Reach Services

— Published August 29th, 2005  |  by David Moore   |  2 Comments

The site certainly has some explaining to do. The flagship project of Irish eGovernment provision, it is billed as the one place to go for all government services, with an emphasis on interaction.

For example, a key plank is registering so you won't have to enter your personal information every time you use the site to make an application for public services - the system will know you.

However, currently very few applications can be handled directly through the Reach Services site – in most cases you're directed to an agency or department site, or given the option to download a form. Which isn't quite as spiffy.

So currently, despite the site having 'Services' in its title, it mainly acts as clearing house for information, giving you the basics itself, and then directing you elsewhere for more details or interactivity.

Which is both a strength and a weakness. The information architecture and search are well-implemented, making it easy to find what you're looking for. However, once on the relevant page, the quality of the material is patchy, largely depending on which agency provided the information.

For example, the Sea Fishing Boat Registration information (copyright the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, we're told), is classic officialese - hard to follow and not user–focused. People looking to register their boat don't really care exactly which legislation covers this, they just want to know how to do it. So the following isn't going to help them any: 'Commercial sea fishing is regulated by the Fisheries Acts, 1959 to 2003. Any boat intended to be used for such fishing requires a licence under Section 222B of the Fisheries (Consolidation) Act 1959 (as amended and restated by Section 4 of the Fisheries (Amendment) Act 2003)'. (Unfortunately, the page linked to on the DCMNR site is no more useful.)

If the Reach Services site doesn't itself offer easily digestible information, and nor do the sites it links to, then it's really not performing much of a service.

But some Irish public sector sites do offer good information. Where there's a link to the OASIS site from the Reach Services site (for example, on the subject of dog control), you find much more comprehensive and well-written information there. Which raises the question of why you wouldn't go straight to OASIS in the first place.

Nonetheless, the infrastructure on which the Reach Services site is built is impressive – when the site is fully operational a range of applications, payments and interactions will be possible through the site.

But there are also some errors. Looking for Arts funding information I encountered a 'Page Not Found' message, which adds to the impression that this site isn't really a finished entity yet.

Accessibility is also suspect, with a separate 'accessible version' - seldom a good idea in our experience - containing as almost as many errors and problems as the main version.

So the site feels as if it's not quite ready yet. A box announcing the imminent arrival of ALEC (Application for Life Event Certifications) reinforces the impression that the site is like a grand department store that has opened without any merchandise in it.

You can admire the surroundings and imagine how good it will be, but for the moment you also see where the plastering's not finished, and there's not much to buy, and what there is looks secondhand.

Results:

• Content: 54.3%
• Functionality: 66.7%
• Design: 66.7%
• Total: 62.5%
• Weighted Total: 60.5%