We’re almost there!
Firstly, thanks to everyone who has been assisting with the site update from the start – providing feedback on the usability of www.findandconnect.gov.au, letting us know works and what doesn’t, what’s missing, what needs to be easier to find, and the information that’s most important.
After the last round of usability testing, we’ve made changes to better suit the people that use the site most based on the feedback received, and also to make it easier for people who have just started the journey to finding out more about their childhood in care.
You can now see more of the homepage without scrolling, so the Map and other general information about records is easier to find.
Support services in particular wanted an option to see search results in a list, which you can now do.
The photographs are in a gallery so they’re easier to scroll through, and take up a more important place on the page. This also made it difficult to search for a specific image, which we’ve been able to fix.
There was conflicting feedback about the search filters – we’ve organised them into drop-down menus to help you navigate all the different types of information on the site, and narrow down your search to be as specific as you like.
There have been many other changes over the site, all made so it’s easier to find the particular information a person is searching for out of the wide range of historical data, lived experience of people who were in care, advice on accessing records, ways people from different groups can go about their search, and the various supports available to people who spent time in care as children.
The website design is almost complete, and it would helpful to get your feedback once again on the changes we’ve made to better suit the find and connect audience by taking a quick survey.
There’s only six questions and it shouldn’t take much more than five minutes. The survey is here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/FindConnect-Usability and will be close at 9am Monday October 30th.
We look forward to seeing your thoughts!
