SOCITM (Society of Information Technology Management)
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Better connected 2014 preview #2: waste and recycling
Dos and don’ts of presenting waste and recycling information and transactions on local authority websites
Some ‘dos and don’ts’ for presenting information and transactions concerning waste and recycling on council websites are set out in the second of a series of curtain-raisers for the publication on 3 March of Better Connected 2014, this year’s edition of Socitm’s annual survey of all council websites.
The advice comes in the form of reviewers’ comments describing the experience of two specific waste and recycling interactions - reporting fly-tipping and reporting a missed bin.
Questions reviewers asked included: Can I report dumped rubbish online, and see if it has already been reported? Is there a choice of options to indicate precise location (map, postcode, photograph, coordinates, nearest address/landmark)? Does the home page link me directly to the task? Am I told what to expect next after reporting a missed collection? Can I check what day my bin is usually collected? Does the council offer to remind me to put my bin out?
Presentation of the fly-tipping task was one of a number of areas in the 2014 Better connected survey tested exclusively on mobile devices (Apple or Android smartphones), while reporting a missed bin was reviewed on desktop devices.
Take a look at the waste and recycling preview
Across the whole Better connected survey, reviewers had twice as satisfactory an experience using desktops to complete tasks as they did on mobile devices, and this difference shows up clearly in two the waste & recycling tasks tested, with ‘report a missed bin’ performing twice as well as ‘report fly-tipping’. With usage of mobile devices to access council websites increasing rapidly – up to 36% of visits in December according to Socitm’s Website Performance Service data – this needs to become a prime area of focus for council web teams.
Commentary on other service areas covered by Better connected 2014 will published on a weekly basis in the run up to the launch.
The Better connected report for 2014 will be published on March 3 on Socitm’s website, and can be accessed free of charge by any employee of a council that subscribes to Socitm Insight.
