5.6 Results - website access
Majority of the online respondents (60%, N=310) said that they had not visited KFRS’s website as they never felt the need to, or it was something that did not occur to them until they were asked. Some of the respondents were not aware that KFRS had a website. For example, one of the respondents stated -
'I was not aware that a fire-fighting emergency service had, or require, a website'
whereas another respondent quoted
'Didn't know there was one'.
However, thirty percent of the respondents (N=153) said they had visited KFRS’s website, of which 99 respondents had visited in the last twelve months for a variety of reasons. The majority of respondents found the information they were looking for.
One of the most popular reasons for people visiting KFRS’s website was to keep themselves updated with news and updates. Thirty five respondents visited the website looking for home fire safety advice whereas thirty-one respondents visited the website in search of a job. The rest of the respondents visited the website either in search of event details, contact details, looking to book a service or looking for advice regarding their business and buildings.
Eighteen percent of online respondents (N=92) found navigating around the website ‘easy’ whereas twenty-nine respondents (6%) found it ‘somewhat easy’. However, there were a few respondents (2%, N=9) who found navigating the website ‘somewhat difficult’. There were two respondents who found navigating across the website as ‘difficult’. Mostly respondents who found the website difficult to navigate were aged between 35-74 years with two respondents being limited by their illness in carrying out their day to day activities. Respondents who found navigating the website difficult were either looking for news and updates or contact details or home fire safety advice. Only one respondent was looking to report unmarked fire hydrants to KFRS through the website. Further, seventeen respondents (3%) seemed to be on the fence with respect to finding their way around the website.
Further, most paper respondents had not visited the KFRS website (N=135; 79%). Most reasons related to not having a need to visit. A minority of thirty four out of the hundred seventy-one people (20%) who provided responses in person had visited KFRS’s website either looking for career opportunities or to find some details related to the fire services, such as, event details or contact details. Respondents said they found the information they were looking for.
Device usage for KFRS website access
The most common device for accessing the KFRS website was smartphones. Twelve percent of online respondents (N=62) accessed the website using their smartphones followed by eight percent respondents (N=40) who accessed the KFRS website using their laptop. Around 6% respondents (N=32) accessed the KFRS website through a PC whereas, sixteen respondents (3%) accessed the website using tablets. It can be observed that people of all ages accessed the website using a smartphone, whereas people mostly between the age of 45 years and 75 years used a laptop to access the website. PC was used by respondents of all ages including respondents aged over 75 years. Tablets were used mostly by people between the age of 55 and 64 years. Respondents over the age of 75 years also used tablets for visiting the KFRS website.
Device preferences for internet access
Similarly, smartphones were the most preferred device for accessing the internet. More than fifty percent of online respondents (N=356) chose a smartphone as the preferred device for accessing the internet. However, 107 respondents used a tablet in addition to using a smartphone to access the internet whereas, 82 respondents used a PC in addition to a smartphone to access the internet. Further, laptops were the second most chosen device for accessing the internet (41%, N=215) whereas, hundred and sixty-seven respondents accessed the internet also used a smartphone to access the internet in addition to a laptop. Tablets were preferred by twenty-seven percent respondents (N=140) whereas twenty-three percent respondents (N=118) preferred accessing the internet using PCs. There was 1 respondent who said they did not use the internet at all.
In addition to the above, it can be seen that 19 respondents (4%) used all four devices i.e., smartphones, tablets, PC and laptops to access the internet. Respondents from all age groups were users of all four devices, however, respondents who 75 years and older did not use all the four device. Further, sixtyfour respondents (12%) belonging to different age groups used all the other 3 devices except a PC to access the internet. Hundred and seven participants (20%) were observed to use both smartphones and tablets to access the internet.