Audit Report On The Development And Implementation Of Access NYC By The Department Of Information Technology And Telecommunications

AUDIT REPORT IN BRIEF

Our office performed an audit on the development and implementation of the Integrated Human Service System (IHSS), now known as ACCESS NYC, by the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT).  ACCESS NYC was successfully introduced and made available to the general public in October 2006 through New York City’s official Web site, www.NYC.gov.  ACCESS NYC is an online screening tool that supports 21 government programs; it enables the public to learn about the programs and benefits for which they may be eligible.  ACCESS NYC is able to present program information in English, Spanish, Traditional Mandarin Chinese, Arabic, Haitian-Creole, Korean, and Russian.

Audit Findings and Conclusions

The development and implementation of the system met specifications, was on schedule, and was delivered within projected costs. It is operational and meets initial business and system requirements.  However, foreign language users are redirected from the Web links to only the English language information, thus making the foreign language feature of minimal benefit to certain users. 

Audit Recommendation

To address this issue, we recommend that DoITT:

• Work with those agencies responsible to translate the source information into each foreign language available in ACCESS NYC.