is salutary to be reminded how even the most basic usability considerations go on being flouted.

All change at the top for System Concepts
Source: System Concepts Ltd, 3 July 2009
 
Leslie Fountain has been promoted to joint Managing Director of leading usability consultancy System Concepts.

Life in UCD immortalised in fiction: you couldn't make it up
Source: UN, 2 July 2009
 
Sarah Herman's fictitious book on life in a user-centred design company has hit the shelves and The Guardian's book pages...

Interfaces Magazine - Issue 79: The Education Issue
Source: Interaction Group, 1 July 2009
 
The latest issue of Interfaces is now available as a free download from the Interaction Website.

Two new Behavioural research Tools from Noldus
Source: UN, 30 June 2009
 
Tool updates make on-site behavioural data collection easier.

Cell Phones that Listen and Learn
Source: MIT Technology Review, 29 June 2009
 
New software tracks a user's behavior by monitoring everyday sounds.

Top Six Don’ts for Usability Testing
Source: FutureNow Inc., 27 June 2009
 
Six tips for creating quality usability tests to ensure useful feedback from testers.

Usability: ‘Lovely software. But I can’t work it’
Source: FT.com, 26 June 2009
 
In a recent survey by Global Graphics, 77 per cent of office workers estimate they lose up to one hour a week because business software is difficult to use.

And what do you do?
Source: Dexo Design, 25 June 2009
 
How do you describe your job role? Here are the results of a recent 'Preferred UX/UI Title' Poll.

Most Doctors cite Usability as critical to Electronic Health Record Adoption
Source: TMCNet, 24 June 2009
 
It's all about 'meaningful use'.

Glossy monitors look good but can hurt
Source: QUT, 23 June 2009
 
A new advisory cites research which suggests high gloss monitors make users sit awkwardly.