A big thank you and well done to everyone who contributed to a great event last Thursday.
30 people from Government executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) came to find out about website auditing.
Attendees were given an introduction by Alex Butler, COI’s Transformational Strategy Director. Alex told how this work came about as the result of the National Audit Office (NAO) report Government on the Internet (July 2007). The NAO report found that:
- a quarter of government organisations did not know the costs of their websites
- 16% had no data about how much their websites were being used
- quality standards had only improved slightly since 2002
Alex explained how the audits form part of a package of improvements offered by COI including standard measures for website quality, value for money and usability. These measures form part of the requirement by the Public Accounts Committee for greater accuracy and transparency in how the Government manages its investment in digital media.
Those present then watched a short clip of COI Chief Executive Mark Lund’s presentation at the Internet Advertising Bureau event IAB Engage 2009. Mark describes the work COI is doing with the Cabinet Office and other parts of Government in setting standards and evaluating the cost-effectiveness government websites.
Richard Foan, ABCe’s Managing Director, then talked through the details of website auditing. Richard emphasised the need for standards in an industry where there are so many different methods, metrics and tools to choose from. He explained that ABCe are an independent non-profit organisation, auditing to industry standards. ABCe certify that government websites comply with the standards and measure website usage in a consistent way.
The question and answer session that followed was lively and yielded some useful actions:
- We are planning an FAQ page on the COI website based on the questions asked
- Technical guidance will be available from the planned FAQ page but also from this page: TG116a ABCe Audit (PDF, 541 kB) and Guide to Google Analytics Mirror Method (PDF, 157 kB)
- Follow up meetings will be arranged with those who requested them
- Slides from the event are available from this page (PDF, 1.5 MB)
- Access to the Government Website Database is available by contacting graham.phillips@coi.gsi.gov.uk
Thanks to all those who attended, I hope you found it useful. And thanks particularly to Linda who worked the floor extremely well and made a star entrance!
For those who missed the event, we are planning to do similar events in the future. But in the meantime hopefully this blog article gives a flavour of what took place.
