E-Verify Site Gets FaceliftE-Verify Site Gets Facelift

The Department of Homeland Security has redesigned the user interface for its E-Verfiy program to make it easier for employers to use, the agency said.

E-Verify is a Web-based system employers use to compare information from a person's I-9 employment form to DHS and Social Security Administration records to confirm that person's eligibility to work legally in the United States.

The DHS designed the new interface to appear more modern and to make it more intuitive for users, according to the E-Verify Web site. Key design goals of the update were to improve its efficiency and overall usability, and to minimize errors associated with entering data into the site, the DHS said.

On the home page, site designers moved links that had previously been in the upper right corner of the screen to a more easy-to-read and navigate left-hand menu that uses simpler language, according to the DHS. The site also features a link to the system's user manual so if employers need help using it, they can click on the menu to get it.

The DHS also added the ability for an employer to set up case alerts that will appear at the bottom of the home page. Previously, people had to return to a case in the E-Verify system to get an update or check its status, according to the DHS. An information bar on the top of the home page lets people see if they have an alert; the bar will turn red when there is an alert, changing from its normal blue color.

In another nod to usability, the DHS has made it easier for employers to verify a person's eligibility for employment. The process is now a three-step one for most cases, and the DHS has simplified document identification and the process for entering I-9 information so they are more in line with a person's common workflow, the agency said.

Making the language of the site less complicated also was integral to improving how people use the site, and the DHS simplified a host of terms that previously had been used, it said. For example, to open a new case, instead of clicking on a link to "Initiate (or run) a query," people now will "Create a case," according to the agency. Instead of "exiting" the system, people now "log out."

A full list of the updates made to the E-Verify user interface, including the changes to what DHS considered confusing or inefficient language, is available on the program's Web site.

More than 200,000 employers are currently using the E-Verify system, with about 1,000 new businesses signing up each week, according to the DHS. Most participation in the program is voluntary, although some businesses are required by state law to use it.