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Immigration site set for revamp |
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Canada's Immigration department is planning to revamp its website,
after two surveys revealed many people couldn't find what they were
looking for.
More than 3,000 visitors to the Citizenship and Immigration Canada
website and another 800 CIC employees shared
their views in the two separate surveys, conducted by EKOS Research
Associates earlier this year.
The results showed that while reliance on the CIC website is growing
(23.6 million visits in 2004) and most people find what they are
looking for, generally speaking they have difficulty finding it and are
left with unanswered questions.
The proportion of dissatisfied external users has dramatically increased over the past five years.
Complaints span all aspects of the service, including technical
problems, limited content, outdated information/posting delays, level
of language and difficult navigation.
Over half the respondents were able to find the information they were
looking for. However, the proportion of users who did not find what
they were looking for more than doubled over the past five years.
One-third of the visitors indicated feeling lost on the website and 22% reported not understanding all the information.
The duration of visits to the site has also dropped considerably. The
majority of visitors now spend less than 10 minutes on the site
compared to a near equal proportion who spent over 10 minutes in 2000.
Almost half of the employees reported receiving feedback from CIC
clients and/or external stakeholders who were referred to the website.
Some of the feedback included difficulty finding information/navigating
the site (39%) and difficulty understanding the information provided
(34%).
Only 23% indicated that they were generally satisfied with the site.
According to the Toronto Star, the immigration department is planning to conduct a thorough review of the site.
"We expect to have a work plan for improving the website in place by
the winter of 2006," a department spokesperson was quoted as telling
the Star.
The consultants who conducted the study made a number of precise recommendations, according to the Star.
They said that to make the site more effective and improve user satisfaction, the department should:
- Make it easier to use the online system for checking on the status of an application.
- Make sure the information on the status of applications and processing times is easier to obtain and more up to date.
- Provide more detailed and accurate information on such things as
procedures, the reasons for a delay in processing, requirements for
immigration and work permits, job opportunities in Canada and
definitions of immigration terms.
- Publish information in more than just French and English.
- Include a more powerful and precise search engine.
- Make contact information more accessible by providing email
addresses, telephone numbers and emergency telephone numbers to assist
those trying to reach immigration personnel and provide addresses and
telephone numbers of representatives abroad in embassies and consulates.
- Improve the website design to make it more user-friendly by adding more links and navigation tools.
- Include more questions and more detailed answers in the FAQ section.
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