BBC site 'needs improvements'

Though the bbc.co.uk website is an "excellent service", it does need to be improved in some areas, the BBC Trust has said.

The BBC Trust, the body that fills the same role as the BBC's board of directors used to, has issued its assessment of the bbc.co.uk site and pinpointed navigation and internal search as areas that need work.

"We believe that improved horizontal navigation across all areas of bbc.co.uk is important to enhance the reach and impact of the BBC's online presence. We also found that the BBC's internal search engine is not effective and its usage is declining," the BBC Trust said in its review.

The Trust also questioned whether the BBC needed to offer a full web search facility on its site.

"We question, however, whether the BBC should have a role in providing mainstream web search and are asking management to take a decision on the future of this function following this review," the Trust said.

The review of the website was undertaken by the Trust to assess whether it met the wider objectives of the BBC.

These objectives are to provide high-quality information to the public that is easy to access and doesn't affect competition in the market where equivalent services are available.

The Trust outlined some future steps for the BBC to take to ensure bbc.co.uk met these objectives, including improving the search and navigation of the site and providing better external links.

The BBC welcomed the Trust's report.

"We are developing plans which we believe will fully meet the concerns raised in the report, and provide a high level of reassurance to the BBC Trust that additional controls will be quickly implemented," the BBC said in a statement.

The bbc.co.uk site was overhauled in February this year, though a beta version of the redesigned homepage hit the web in December 2007.

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