Support resource based on standards for accessible e-Government transactional services

Highlights

• E-Government services must be accessible and well-designed, and should follow established standards.

• Citizens often have to fill out online forms electronically in order to carry out administrative procedures.

• Web accessibility standards, supplemented by official e-Government design patterns, must be applied.

• A checklist is presented as an example of best-practices evaluation method for assessing government transactional e-Services.

Abstract

As the world moves towards an information society, it is not possible to consider the concept of e-Government that is restricted to the ability of just a few. At present, it is common to have to fill out forms electronically in order to carry out administrative procedures. The web interfaces of public transactional e-Services must be accessible by system users, regardless of whether they are disabled or not, according to the regulatory framework. This accessibility is not always taken into consideration in online forms in a process flow. One possible reason for this is the fact that guides are not available to assist in the design and evaluation of their accessibility. It is necessary for the transactional processes on Government e-Service websites to be accessible and well designed, in accordance with the current standards. In order to achieve this goal, the standard Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) must be complied with, according to legislation. However, these guidelines do not cover many of the obstacles faced by people with disabilities, as well as the general public, while filling out web forms, thus leaving accessibility problems undetected and unsolved. For this reason, web accessibility standards are not enough and should be supplemented by official government design patterns focused on transactional e-Services and online forms. In this article, we propose a support resource, which includes the accessibility criteria to be followed while designing and evaluating government transactional e-Service websites that incorporate online forms in the process flow. For the purpose of evaluating the reliability of the method and explaining it, a study was carried out on a sample of Spanish government e-Services used for making appointments in order to detect accessibility and design problems; this is presented as an example of good practices.

Introduction

There are barriers to web accessibility, which deny the right of People with Disabilities (PWDs) to access content on public-sector websites and Internet services, even though equal access is mandatory for e-Government websites in most countries. This legislation is important for everyone, including those who do not currently have any disability. A digital society can only be complete when citizens have access, and this access must include persons with disabilities. Despite the numerous efforts by various governments, universal web accessibility is still a global issue. Data indicates that a vast number of public websites continue to present serious barriers to accessibility [1].

While these barriers mostly affect users with disabilities, numerous other user groups are at risk of exclusion. The number of PWDs is very large. One billion people, or 15% of the world's population, experience some form of disability. One-fifth of the estimated global population, or between 110 million and 190 million people, experience significant disabilities [2].

It is not possible to consider the concept of e-Government in which the ability to receive information is restricted in some way. Interactive technology is becoming the native language of newer generations of citizens, including people with and without disabilities, who require access to as many e-Services as possible in an inclusive and user-friendly way.

The citizens input data by filling forms, and this is the reason why it is important to avoid barriers of accessibility in this element. The versatility of web forms has made them an important interface for interacting with our public institutions. In its 2015 report on the use of e-Government, OCDE states that 33% of individuals have filled out administrative forms electronically and 78% of businesses have filled out a form online [3].

The population in Europe is becoming increasingly older, and the proportion of senior citizens who need assistance in their daily life will continue to rise in the coming years. Between 2016 and 2080, the elderly will account for an increasing percentage of the total population: those aged 65 years or older will account for 29.1% of the EU-28’s population by 2080, compared with just 19.2% in 2016 [4]. With ageing, disabilities develop, which imply the emergence of accessibility barriers that prevent the elderly from accessing government e-Services if they are not fully accessible.

Evaluation methods play a useful role in ensuring the accessibility of e-Government websites related to public administration. Public policies for web accessibility should consider such tools, and regulate and promote their use [5]. Therefore, it is important to study evaluation methods that enable the evaluation of e-Government services comprised of transactions using online forms. With the goal of tackling this issue, this work starts by pondering if evaluation processes consider accessibility in online forms found in process flows. By following an exploratory research method [6], a variety of relevant studies and works are analysed. Although online forms in the process flow are an essential element used by individuals when carrying out administrative tasks, they are also likely to present accessibility barriers. The results of this study show that while studies that analyse the accessibility of online forms according to the WCAG criteria do exist, they do not evaluate the accessibility of online forms found in process flows. In other words, no studies that specifically assessed the accessibility of online forms in a process flow could be found. In order to solve this issue, a support resource is proposed, which would assist in evaluating the accessibility of online forms found in process flows. Using this resource, we presented an evaluation of a sample of Spanish government e-Services.

This paper is organized as follows. Section 2 offers a panoramic view of the various aspects related to both this work and other relevant studies. An analysis of the WCAG 2.0 for online forms and the official government design patterns for form flow is presented in Section 3. In addition, Section 3 provides a support resource for the design and evaluation of transactional e-Services and online forms. To demonstrate the applicability of the proposed support resource, Section 4 discusses the evaluation of a sample of the Spanish Government's e-Services using the support resource. Finally, the conclusions are discussed.