FR3076_20150605_omb

Supporting Statement for the
Federal Reserve Board Public Website Usability Survey
(FR 3076 OMB No. 7100-New)
Summary
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the Board), under delegated
authority from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), proposes to implement the
voluntary Federal Reserve Board Public Website Usability Survey (FR 3076; OMB No. 7100new).1 The Board would use the survey to seek input from users or potential users of the
Board’s public website, social media, outreach, and communication responsibilities. The survey
would be conducted with a diverse audience of consumers, banks, media, government, educators,
and others to gather information about their visit to the Board’s public website. Responses to the
survey would be used to help improve the usability and offerings on the Board’s public website
and other online public communications.
The frequency of the survey and content of the questions would vary as needs arise for
feedback on different resources and from different audiences. The Board anticipates the
FR 3076 may be conducted up to 12 times per year, although the survey may not be conducted
that frequently. In addition, the Board anticipates conducting up to four focus group sessions per
year. The annual burden is estimated to be 420 hours.
Background and Justification
The Board’s Office of Board Members communicates through the Board’s public website
with the Congress, other government agencies, the public, economic educators, economists,
financial institutions, financial literacy groups, and community development groups.
Communication of vast amounts of information can take the form of video, photos, and social
media. The Board must ensure that all online communications provide an up-to-date, accurate,
and comprehensive body of information to support the Board’s missions, strategic objectives,
and public outreach initiatives.
A recent White House memo stated that, “to enable data-driven decisions on service
performance, government agencies will be required to use analytics and customer satisfaction
measurement tools on all .gov websites within 6 months.”2
The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) also issued a statement that “agencies
should ensure that they collect, analyze, and report on a minimum baseline set of performance
and customer satisfaction measures. It’s important to collect a variety of metrics—not just visits
or page views—to get a holistic picture of how well you’re delivering your digital services and
information.”3
With the White House directive and GSA recommendation, the Board would survey
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2
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http://www.federalreserve.gov/
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/egov/digital-government/digital-government.html
http://www.digitalgov.gov/services/dap/dap-digital-metrics-guidance-and-best-practices/

website visitors via the FR 3076 about their web-experience and needs to gain insight to help
improve the usability and offerings of the Federal Reserve Board’s website. More specifically,
the survey would enable the Board to (1) conduct periodic reviews and evaluations of web
materials, and (2) develop and evaluate web materials under consideration for outreach.
Description of Information Collection
The FR 3076 would be used to gather qualitative and quantitative information directly
from users or potential users of the Board’s website such as the Congress, other government
agencies, the public, economic educators, economists, financial institutions, financial literacy
groups, and community development groups and more. Participation would be voluntary.
Web pages may include press releases, data releases and download, reports, supervision
manuals, brochures, new web pages, audio, video, and use of social media. Information gathered
may also include general input on users’ interests and needs, feedback on website navigation and
layout, distribution channels, or other factors which may affect the ability of users to locate and
access content online.
Qualitative surveys include data gathering methods such as focus groups and individual
interviews. Quantitative surveys include surveys conducted online or via mobile device, by
phone or by mail, e-mails, or a combination of these methods. The Board may choose to
contract with an outside vendor to conduct focus groups, interviews, or surveys; or the Board
may choose to collect the data directly.
As FederalReserve.gov continues to evolve, the Board may seek input from users or
potential users of Board’s public website on questions such as the following:
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

Did you find the content and layout relevant and of value?
How did you find the content you were looking for?
Was the navigation useful?
How did you learn about the content?
How did you access the content? (e.g.: paper copy distributed at an event, online, or
mobile device). If online or through a mobile device, was the document printed, viewed
on a tablet, or on a computer screen?
What suggestions do you have for improving the format and appearance of online
presentation? (e.g.: readability - font size, charts, and graphs; organization of
information; and navigating - indexing, search tools, and links)
What other information would be of value to enhance the online tool or information?

Time Schedule for Information Collection and Publication
The time schedules for the collection and analysis of data and distribution of results for
each survey is determined during the planning phase prior to the start of the data collection.
Before data collection begins, the voluntary respondents would be given an explanation of the
purpose of the survey and how the data would be used. Such information may be provided on
the survey instrument or through communication from the Board or a contractor or partner

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working with the Board. The data may be grouped with responses from other surveys. The
Board does not anticipate releasing or publishing the data but may share the data with Federal
Reserve Banks, contractors, or other outside parties that the Board may collaborate with in
producing or disseminating publications, or in evaluating online communication efforts.
Legal Status
The Board’s Legal Division has determined that the FR 3076 is generally authorized
under section 2B of the Federal Reserve Act, as amended, that requires the Board to provide
certain reports, audits, and other information that “the Board reasonably believes is necessary or
helpful to the public in understating the accounting, financial reporting, and internal controls of
the Board and the Federal reserve banks” (12 U.S.C. § 225b(c)). In addition, the Board uses its
website to provide the public information about a variety of other matters, including information
about the Board, its actions, and the economy. The responses to this survey will help the Board
to determine how effective its communications are as the Board strives to fulfill its statutory
mission to “maintain long run growth of the monetary and credit aggregates commensurate with
the economy’s long run potential to increase production, so as to promote effectively the goals of
maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates” (12 U.S.C. § 225a).
Participation in the FR 3076 would be voluntary and the information collected on these surveys
is not considered confidential. Thus, no issue of confidentiality arises.
Consultation Outside the Agency
The Board may collaborate with Reserve Banks, other federal agencies, contractors, and
other outside groups in producing or disseminating publications, and in evaluating Federal
Reserve.gov’s communication efforts.
On February 12, 2015, the Federal Reserve published a notice in the Federal Register
(80 FR 7866) requesting public comment for 60 days on the implementation of this information
collection. The comment period for this notice expired on April 13, 2015. The Federal Reserve
did not receive any comments. On May 4, 2015, the Federal Reserve published a final notice in
the Federal Register (80 FR 25292).
Estimate of Respondent Burden
The total annual burden for the FR 3076 collection is estimated to be 420 hours as shown
in the table below. It is anticipated that the information collection would involve as many as 12
surveys, although the surveys may not be conducted that frequently. In addition, the Board
anticipates conducting up to four focus group sessions per year. The burden estimates are based
on the average number of responses anticipated. These reporting requirements represent less
than 1 percent of total Federal Reserve System annual paperwork burden.

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Estimated
Annual
average hours
frequency
per response

Number of
respondents

FR 3076
Usability surveys:
Surveys
Focus Groups

100
20

12
4

Total

0.25
1.50

Estimated
annual burden
hours
300
120
420

The total cost to the public is estimated to be $10,080.4
Sensitive Questions
Respondents may be asked to provide information on their age and gender; information
on race, if needed, would be collected under guidelines issued by the OMB. Such information
might be needed in a survey in order to assess the extent to which a sample of respondents
reflected views from different demographic groups in the population.
Estimate of Cost to the Federal Reserve System
The annual cost to the Federal Reserve System for this information collection is
estimated to be approximately $1,000.

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The average consumer cost of $24 is estimated using data from the BLS Economic News Release (USDL-140433) www.bls.gov/news.release/cewqtr.nr0.htm.

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