Public attitudes to the DfT website
Background
This report summarises answers to an online user survey of the DfT website that took place over five days in October 2005. Visitors to the website answered about 24 questions. Personal details of visitors that responded to the questionnaire are not included.
2005 survey main points
- Ninety people responded to the survey i.e. there were 90 'respondents'.
- The three stakeholder groups that had the largest number of respondents were:
1. Central and local government and authorities
2. Businesses or transport operators and
3. The general public.
- The three regions that had the largest numbers of respondents were:
1. London and the South East
2. North and
3. The Midlands.
- 92% of respondents said they were very or quite likely to use the site again.
- 80% used the site at least on a weekly basis.
- 94% were interested in the website's latest information.
- 61% said the homepage helped them find what they wanted.
- 52% were not confident that using the left-hand links would get them what they wanted, 48% were.
- 58% were satisfied with the way content was organised, with 42% unsatisfied.
- 50% found it difficult or very difficult to find what they wanted on the site.
Results
Respondents were asked to select a particular option in response to each question. For some questions, multiple options could be selected. Responses are recorded as percentages below.
1. How often do you use the DfT website?
|
On a daily basis |
39% |
|
On a weekly basis |
40% |
|
On a monthly basis |
9% |
|
Occasionally |
9% |
2. How interested are you in the latest information and announcements from DfT? (Choose one of the following.)
|
Very interested |
56% |
|
Interested |
38% |
|
Not interested |
0% |
|
Not at all interested |
1% |
|
Depends on the topic |
4% |
3. Which of the following statement do you agree with? (You may select more than one.)
|
1. I find the documents on the website too long. |
1% |
|
2. I do not mind lengthy documents if they have the information I want. |
41% |
|
3. I prefer lengthy documents because they can communicate the complex information I want. |
12% |
|
4. I like a brief summary of a document to help me decide whether to read the full document. |
41% |
|
5. I prefer short documents. |
3% |
|
No response |
1% |
4. Do images help to break up lengthy documents?
|
Yes |
74% |
|
No |
20% |
|
No response |
6% |
5. Do you think that the DfT website makes good use of images?
|
Yes |
25% |
|
No |
59% |
|
No response |
16% |
6. How useful or not is the homepage in helping you find what you want? (You may select more than one.)
|
Very useful |
14% |
|
Useful |
47% |
|
Neither |
0% |
|
Not useful |
38% |
|
Not useful at all |
1% |
7. How confident are you that using the 'subject links' on the left side will lead you to the content you want?
|
Very confident |
42% |
|
Not confident |
57% |
|
No response |
1% |
8. On arriving at the DfT homepage, what methods do you use to find information you want?
|
Homepage links on the left side |
25% |
|
Homepage links on the right side |
4% |
|
What's new |
23% |
|
Search facility |
20% |
|
A-Z of contents |
8% |
|
Contact us |
1% |
|
Trial and error |
16% |
9. How often does the Search facility help you to find what you are looking for?
|
Every time |
1% |
|
A majority of times |
19% |
|
Sometimes |
39% |
|
Mostly not |
27% |
|
I rarely use the facility |
13% |
|
No response |
1% |
10. Do you find the choice of subjects on the homepage a suitable way of organising the content?
|
Yes |
58% |
|
No |
36% |
11. Overall, how easy or difficult is it for you to find what you are looking for?
|
Very easy |
6% |
|
Easy |
44% |
|
Difficult |
44% |
|
Very difficult |
6% |
12. How useful or not do you find the descriptive text found underneath links to content?
|
Very useful |
12% |
|
Useful |
60% |
|
Not useful |
24% |
|
Not useful at all |
2% |
|
No response |
2% |
|
Very useful |
12% |
13. How often or not do you use links from the DfT site to other websites?
|
Very often |
3% |
|
Often |
24% |
|
Not often |
62% |
|
Never |
10% |
14. Do you expect public services to be available on the DfT website? For example, booking a driving test or registering your car for an MOT?
|
Yes |
26% |
|
No |
70% |
|
No response |
3% |
15. Please select three of the following that would improve the usefulness of the site.
|
More information that summarises transport issues |
18% |
|
Better organisation of the content |
23% |
|
More distinction in the pages between the needs of different people such as businesses and academics |
15% |
|
More information relevant to your region |
11% |
|
Better written descriptions for pages and content |
17% |
|
More links to other transport-related websites |
13% |
|
More practical information such as applying for a driving test online |
2% |
16. What is the likelihood of you using the DfT site again? (Choose one of the following)?
|
Very likely |
89% |
|
Quite likely |
9% |
|
Quite unlikely |
2% |
|
Very unlikely |
0% |
18. For approximately how long have you been using the Internet?
|
Less than 6 months |
1% |
|
More than 6 months but less than 1 year |
2% |
|
More than 1 year but less than 2 years |
0% |
|
Between 2 years and five years |
15% |
|
More than five years |
81% |
19. In which region do you live?
|
London |
17% |
|
South East |
21% |
|
West Midlands |
4% |
|
East Midlands |
11% |
|
East |
7% |
|
South West |
9% |
|
Yorkshire and Humber |
9% |
|
North East |
7% |
|
North West |
3% |
|
Northern Ireland |
0% |
|
Scotland |
7% |
|
Wales |
2% |
|
Outside the UK - please specify |
2% |
20. Select any of the following descriptions that apply to you?
|
Local or regional government officer |
26% |
|
Central government officer or government agency worker |
12% |
|
Transport consultant |
13% |
|
Transport operator |
7% |
|
Manufacturer or goods producer |
1% |
|
Business service provider |
6% |
|
Academic, researcher, or student |
8% |
|
Journalist or media researcher |
3% |
|
An elected member of Parliament or local authority |
0% |
|
A member or employee of a group with an active interest in transport |
13% |
|
A member of the public but none of the above |
11% |
Other transport websites
Question 17 asked respondents: 'Please name one other website that you regularly visit because it has transport information.' Some websites were mentioned more than once and are listed below:
- AA transport planner
- Air Accident Investigation Branch
- Association for Commuter Transport
- Association of British Drivers
- Audit Commission
- pepipoo.com
- Chartered Institute for Logistics and Transport
- Civil Aviation Authority, CAA
- Directorate-General Energy and Transport
- Driver and Vehicle Licence Agency
- European New Car Assessment Programme
- Flyer Air Portal
- GO
- google search
- Guardian unlimited
- Health and Safety Executive
- Highway Agency
- Institute of Highway Engineers
- Institution of Highways and Transportation
- Lincoln County Council, Lincoln
- Local Authority Road Safety Officers Association
- Local Transport Today
- Manchester Council
- National Rail Enquiries
- National Statistics
- National Safety Cameras
- National Transportation Safety Board (US)
- Network Rail
- Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
- Office for Rail Regulation
- Oxford County Council
- Railnews.co.uk
- Regeneration and Renewal
- Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents
- South Eastern Trains
- Strategic Rail Authority
- Streetworks
- Track Safety Strategy Group
- Transport 2000
- Transport for London
- Transport Times
- Travel Wise
- UK Motoring Websites
- United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
- Vehicle and Operator Service Agency
- Welsh Assembly
