The UK Data Archive wants to provide the highest level of service possible. We aim to deliver our services in the most effective and efficient way and we are committed to continuous improvement.

We aim to provide information and services and in a clear and concise manner, avoiding unnecessary jargon or technical language wherever possible, or offering assistance where such use is necessary.

We provide user support in the form of an email help desk and telephone help line.

Services provided on our websites aim to be well laid out and enable users to identify available resources, directing them to the resources they need or to the people who can provide them with access to such resources.

We are committed to following agreed best standards and good practice in web design and usability. Our accessibility policy sets out our standards on accessibility.

Our services provide online registration services for users from eligible institutions to allow them to access online data holdings.  We manage the user authentication process through ESDS and Census.ac.uk.  Registration to use our data should be a smooth process, with a clear explanation of any requirements that must be fulfilled to gain access to the data. If users are not eligible to access data they will be told why.

Under the Data Protection Act we have a legal duty to protect any information we collect from users. Our privacy policy relates to personal data collected by the Archive and its services in the course of registration for access to services and during user consultations.

Users should expect the quality of services as set by our services. For the ESDS and Census.ac.uk we report to our funders on our performance against set standards on a quarterly and annual basis. ESDS performance data are available from the JISC Monitoring Unit.

The Archive aims to provide:

• a service available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year with the exception of scheduled downtime
• a service available for 99 per cent of scheduled uptime
• a network connection to our servers available for 99 per cent of scheduled uptime
• 10 working days' notice of scheduled downtime via the web site
• a help desk that is staffed Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on normal weekdays i.e. excluding English bank holidays and the working days between Christmas and the New Year
• an initial acknowledgement of all queries within 1 working day
• resolution of 90 per cent of queries within 5 working days
• resolution of 98 per cent of queries within 20 working days
• an automated system to record messages when the help desk is not staffed (periods of limited help desk cover are notified in advance)
• 10 working days' notice of periods of help desk closure

Complaints

The Archive understands that, despite our best endeavours, some things will go wrong. When they do, we want to know about them so that we can put them right and make sure that we take action to prevent them happening again. If at any time users have cause to complain about the service provided they should contact us by:

email to info@data-archive.ac.uk

telephone on 01206 872143, or

post to:

UK Data Archive
University of Essex
Wivenhoe Park
Colchester
CO4 3SQ.

We will acknowledge receipt of the complaint within 1 working day and aim to respond fully within 5 working days (working days do not include Saturdays, Sundays, bank holidays and the period between Christmas and New Year when the University of Essex is closed). If we are unable to respond fully within that time we will contact the complainant to say why, and specify when we expect to be able to respond. Complaints, of course, are also subject to the Archive normal service standards.  If users are unhappy with the way in which their complaints have been handled they may ask for them to be referred to the Director of the UK Data Archive. Complaints will be referred where the Archive has:

• failed to meet its response standards for enquiry handling, or
• failed to provide a full explanation for the issue(s) raised by the complainant which adequately explains the reasons for the problems encountered

Expressions of satisfaction

We are always pleased to know when we have got things right and especially if any member of staff has provided an excellent service. This helps us to understand users' views and to reinforce best practice. To provide positive feedback users can either contact the member of staff they have dealt with directly or use one of the other methods of contact set out above.