SOCITM reveals which services are to be reviewed in its 2016/17 Better Connected survey

Better Connected website - Image credit: SOCITM

SOCITM has announced which digital services it will review in this year’s Better Connected survey.

The annual survey looks at councils’ online performance, with reviewers typing in search terms and using the websites as a member of the public would to see how easy it is to find information and complete common transactions.

The 2016/17 ‘top tasks’ are selected from areas that have high visitor numbers or services that are important for another reason, such as a change in legislation.

This year the first task to be assessed will be applying for a building warrant, which SOCITM said it expects to begin looking at in November.

The survey is UK-wide and not every type of council is assessed for every task, while some tasks are specifically chosen to be completed on a mobile phone instead of a computer.

In addition to building warrants, Scottish local authorities will be evaluated on ease of booking a bulky waste collection on a mobile phone, finding care for an older person and applying for a business licence.

Other services will be evaluated based on how quickly and easily information can be found using Google searches and the website’s own site navigation on both desktop and mobile devices.

Following the building regulation approval assessment, SOCITM says most of the other 'top task' surveys will follow between December and March.

In relation to timings for the rest of the survey, it states: “We expect to follow the same timing as last year with the mobile and search/navigation and A-Z being done in March/April.

“Accessibility will be slightly later this time (last year it was done in November/December), and will post information when this has been agreed with Digital Accessibility Centre.”

More information about the approach and scoring for can be found on the Better Connected blog.