American Customer Satisfaction Index Results for the Full BLS Website, July 2009 to June 2011

Summary

Since July 2009 the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has measured customer satisfaction with the full BLS website using the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI).  Over 100 Federal agencies currently participate in the online ACSI E-Government survey conducted by ForeSee, allowing BLS to compare itself with other agencies. 

From July 1, 2009, through June 30, 2011, there were 58,625 total respondents to the ACSI survey with an overall customer satisfaction of 75.  Consistently BLS scored either a 74 or 75 each quarter with our visitors.

The scores for the six elements that the Bureau uses to measure the BLS website (Content, Functionality, Look and Feel, Navigation, Search, and Site Performance) remained steady over the two years.  Site Performance consistently scored the highest while Navigation and Search continued to be the lowest scoring elements.  The ACSI addresses which aspects the Bureau needs to improve.  While the number of clicks and the helpfulness of the site layout were the top aspects of concern for Navigation, the helpfulness of the Search feature and the narrowing of results were priority areas for improving Search. 

In addition to the six elements and their respective questions, visitors are asked BLS survey-specific custom questions that establish a profile of BLS site visitors and their behaviors.  Some significant findings for July 2009 through June 2011 related to the BLS custom questions include:

• Eighty-one percent of survey respondents reported that they either found some or all of the data that they were looking for (based on 56,428 responses for this question)
• Sixty-eight percent of survey respondents reported having no difficulty navigating/browsing on the BLS website (this question was added to the survey in February 2011 and is based on 9,888 responses)
• Fifty-six percent of the survey respondents reported that they were primarily looking for information about jobs or careers (based on 56,428 responses)
• Thirty-nine percent of survey respondents reported that they were a first time visitor to the BLS website  (based on 57,332 responses)
• The largest group of survey respondents (25 percent) described themselves as Other; the next largest category was college or graduate level students (22 percent, based on 57,390 responses)
• In terms of age, the largest group of survey respondents was 45 to 54 years of age (24 percent, based on 55,489 responses)

BLS Average Satisfaction: 75

July 1, 2009-June 30, 2011

Elements	Score	Future Behaviors	Score
Content	81	Likelihood to Return	85
Functionality	77	Recommend	82
Look and Feel	75
Navigation	69
Search	71
Site Performance	86

A summary of the survey's open-ended question seeking suggestions for website improvement is also available.

For additional information about the BLS results from the ACSI, you may contact QMStaff@bls.gov.

Last Modified Date: July 19, 2012