Comments on: HMRC Charter Consultation Launched

By: Gez Smith

Gez Smith — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 10:59:52 +0000

Thanks for the comments!

As anyone who’s heard me on the topic before will know, I’m intuitively and evangelically no fan of complex, or indeed any, user registration for participation (it’s part of the reason I’m so against discussion forums for consultation, that and the fact they don’t work).

However, in this case, there was a clear need from HMRC’s side to allow people to be able to return and amend/update their response over time, which does require registration at the end of the day.

So, we’ve minimised what you need to provide to register, just enter your email address and create your own password (so avoiding the horrible habit of being sent a randomised password you either then forget or have to change).

The fact it takes you to the demographic questions as the first page is deliberate, they could have been at the end but were felt better to capture first. They’re all non compulsory, so if you want to skip them and move on to the next page, or any other page using the top nav, you can.

In terms of access to the consultation document, the online survey isn’t meant to be the primary place to get hold of that, although it’s in there if you want it. The key content has been replicated with the questions and copy anyway. You can get hold of the consultation document through the main HMRC site, through the first item on the news page on our bit of the site and through the ‘related information’ page there as well.

It’s a difficult area though, and one that really interests me, balancing the freedom of the web with the requirements of policy making, so will be keeping a close eye on it and will report back what I can. Keep an eye out for the youth consultation element launching in a few weeks too, which will be definitely different from this formal consultation site!

By: Fergus

Fergus — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 23:03:22 +0000

My previous experience with online consultation in the Queensland Government in Australia was that making people scroll through lengthy terms and conditions before entering the actual online consultation was a barrier – we were losing about 1/3 of visitors who I assume couldnt be bothered. It would be interesting to see whether the registration process has similar impact. I guess if you were really interested in the topic it wouldnt be an issue, so perhaps quality of responses will be a bt higher than normal?

By: Paul Johnston

Paul Johnston — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 14:29:32 +0000

I am sure it was not your decision, but I imagine a huge number of people are going to be put off by the online user registration form. Not only do you think “hey, what’s going on here”, but daunted by filling in the first bit, you notice that there will be more questions about you after the first lot! It rather reinforces any less than totally positive feelings one might have about HMRC!

By: Steph Gray

Steph Gray — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 01:15:26 +0000

Gez, I have to say I’m a bit surprised.

I took a look at the site earlier, and found I couldn’t access the document in question without registering (irritating enough) and then found that I was asked to provide details of my ethnicity and disabilities before being able to download even the PDF document.

I’m all for trying new approaches to online consultation, but this feels like a step backward. Am I missing something?