EUKN - European Urban Knowledge Network - Government must better adapt Internet sites to its citizens

Government must better adapt Internet sites to its citizens

Introduction

Government overestimates the computer competence of its citizens. This is the conclusion of research undertaken by the University of Twente and the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration (Belastingdienst). For the first time in Europe, researchers have tested citizens under laboratory conditions while they consulted government sites. The people tested were asked to perform nine comprehensive searches which the authorities had expected to be completed successfully. A significant number of the 109 people tested proved not to possess the necessary skills.

Proposition

Can citizens find their way around government sites?

Description

A representative sample of inhabitants of the Twente region was tested, during the summer of 2007, on their ability to consult government sites. Organisations such as CBS and SCP test abilities through the use of surveys. This is less valid than undertaking performance tests in a laboratory. The research was conducted at the behest of the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations as part of the research programme 'ICT and Governmental Organisations'. This programme is a collaboration between the University of Twente and the Tax and Customs Administration. The researcher’s advice to the government is to better adapt their sites to the search habits of their citizens.

Conclusions

The test focused on four different skills. The percentage of test persons who successfully completed the tasks was calculated per task.

80 percent of the test persons were successful in the category of operational skills. These were defined by the researchers as basic skills such as using an internet browser, online forms and search engines;
72 percent of the participants were successful in the area of formal skills. These were defined by the researchers as 'navigating the Internet while retaining a sense of orientation';
Information skills – the ability to search for, select and to evaluate information delivered a score of 62 percent;
The result of strategic skills was poor. A mere 25 percent of the test persons were able to complete the task. Here, the researchers looked at how people reach a specific goal by means of the Internet. For example: Finding financial information on which to base personal decisions, or that a citizen is able to formulate a preference for a political party based on information gained from a government site.

Not any difference in skills was discovered between men and women. The test also demonstrated that the so-called 'digital generation’ − the young, did not perform significantly better than the older participants. This confounds the popular theory that the problem of the lack of digital skills will disappear of its own accord as older generations die out.

Contact info

Research programme 'ICT en Overheidsorganisaties'
PO Box 217
7500 AE Enschede
The Netherlands
Phone: +31-(0)534892418
Fax: +31-(0)534894259

Publication date

Project finished

01/04/2008

Researcher

Prof. dr. J. van Dijk & A. van Deursen, MA

Links

Visit the site of the research programme ‘ICT en overheidsorganisaties' ('ICT and Governmental Organisations) of the University of Twente and the Tax and Customs Administration.Read the press release of the research (in Dutch)

Download the researchers' report: 'Digitale vaardigheden van Nederlandse burgers' (PDF, NL, 520 kB)

Document type

research

Themes

Urban Policy > Economy knowledge & employment

Keywords

Digital services