How are we responding to your RITS feedback?

Tuesday, 15 March 2011 15:00

During the RITS Roadshow events in January and February 2011, RITS users discussed their experience of using RITS and wrote down their suggestions for how usability of the system could be enhanced. This is our analysis of those suggestions.

The analysis is grouped into related themes and then further divided into suggestions we intend to carry forward or have already implemented (For action), and those we do not (Not being taken forward), with explanations as to why.

It is important to note that although we will strive to implement as many of the suggestions carried forward as we can, financial and time constraints may mean that we cannot guarantee whether or when relevant system changes will be made.

We will continue to inform RITS contacts of system enhancements as and when they are developed, including those listed here.

RITS - General system topics

For action:

• Make error messages clearer – we are making ongoing improvements to the clarity of error messages.
• Make pages printer friendly – Pages are printable if web browser settings are configured appropriately.
• Increase the period between mandatory password changes – We are seeking advice on whether we are able to do this within security guidelines for government IT systems.
• Increase the period of inactivity time which triggers a system time-out – We have now extended the timeout time from 15 minutes to 60 minutes.
• Can an automated system interface be developed so awarding organisation systems can extract data from RITS? – We are asking awarding organisations for further details so that we may note specific awarding organisation requirements.

Not being taken forward:

• Enable the back button in the web browser for navigation – This change would require a fundamental system change. Please use the breadcrumb trail under the title bar on each screen for navigation.
• Highlight the Help button so it is easier to find – We will publicise the help function more strongly in future so that users are aware of its availability.
• Allow multiple file types to be uploaded to the RITS document bank – This is a constraint of the records management system used by RITS which cannot be changed.
• Change hyperlinks so they work on a double click, not a single click, so that they can be copied and pasted – We cannot change this IT standard convention.

RITS – Searching

For action:

• Make searching more flexible – We have removed the requirement for slashes ( / ) to be included in Qualification Numbers where these are used as a search criterion. Also, functionality is going to be introduced that allows for searches using multiple key words
• Provide the ability to search by the submitter’s name – this is being forwarded for technical consideration.

Not being taken forward:

• Enable unconstrained searches for barred combinations, not a drop-down list – The drop-down list deliberately constrains the search and contains all relevant units.

RITS - Submitting units, structures and qualifications

For action:

• Decrease the time it takes to submit a unit – We expect to make a change whereby learning outcomes, assessment criteria and expected uptake will be editable during the submission process. This will reduce the time spent submitting units.
• Decrease the time it takes to enter expected uptake information – we are reducing the number of clicks and screens required which will reduce the time required.
• Notify organisations sharing units and structures when an amendment takes place – This is being taken forward for technical consideration.
• Enable bulk uploading of assessment criteria – We are going to make a system enhancement that enables simpler editing of assessment criteria, which should address the need in a different way.
• Provide a list of what has already been rejected by Ofqual – This enhancement is now in place. Users can search and filter for rejected submissions for their own organisation.
• Enable automated validation of large/complex structures – Some complex structures involve too many hypothetical pathways for RITS to validate. For these, a manual check is the best way to validate, where human knowledge can rule-out unlikely combinations without the need to apply mathematic calculations.

Not being taken forward:

• Introduce version control for units – This is contrary to Ofqual policy. A change to a unit requires a fresh submission.
• Introduce automatic SSC approval request – RITS is not a development system. Approvals must be in place upon submission.
• Remove the requirement to enter minimum credit/subcomponents when the group is optional – This requirement is vital to any submission so cannot be removed.

RITS - Formatting

For action:

• Introduce a bullet point option in the assessment criteria field – Planned enhancements will remove this need.
• Improve structure descriptions – This will be investigated. New user guidance being developed will also help users.

Not being taken forward:

• Introduce a larger typeface – We have tested this, but larger text does not fit. Users should use the zoom available through the web browser.
• Extend the character limit on free text fields – This is a deliberate constraint to keep descriptions concise. Awarding organisations will be able to include a URL for their website where more information may be provided.
• Improve the character count for free text fields as it is not accurate – The character count works, but the coding for certain formatting (For example, bullet points) take up more than one character space each (especially if text is cut and pasted from another word processor application).
• Introduce a spell-checker – Ofqual expects all submissions to have been quality-checked prior to submission. Many web browsers include a spell-check facility.

RITS – Reviews

For action:

• Introduce an automated warning a fixed period ahead of review dates – This will be forwarded for technical consideration

Not being taken forward:

• Permit the amendment of review and migration end dates to earlier dates – These dates cannot be amended. However, an organisation is able to review earlier than the stated review date.

RITS – Audit trail

For action:

• Provide unit IDs for barred units – We will test this and if unit IDs are missing we will forward this for technical consideration.
• Provide access to the audit trail on the NQF feedback form – We will investigate the provision of including a hyperlink to where historical information is stored.

Not being taken forward:

• Permit an export of review dates for all awarding organisations and all qualifications – This is confidential information and cannot be shared between organisations.

RITS – Document bank

For action:

• Make document searches in RITS document bank easier (For example, search by author or document number) – Work is underway to enhance searching in the document bank.
• Make uploading of multiple documents easier – We are looking at different ways of uploading documents as part of work looking at how the document bank is used and will add this suggestion to this work.
• Make end dates for documents known before being banked – We will add this suggestion to the work outlined above.

Searching the Register

For action:

• Introduce multiple key word searching – We are introducing this feature.
• Introduce a reset button for searches – a reset button has been introduced.

Not being taken forward:

• Remove search criteria once a search has been completed – This is intentional and has been praised by some other users.
• Introduce the ability to search for more than one level at a time – Users can select ‘Any’ but not a specific range (For example, levels 1 and 2 only). This is not a feature we recognised as widely desired and was not a feature of legacy systems.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 15 March 2011 18:30 Tags: Ofqual, education, examination regulation, qualifications, assessments