A Decade of Changes in University Website Design (original) (raw)

Abstract

Many organizations are engaged in e-commerce using the Internet in addition to the brick and mortar methods of doing business. To this end, firms are engaged in designing functionally sound and effective websites to attract customers. Customizing organization's website is used as a tool for interacting and providing information for customers and business partners. Universities and colleges have been using their websites as a student recruiting means. An effective website design is very important for higher education institutions to attract students. This research explores the effectiveness of the university websites from students' perspectives. The findings of this study are compared to a study conducted ten years ago. Some recommendations are made based on the findings.

Figures (1)

Table 2. Average Ratings for Subcategories Within a Decade As presented in Table 2, universities have improved significantly in contents, index, headings, search, currency & accuracy of information, site organization, navigation, and format. However, there have been no significant improvements in site map, style & text, interactive tasks, download speed, or disability access of university websites. Interestingly, information contents subcategory is the only one that has shown significant lower ratings. However, in the current study the overall average rating for information content of the websites is 4.3 on the scale of 1-5, which is indicative of effectiveness, although universities/colleges have room to improve.

Table 2. Average Ratings for Subcategories Within a Decade As presented in Table 2, universities have improved significantly in contents, index, headings, search, currency & accuracy of information, site organization, navigation, and format. However, there have been no significant improvements in site map, style & text, interactive tasks, download speed, or disability access of university websites. Interestingly, information contents subcategory is the only one that has shown significant lower ratings. However, in the current study the overall average rating for information content of the websites is 4.3 on the scale of 1-5, which is indicative of effectiveness, although universities/colleges have room to improve.

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