Interactive eGovernment Services: Modelling User Perceptions with eQual

The internet has proven to be a fast and efficient channel for the provision of many online services. Among these, the provision of government services via the web is becoming increasingly common. As government organisations have begun to enhance transparency, communicate and interact with citizens via the web, developing appropriate online services has demanded heightened understanding of the requirements of users and appropriate tailoring of solutions. In this paper, we examine the results of a quality survey of websites to enable online submission of self-assessed tax returns in the UK. Personal characteristics of respondents and data collected via the eQual instrument are used to model the perceptions of site users. The results point to specific factors determining the use of the e-government service and requiring attention in the development of similar e-government offerings. The paper rounds off with conclusions and an agenda for future research in this area.