Average overall score for 24 government entities is 78% while DEWA leads with 93%
UAE, July 16, 2013: Dubai Smart Government Department (DSG) has announced the quality evaluation results of Dubai government entities’ websites for 2012-2013 which averaged 78 per cent. Dubai Electricity and Water Authority’s (DEWA) website came first among all government websites with 93 per cent, followed by Dubai Customs’ website with 91 per cent, while the websites of Dubai Roads & Transport (RTA), Awqaf and Minors Affairs Foundation (AMAF) and Dubai Police came third, fourth and fifth with around 89 per cent each.
As many as 24 government websites were evaluated for the period between October 2012 and January 2013. It is the first evaluation based on the latest version of the Government Websites Guidelines, which were issued by DSG in 2011 under the title Government Websites Excellence Model.
The details of the results showed that the average overall score of the 24 websites evaluated stood at 78 per cent. While two websites achieved 90 per cent, nine websites achieved 80 per cent to 89 per cent, nine others between 70 per cent and 79 per cent and four less than 70 per cent. Average overall score
As for the evaluation results of each website separately in terms of accessibility, two out of 24 government websites achieved very good results of over 90 per cent. Dubai Police came first in this component at 94 per cent, while 14 other websites achieved between 80 per cent and 89 per cent and eight others between 70 per cent and 79 per cent.
In terms of usability and design, three websites achieved very good results at over 90 per cent. RTA came first with 92 per cent, while eight websites scored between 80 per cent and 89 per cent, six websites between 70 per cent and 79 per cent. The remaining seven websites scored less than 70 per cent.
As far as content is concerned, three websites achieved very good results at over 90 per cent. DEWA came first with 97 per cent, while 11 websites scored between 80 per cent and 89 per cent, four others between 70 per cent and 79 per cent and the remaining 6 websites less than 70 per cent.
As regards the policies component, five websites achieved excellent results in terms of abiding by the guidelines. Dubai Airport Free Zone Authority, Dubai Customs, Dubai Smart Government, DEWA and Dubai Public Prosecution scored 100 per cent, while 10 websites scored over 90 per cent, five websites between 60 and 89 per cent and four less than 60 per cent.
In terms of the components of Government Websites Excellence Model, “accessibility” achieved the highest result at 82 per cent, followed by “policies” at 80 per cent, “content” at 77 per cent and finally “usability and design” at 76 per cent.
Commenting on these results, H.E. Ahmad Bin Humaidan, Director General of Dubai Smart Government said: “This evaluation is part of the ongoing efforts exerted by Dubai Smart Government to improve the quality of the government electronic presence on the worldwide web. We are pleased that the overall rate of the evaluation results of 24 Dubai government websites touched 78 per cent. Actually, the positive response of government entities to the latest version of the website guidelines is extremely encouraging and reflect the efforts exerted by the entities to keep upgrading the quality of their websites.”
Bin Humaidan added: “These guidelines issued by Dubai Smart Government have set a new target and a benchmark for government entities in their ongoing journey towards excellence. We sincerely believe that the compliance of these entities with the new guidelines has rendered Dubai Government’s electronic presence on the worldwide web effective and not a procedural step and will enhance the customer experience in our governmental websites leading to increased customer satisfaction and higher usage”.
Bin Humaidan urged the government entities to provide easy to use designs to enhance browsers’ experience and ensure that the content of their websites is vital, modern, accurate, pertinent and easy to read, considering that content is a decisive element for ensuring the success of a website to meet the needs and expectations of its users. He expressed his appreciations of all the Dubai Government entities that took the initiative of following the excellence model guidelines, wishing them not to take these results as a criticism of their websites but rather as a guideline for continuous quality improvements. He affirmed that Dubai Smart Government was currently expanding the evaluation and quality guidelines given in the Government Websites Excellence Model to include smart services in line with the initiative of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and the directives of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council, for transformation into smart government.
The Government Websites Excellence Model features a comprehensive array of guidelines aimed at building customer-focused websites. The model consists of 46 guidelines distributed for four components; namely, accessibility, usability and design, content and policies. Based on these components, Dubai Smart Government conducts its evaluations of Dubai Government’s websites once every two years with the aim of ensuring their compliance with the criteria related to the guidelines.
