Statistics Canada's Website Evaluation 2014

Consultation objectives

In March 2014, Statistics Canada conducted an evaluation of its website to seek feedback from visitors on a number of topics, including: 

• task completion success rates
• overall satisfaction with the website

Consultation methodology

Statistics Canada used an intercept technology deployed across the website to invite visitors to participate by completing a short questionnaire.

Approximately 9,054 visitors participated over a period of 31 days from March 17 to April 16, 2014.

How to get involved

This consultation is now closed.

Individuals who wish to obtain more information or to take part in a consultation should contact Statistics Canada through the Statistical Information Service.

Please note that Statistics Canada selects participants for each consultation to ensure feedback from a representative sample of the target population for the study. Not all applicants are asked to participate in a given consultation.

Results

Overall satisfaction

In 2014, 64% of consultation participants expressed overall satisfaction down from 69% in 2013.

Information sought and planned use

Consultation results show that 60% of visitors were looking mostly for data and data tables on a specific topic, while 13% searched for studies, articles or publications on a specific topic.

The top three topics of interest were: population/demography (14%), health (9%) and income, pensions, spending and wealth (7%).

Participants planned to use the information primarily for:

• academic purposes and school assignments (30%)
• personal interest (18%)
• policy research, development, analysis and/or evaluation (10%)
• economic/financial research, analysis and planning (9%)
• business development or analysis (7%)

Task completion success

In 2014, 72% of participants completed their task successfully, up from 70% in 2013.

About 78% of frequent visitors (those who visited the website six or more times in the last six months) were successful in completing their task, while 69% of infrequent visitors (those who visited the website fewer than six times in the last six months) were successful. The success rate was highest for participants looking for information in The Daily (87%). 

Participants in government or the public sector (80%), non-government or not-for-profit (77%), and municipal government (75%) had the most success in finding information.

Among successful participants, 74% took 5 minutes or less to find the information they were seeking and 78% reported that finding information was easy.

Areas of improvement

Ease of access to data (navigation and search) and website content (information availability) remain areas for improvement.

Consultation participant profile

Employed participants came principally from three categories: government (45%), business/private sector (36%), and non-governmental organizations (11%). Among all participants, 62% were infrequent visitors. Students made up 27% of respondents.

Participants accessed the website through a variety of methods, with Google being the most popular (60%). Other methods included the use of a bookmark or favorite (10%), typing in Statistics Canada’s URL (8%), a link in an email (7%) and a link from another website (7%).

When asked what they used to access the website: 50% reported accessing the website via a desktop, 42% used a laptop or notebook and 3% used an iPad, tablet, or netbook. Although still relatively small, the proportion of participants using tablets and small screen devices to access the website is growing.

Regarding mobile application features, respondents indicated that the most valuable features were related to a specific topic, high-level statistics or indicators, data about a specific geographic location and data visualization.

Participants were also asked how they would rate their statistical proficiency: 25% said they had a high proficiency (can manipulate datasets and do univariate or multivariate analysis); 57% said medium (can analyse and interpret data tables and turn them into useable information); 13% said low (can calculate a percentage and can display in a graph); and 4% indicated that they have no statistical proficiency at all.

Statistics Canada thanks participants for their participation in this consultation. Their insights guide the agency’s web development and ensure that the final products meet users’ expectations.