Perceptions of Special Education Doctoral Websites: A Multiyear Investigation of Website Usability and Navigability
Todd H. Sundeen, Krista Vince Garland, Wilfred D. Wienke · Journal of Research on Technology in Education · 2015
Today's graduate students are highly skilled in using technology, so university websites are often the most influential resource students access for gathering information about university programs. Graduate students in special education reviewed select university and special education doctoral program websites across the United States. An instrument was administered four times (i.e., 2006, 2008, 2011, and 2014) to evaluate usability and navigability. The findings suggest that university websites and special education doctoral webpages consistently do not meet the usability and navigability needs of students who visit them in their quest for information. Since the current study investigated the ease and intuitiveness of locating program information, the findings have potential for extrapolation to other program units within university websites. (Keywords: doctoral, Internet, navigation, special education, usability, webpage, website)