2011 Online Communications Survey praises transparency efforts of the Tribunal

Audiences from across the world praised the Tribunal’s online communications and transparency efforts, according to findings of the 2011 survey. The survey invited audiences to provide answers and comments regarding the information available on and usability of the ICTY website, the Court Records Database, and its Social Media platforms. 

87.4% consider the Tribunal’s role and activities are sufficiently documented on the website

Findings show that the large majority of visitors to icty.org are satisfied with the amount and accessibility of the information on the website. 87.4% of respondents consider the role and activities of the institution are sufficiently documented, while 83% give a ‘good’ or ‘very good’ rating on the organisation of information.

Among the areas users would like to see more developed are: an expanded selection of audiovisual material, better quality of live trial broadcasts and a refreshed webpage design.

The Communications Service has already got a number of new projects underway which will improve user experience and address their needs. For example, in early 2012 improved streaming services will be introduced. The audiovisual library of hearings will continue expanding – in the last few months, more than 350 videos have been made available on the Tribunal’s YouTube channel – and the needs of non-legal audience will be addressed by provision of more relevant and educational content. Work is currently ongoing to refresh webpage design that will allow for easy and intuitive access to information.

Sixty per cent of respondents were also satisfied with the Court Records Database, but requested improved search functionality, better presentation of documents, and fewer registration requirements. Finally, visitors responding to the social media portion of the survey asked for more content on the Tribunal's YouTube channel, with some asking for involvement on social networks such as Facebook. The Facebook account of the ICTY is due to be launched in the coming weeks.

Respondents’ backgrounds show that icty.org serves a large non-legal audience with journalists and the general public among the largest groups of respondents. The vast majority are of working age -36 to 45 years old-, with only eight per cent younger than 26 years old. The survey once again showed that communities from the former Yugoslavia still have a vested interested in following the work of the Tribunal: Bosnian, Serbian and Croatian nationalities ranked respectively as first, fourth and fifth biggest groups of respondents.

The survey, which was available in English, French and Bosnia/Croatian/Serbian, was taken by 267 respondents from 48 nationalities during the month of September 2011.