ELA website reviews and digital experience assessments 2025-2026

Client

The European Labour Authority (ELA)

About the client

The European Labour Authority (ELA) was established by Regulation (EU) 2019/1149 to strengthen fairness and trust in the EU internal market. A core pillar of its mandate is improving the availability, quality, and accessibility of information about labour mobility rights and obligations for workers, self-employed persons, and employers throughout the Union.

Deliverable

ELA website reviews

About the deliverable

To support this mandate, ELA established the website review programme as one of its flagship information support activities, providing national administrations with structured, evidence-based assessments of their digital information ecosystems - covering topics such as free movement of workers, posting of workers, social security coordination, social aspects of international road transport legislation, and the European network of employment services (EURES). Since 2021, ELA has continuously supported national administrations through specialised information support activities focused on labour mobility topics within its remit, primarily through expert website reviews, peer reviews, and comprehensive improvement recommendations.

Hypertech was awarded two consecutive specific contracts under a four-year framework contract, covering a continuous cycle of expert website evaluations from mid-2025 through the end of 2026. The 2025 assignment was completed successfully, delivering the first cycle of website reviews and establishing the methodologies and review standards that were significantly expanded in scope in the 2026 contract, introducing additional review clusters and broader coverage of labour mobility digital ecosystems across the EU.

The project covers the following review types:

• European network of employment services (EURES) National Coordination Offices (NCOs) website reviews.
• Posting of workers website reviews.
• Free movement bodies website evaluations.
• Social security ecosystem reviews.
• General UX and accessibility assessments.
• Horizontal comparative reviews across EU Member States.
• EURES portal evaluation and optimisation recommendations.

Hypertech’s role

Hypertech is responsible for the design and implementation of the overall review and assessment framework. This combines expertise in UX/UI evaluation, accessibility, SEO and findability, content quality, digital performance, and regulatory compliance, alongside the development of dedicated methodologies and observation frameworks tailored to ELA’s operational requirements.

Review process

Each website review follows a structured process combining UI/ UX expertise, legal analysis, SEO evaluation and user testing. Hypertech developed and refined dedicated methodologies and observation frameworks for each category of website, approved by ELA before implementation.

1. Introductory meeting and scoping: Coordination with ELA and the website owner to understand specific needs, expectations, legal context, and the aspects of the website that are out of scope for modification. This ensures the review is actionable and relevant.
2. Methodology adaptation or development: Application of established methodology or development of a new observation framework. All frameworks have been approved by ELA before review implementation.
3. Expert review and legal content assessment: Systematic expert evaluation against the observation framework, covering information completeness and accuracy, legal compliance, UI/ UX quality, navigation flows, mobile responsiveness, accessibility and SEO/ findability.
4. User testing and user journey mapping: Expert-led user journeys document navigation paths and identify friction points, using evidence-informed personas grounded in the typical needs and behaviours of workers, employers, and citizens seeking labour mobility information.
5. Comprehensive review report: Delivery of a full review report including all findings with severity classification, specific improvement recommendations, SEO analysis, user journey visualisations, good practice examples and an enhancement plan and strategy.
6. Horizontal consolidation (where applicable): Synthesis of findings from multiple reviews into overview documents showcasing cross-country comparisons, systemic patterns, and good practice fiches, informing ELA's wider information support strategy.

The reviews combine qualitative analysis - including clarity of language, navigation logic, design consistency, and journey continuity - with quantitative indicators such as accessibility compliance checks, performance metrics, and SEO visibility scores, providing a structured and evidence-based evaluation framework.

Deliverables and outputs

As part of the project, Hypertech delivers:

• Methodological notes and observation frameworks: Topic-specific review methodology and observation framework with weighted criteria, approved by ELA before implementation.
• Comprehensive website review reports: Full findings with severity ratings, legal compliance assessment, UX assessment, SEO analysis, and prioritised improvement recommendations.
• User journey analyses: Graphic documentation of user navigation paths, illustrating friction points and opportunities for improvement.
• Strategic recommendations and enhancement plans: Prioritised action plans translating key findings into concrete next steps, distinguishing quick wins from longer-term improvements, and addressing identified weak points across UX, content, accessibility and legal compliance.
• Overview and horizontal documents: Cross-country synthesis documents consolidating findings from multiple reviews, identifying systemic patterns and policy insights.

The project outputs support ELA and national authorities in improving the quality, accessibility, clarity, and effectiveness of digital public services related to labour mobility across Europe.