eGov usability on the cheap

The Register reports on an eGov Monitor Weekly report this week that civil servants may end up as 'usability testers' for government websites wanting to comply with government requirements for usability work without having to spend any money. Another potential testing group would be students, apparently - also keen to give away their time for little in return these days.

These strategies for usability testing are revealed in the government publication Quality Framework for UK Government Website Design, out this month. (The report from KableNet is much more strait-laced.)

Some concerns: First, will this strategy really help government get accessibility firmly onto the eGov agenda? I'd say that input from a single user with impaired vision would be better than results from 6-8 able-bodied civil servants or students, on this score. And I would also suggest that it is plain common decency to pay such visually impaired users the going rate for taking part, just as sighted and other non-handicapped individuals are normally paid by recruitment agencies for this type of work.

And second - and of just as much concern - is the seeming assumption that usability is something you do 'afterwards' - or are these cheap students and civil servants-at-a-loose-end to be brought in as part of the requirements process too? (I suspect not).

Paying lip service is never going to give value for money, however little you spend.

Quality Framework for UK Government Website Design (available as MS Word and pdf)
http://www.e-envoy.gov.uk/Resources/WebGuidelines/fs/en