Directgov - DVLA
The Business
The UK Government hosts hundreds of websites that provide online transactional services to its citizens. One of the core roles of Directgov is to bring these transactions under one roof so that citizens have a single point of reference for all transactions with the Government on the internet.
The first set of transactions to be launched under the Directgov brand is for the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). These transactions include applying for provisional licenses, renewing a license and applying for a replacement license. The backend of these transactions involves a number of large national databases and is being constructed by IBM.
The Brief
Greenhouse Design was tasked with providing a number of services to ensure that the public facing website containing these transactions was accessible, usable and would work on all internet browsers.
This was the first online transaction to go live through DirectGov, so the existing branding guidelines for websites needed to be extended.
The Project
After the initial consultation, guidance was drawn up in HTML templates and then further developed using a whole transaction as a basis. This mock transaction was then tested for accessibility and usability and all key stakeholders were consulted. Accurate timing was crucial so a fixed schedule of development was drawn up.
Over a two month period Greenhouse Design developed a series of templates to be used within the transactions. Eventually over 600 XHTML pages were created that would then be used within the transaction build. Transaction samples were extensively tested both for usability and accessibility by external organisations.
In addition Greenhouse Design provided consultancy, design and coding services to help Directgov develop a set of transaction guidelines for the brand. These guidelines took into account not just the look of the branded transaction but also the core coding standards that would then allow Directgov to develop further transactions from a accessible, standards-based starting point.
The Result
The final transaction templates were built and delivered within the deadline and budget. The Directgov/DVLA transactions were launched in 2006.
Usablilty audit and branding consultancy, design and development of existing website.
motoring.direct.gov.uk
