Charity sites failing on user experience says research

Third sector websites need to improve their usability, with lack of mobile friendliness a key issue, according to a report from digital agency Sigma.

The third sector online experience – who’s hitting the mark? looks at top not-for-profit websites, and their overall usability, accessibility for all users, including those with physical, cognitive and visual disabilities, mobile-friendliness, and self-help functions.

Ten sites were studied, and scored out of a possible 25. Citizen’s Advice performed the best, beating the average score of 13. The 10 websites and their scores were: Citizens Advice (19), The Prince’s Trust (17), Victim Support (16.5), British Medical Association (16.5), Age UK (15.5), Step Change (13) War Child (11), Trafford Housing Trust (11), Business in the Community (BITC) (10), and SportsAid (9).

The research found that the majority of the sites tested have taken steps to become more accessible, and seven out of ten of the sites had a good readability score. However, half of the sites had poor colour contrast, and only two out of ten contained captions on their online videos. In terms of usability, half of the websites didn’t contain an HTML sitemap, or easy-to-use navigation bars.

While mobile donations are growing, only three of the ten sites had a specific mobile application, with just two having a responsive website, and three having an adaptive one. In addition, only 40% of the sites were finger friendly. Only two of the websites had their own app, and four lacked mobile-friendly layouts.

The key, common factors found across all ten sites reviewed were:

Positive:

• The majority have taken steps to make the website more accessible
• Those that allow users to donate through them demonstrate this clearly on the site
• The majority of content on the sites is useful and informative
• Most of the sites highlight where the user is in the site structure through breadcrumbs on the menu

 

Negative:

• Half of the sites did not have a positive experience on mobile devices
• Many have an out-dated look and feel
• The majority of sites have poor colour contrast, making it difficult to notice or see things
• Many of the websites have poor mega menus
• While most of the sites display financial information on how money is spent, it is not particularly easy to find.

 

Hilary Stephenson, managing director at Sigma, said:

“Mobile was one of the things that surprised us the most in our findings. As the digital world is increasingly moving further towards mobile, and a huge amount of charity traffic comes through mobile social media app referrals, charities at the very least need to have a mobile-friendly website. As technology is taking over a lot of aspects in our everyday lives, the third sector mustn’t fall behind.”

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