Content Analysis of Government Websites - Coursework Example

CONTENT ANALYSIS OF GOVERNMENT WEBSITES Content Analysis of Government Websites Customer Name: Lecturer Name: Date: Letter of transmittal Your Address Name of recipient Recipients Address Dear Dr. Name: The reason for writing the content analysis of government websites is to provide an objective analysis and review of the websites owned and managed by the government of Australia or its agencies such as the local authorities. The web sites content analysis is performed using several metrics, in order to arrive at unbiased conclusion. The review was assigned in April 2011, which is the period, during which analysis was done. The report provides a recap of what is offered in several websites across all arms of the government, judiciary, legislature and executive. The findings are purposed to offer impartial critique of the contents of the websites, such as correctness, availability, dynamism, Accuracy, form, frequency, Breadth, time horizon, origin, completeness, relevance, and timeless of the content offered in government websites. The researchers envision that implementation of research findings shall foster acceptance of using government’s websites, hence more people visiting the site, resulting to achievement of the desired objectives, such as e-governance. The review is limited by the fact that the there are several government websites, with divergent characteristics. In conclusion, content presentation in government websites is riddled with several challenges, which have contributed to low hit counts, hence the need for a paradigm shift, in content presentation in government websites. Sincerely, Your Signature Your typed name Your title ABSTRACT The paper strives to critically examine, audit and appraise the content presentations in the websites operated and directly owned by the government bodies in Australia. This is aimed providing an in-depth objective analysis and review of the government websites to determine their conformance to several defined web analytics and metrics. While appreciating that content is the foundation in the web presence, in essence the research focuses on auditing several imperative content related features of the websites such domain auditing search engine position, design and navigation, corporate, corporate id and design, context auditing, navigation and clicks, content delivery, customer focus, the marketing mix and commerce, investor relations, customization, corporate responsibility, community, convergence, conventions, the marketing mix, web strategy, site layout, communication, cross promotion, compliance, connection and currency. Using purposive sampling research methodology, the research focused on the websites of the government, which are concerned with judicial, executive and legislative functions. From the study findings, a small percentage of government websites offer some sort of privacy policy or security policy. Moreover, most of the content analysis reveals negligible language translation features on the websites, another small fraction include commercial advertising as part of their content. Content accuracy, relevance and being up-to date of most sites revealed several shortcomings while design and navigation, corporate, corporate id and design, context auditing, navigation and clicks, content delivery, customer focus, the marketing mix and commerce, investor relations, customization was also an issue. The research findings are envisioned to assist governmental organizations, to achieve the desired strategic e-governance objectives. CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION The shift towards content delivery using websites has gained global acceptance in the past decade. Governments have not been left aside. Several government ministries, departments, organizations, research institutions and even the military have embraced the concept of the websites. In Australia, the every ministry have a web presence; however, the effectiveness and the efficiency of the websites in attaining the strategic objectives has envisioned by their implementers have been put to question. Whereas most government bodies implement websites in line with attaining e-governance strategies, some sites have been able to succeed, while others have failed to meet the desired objectives. This has been attributed to content delivery, by the sites. The research therefore critically analyses the content of the websites of the Australian government. Government bodies put in place websites to foster E-government, which is the online delivery of information and services through the Internet or other digital means. In Australia, several government agencies have embraced digital revolution. The government utilises online-based methodologies, in service delivery to the citizens by putting a wide range of materials including actual government services online, publications and databases online to enable the citizens and other interested parties to access. In the content analysis, several authors have developed diverse metrics, with some authors adopting a content convergent approach, to limit the scope of content analysis coverage to Content Migration, Content Conversion, Web Content Audit and Content Gap Analysis. In this approach, the issues given foremost consideration are questions concerned with if the key messages are immediately evident, if the main purpose of the site is immediately clear from the home page, call to action, spelling, grammar and typographical errors. Others are content freshness, the ease of scanning and understanding the content, ease of finding the contact information and if the website offer a number of ways to reach the organization and ways of editing the site. Other considerations include analysis if there is a simpler way to ask questions, the sufficiency of the content, the ease and possibility of the site owner making changes, photographs and videos having corresponding titles, and the source code having search engine-friendly HTML titles, key words and descriptions. However, most researches prefer a divergent content analysis which is founded on analysing several factors, attributes and characteristics of a web site such as domain auditing, search engine position, context auditing, customer focus, navigation and clicks , corporate, corporate id and design, site layout, design and navigation, corporate responsibility, cross promotion. Other considerations are compliance, currency, the marketing mix and commerce, conventions, community, communication, customization, connection, convergence and website’s currency. The study adopts the later approach. 1.1 Background to the study Governments globally have widely embraced the utilization of Information Technology in their operations, one such utilization is the use of web sites to reach the desired citizens. However, the utilization of web sites by the governments has been a bag of mixed fortunes. An important area in online presence is the content of the website, in a rush to be online, government organizations have concentrated on having functional websites, without giving due consideration to the content in the sites. The results have been challenging with some sites failing to achieve the desired organizational objectives. This is exemplified by the low hit count, is some sites, which offer essential e-government services. This highlights the magnitude of the relevance of content consideration on government websites, hence the need for content analysis. 1.2 Statement of the problem The utilization of web sites for content delivery by the government and government agencies in Australia has received immense consideration. Most of the government websites have been implemented to serve the citizens, however the appropriateness of the content delivered towards the attainment of the government’s strategic purpose, vision and vision has been put to question. The characteristics of the content availed in terms of correctness, availability, dynamism, Accuracy, form, frequency, Breadth, time horizon, origin, completeness, relevance, and timeless has been an issue of contention by several researchers. Several studies and web site hit counts have suggested that fewer citizens that actually envisioned make use of the government websites. Governments continue to invest massively, on online presence, while the persons who expected to utilize the services, have not optimally utilised the service. It is therefore imperative to evaluate the website’s content, towards realisation of the envisioned objectives. 1.3 Purpose of the study The goal of the study is to evaluate the presentation of content in government’s websites, using several defined metrics. This study had the following general objective To develop an effective blueprint of the desired attributes and characteristics that can be used by the Australian government in it’s development and implementation of websites, to ensure that the content aids the government in realization of the desired goals and strategic objectives. 1.4 Specific objectives of the study The general objective of the study segregated up to the following specific objectives To determine the To establish the correlation that exists between government’s website content delivery and the utilization of the websites by citizens. To establish through diverse metrics such as community, customization, corporate responsibility, communication, connection, convergence, cross promotion, currency, compliance and correctness, availability, dynamism, Accuracy, form, frequency, Breadth, time horizon, origin, completeness, relevance, and timeless of the content offered in government websites . To proposition the optimum characteristics of the content offering that can enhance the utilization of government’s websites. 1.5 Research Questions The Australian government and several of its agencies continue to invest massive resources to ensure that they have online presence, the dynamics concerned with the content presented in the websites is therefore of concern. This study sought to answer the following questions: What are the optimum characteristics of the content offering that can enhance the utilization of government’s websites? What relationship exists between government’s website content delivery and the utilization of the websites by citizens? How does the governments websites score in terms of correctness, availability, dynamism, Accuracy, form, frequency, Breadth, time horizon, origin, completeness, relevance, and timeless of the content offered. By using different metrics such as Community, Customization, Corporate responsibility, Communication, Connection, Convergence, Cross promotion, Currency and Compliance, what is the actual score of the government’s websites, vis-à-vis other websites? 1.6 Significance of the study The research findings are envisioned to have several contributions in the design and deployment of government websites. The findings of the study shall be beneficial to the government and government institutions; the concepts presented shall be utilized to effectively and accurately design the websites and present the content in a manner that fosters delivery, towards the attainment of the strategic objectives. Moreover, the findings shall enhance the appreciation of the websites as part of the government’s service delivery methodology, unlike the situation where websites are perceived to be independent. The achievement of the study objectives shall offer a blueprint, which can be followed by the government’s web designers. Furthermore, the research findings are significant in increasing the knowledge available on the services offered by the government through e-governance. 1.7 Assumptions of the study Assumptions made in the study were influenced by veracity and sensitivity. Veracity is the compliance to set facts, it is a opinion about the aptness of a theory, sensitivity is the perception or propensity to prevailing circumstances; the research has made several assumptions, the first assumption is that the websites sampled are a representative of the position of the government’s websites in Australia 1.8 Scope The research is constrained to Australian government websites. Australian government websites have the gov.au domain, which is managed by the Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO). The scope of the research is only limited to the gov.au which is the Second Level Domains (2LD) for government websites from .au which is the Top Level Domain (TLD) for Australia. The research considered websites from the three arms of governance, judiciary, legislature and executive. Read More