By the end of 2005, all local authorities in England should be capable of online service delivery. This represents a mammoth effort by local and central government, and an investment of £60 million into delivery of the local e-government National Projects. Already, the benefits of digital transformation are being seen in our everyday lives but, unfortunately, these benefits have not extended to all groups in society. According to a recent study of 78 local authorities commissioned by the Improvement & Development Agency (IDeA), most e-government services fail to reach socially excluded groups. These groups range from low-income earners who do not have the financial means to access the internet, to those who have physical disabilities or learning difficulties and cannot use online technology unaided. Ironically, because of mobility and literacy issues, and the need to access social services in a convenient manner, it is often these socially excluded groups who stand to benefit the most from digital transformation of local government services.
So how can we, as e-government professionals, better understand the needs of these groups and tailor services to meet their needs? A good starting point is to observe the best practice of local authorities that have already extended the benefits of technology to socially excluded groups.
Several authorities interviewed for the IDeA study have supplemented access to the internet at public internet access points and libraries by providing internet kiosks in council offices, community and leisure centres, shopping centres and on main roads. These kiosks enable users to view a selection of web-style pages containing council information at no cost, and often allow users to send emails or video mail from touch screen keyboards and built-in web cameras.
Although expensive (annual rental and maintenance fees at an external location can exceed £18,000), kiosks have the potential to broaden geographical access to technology and government services. Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council currently employs a network of 10 kiosks. In their first month, some kiosks received more than 1000 visitors, with more than a quarter of all pages read concerning e-government. Once the full network of 38 kiosks is established, Doncaster Council hopes that 63 per cent of the borough's population will be within an eight-minute walk of an indoor or outdoor kiosk.
Other authorities have recognised the benefits of digital television, which has the potential to enable PC non-owners to access e-government services in their own homes. Digital TV is a low-cost option for all parties involved: it can now cost councils as little as £10,000 a year to provide interactive services on three channels, and information and transactions through these channels are free or inexpensive for householders, with Sky digital households paying between 1p and 5p per minute to use the system. Some authorities, including Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council, have subsidised the installation of digital TV equipment in socially excluded neighbourhoods.
Beyond physically connecting socially excluded groups to e-government services, local authorities need to provide online content that meets the needs of diverse communities and addresses issues of social exclusion. Often, the development of relevant content can be enhanced by the participation of people experiencing social exclusion. The Leicester Disability Information Network and the Kirklees INtouch digital TV project are good examples of how local government can create, as one interviewee described it, "content with communities rather than for communities".
There are still areas of digital inclusion where examples of good practice are scarce. Accessibility – whether a website is easy to use for all those who visit it – is a particular problem area. Government guidelines suggest that local authorities should aim to achieve Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) standards at AA level, in regard to how their websites function and how well they meet the requirements of using adaptive or alternative technology. A SOCITM review of 468 local authority websites this year found that no council met this standard. Stumbling blocks in this area include confusion about the interpretation of standards, and the fact that compliance cannot be tested through automated tools alone – specialist knowledge is required.
Similarly, readability – how easy a website is to understand – is a concern because of low literacy levels among socially excluded groups. According to a 2003 survey by DfES, 24 per cent of people aged 16 to 65 and receiving means-tested benefits lacked basic literacy skills, and the same was true for 37 per cent of people with poor or very poor health. In an online context, many lower-literacy users cannot understand text by glancing at it, they do not scan text, and they experience difficulties when using ‘search’ functions. A SOCITM readability study of more than 50 local authorities found that only eight per cent achieved benchmark WAI standards. Furthermore, conflicts between readability and accessibility – such as one authority’s need to remove non-English web content in order to gain Royal National Institute of the Blind accessibility accreditation – further exacerbate the problem.
In order to extend the benefits of e-government services to all residents, it is vital that best practice is shared amongst local authorities. At present in the UK, there is no single knowledge-sharing initiative that currently addresses this particular area. However, the IDeA Knowledge (www.idea.gov.uk) and Social Exclusion Unit (www.socialexclusion.gov.uk) websites are a good source of best practice case studies, and technology vendors and personal networks may be effective referral points for tracking down other authorities that are leading the way in digital inclusion and learning from their example.
The 'eGovernment: Reaching socially excluded groups?' report is available for free download from the IDeA Knowledge website at www.idea.gov.uk/publications. To request a free printed copy, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Autor: John Hayes
Quelle: eGov monitor, 04.10.2005
