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DWP Research Report 679

Literature review to inform the future digitisation of Jobcentre Plus service delivery

13 August 2010

This wide-ranging literature review aims to provide an evidence-based foundation to help Jobcentre Plus:

• understand and respond to the current and projected levels and means of access to the Internet;
• improve the ‘customer appetite’ and willingness to use the Internet, particularly among people who are potentially digitally excluded; and
• learn lessons from the way in which online services have been provided by ‘leading edge’ organisations as well as from the ways e-Government has developed internationally and in the UK.

The review considers the commitment to increased use of the internet by Jobcentre Plus as a means of communicating with its customers (mainly through the DirectGov website). It notes the growth in access to the internet via broadband and increasingly mobile phone technology but highlights some of the problems that reliance on the internet brings. In particular:

• the need to ensure web content is accessible to disabled people - for a discussion of this see The Consumer Expert Group report into the use of the Internet by disabled people: barriers and solutions
• the need to continue to address the needs of those who are not computer literate, such as older customers
• the lack of web access in Scotland and rural areas
• questions on the security of personal data

The review notes that:

“....many users of government websites report that information is often not presented clearly and sites are (often extremely) difficult to navigate. In addition, the experience of using many websites is one where accessing the service online did not enable transactions or requests to be completed without telephone or postal follow-up. The fact that the reality of the online experience does not always meet users’ expectations often leads to confusion and frustration and ultimately may lead to disengagement."

Note the Government currently uses ten criteria for gathering feedback on their websites. They identify that UK government websites ought to:

1. be up to date;
2. be designed to help people find out information;
3. be easy to use and clearly written;
4. be designed for all kinds of people;
5. be as good as private sector sites;
6. be designed to help people get things done quickly;
7. be designed to ensure people can trust what they say;
8. use icons, video and audio;
9. help people find out what other users of government services think; and
10. be able to be recommended to friends or family.

More information

• consumer expert group report into the use of the internet by disabled people: barriers and solutions
• consumer expert group report into the use of the internet by disabled people: barriers and solutions - Government response
• dwp research report 679

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