The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment

Website address

www.tenancy.govt.nz

Judges’ comment

Overall, the purpose is clear. Be careful about using jargon in the header — while New Zealanders are probably familiar with ‘unit title matters’, people moving to New Zealand may not be.

The structure is logical. The layout is good. It’s simple with lots of white space, good text size, and good line spacing. Your heading are generally good. Some pages could use more headings.

The writing on this site is generally very good. Most sentences are clear and appropriate for the audience. The vocabulary you’ve used is generally appropriate for the audience. In a few places, you’ve used terms that may be a little too complex for your audience.

The site seems accessible and suitable for the audience. Content prints well, and the site reads well on mobile devices. This is a very good site. The content is useful to the New Zealand public. More usability testing (watching people use your site to complete tasks) will help you clean up some of the design issues.

Media statement

The Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is pleased to be recognised as a finalist for Best Plain English Website — Public Sector / NGO in the 2015 Plain English Awards.

MBIE is committed to ensuring that its external communications with stakeholders and the public is simple and easy to understand. The new Tenancy Services Website is designed to be a one-stop shop for all tenancy-related information and education. It was designed with the customer top of mind. All information on the site is clear and easy to find.

‘Tenants and landlords who will use the site and who want clarity on their rights and responsibilities need a site that contains all the information they require delivered in a way that is simple to understand,’ said Ross van der Schyff, Acting General Manager Resolution Services.

The website provides information for tenants and landlords for the 450,000 homes that are let in New Zealand. All parts of the website were user-tested before going live. The feedback was then analysed and improvements were made to the site to deliver the final product.

Mene Setefano
Senior Advisor Pacific — Information and Education
Business Development, Resolution Services

www.tenancy.govt.nz