ELECTRONIC GOVERNMENT AND CITIZENS’ RIGHT OF ACCESS TO INFORMATION

Abstract

The research aimed to investigate e-government practices and verify whether the State considers the plurality of Brazilian citizens in the e-government design and implementation processes. The starting point was the hypothesis that services are conceived from a “linear-offerist” perspective, that is, as a showcase of possible services provided by the State, but without considering aspects of physical and cognitive accessibility for potential users. This is an exploratory study, based on theoretical framework and analysis of the portal of 3 institutions that offer services of public interest: Benjamin Constant Institute (IBC), Special Courts of the Court of Justice of the State of Rio de Janeiro (TJRJ) and the City Hall of the city of Rio de Janeiro (PMRJ). The analysis of the portals included: technical usability evaluation, in accordance with Nielsen's Heuristics and the principles of Universal Design; the evaluation from the perspective of its users, based on the performance of suggested tasks and a netnographic study on the ways in which users interact with their respective institutions in the digital environment. The results of the technical analysis show that institutions only partially meet digital accessibility requirements; in the analysis by users, the best evaluated institution (PMRJ) received only 57.5% approval, followed by IBC (54.8%) and TJRJ (33.3%); and in the netnographic analysis, low interaction between institutions and service users was found. The hypothesis was confirmed and it is suggested that public institutions review the bases underlying the conception of e-gov services, including correction of observed problems, and potential user`s studies, to make digital solutions more understandable and enable greater interaction with citizens.