A Framework for Evaluating the Quality of Academic Websites
Layla Hasan, Emad Abuelrub · 2012
The tremendous development in information technology and communications, witnessed by the twenty-first century, resulted in an increasing use of the Internet in all areas of life as the primary source of information on the global level. Arab countries have been affected by the revolution of information technology and communications despite the challenges they face which limit the use of the Internet. Despite the challenges, number of users of websites in the Arab world has been growing tremendously over the last decade. Universities and academic institutions in the Arab world rushed, in the light of globalization and tremendous advances in information technology and communications, to join up with the global academic institutions, and represented itself on the internet through the launch of websites for the dissemination of its goals, missions, and services to the largest number of users. However, despite the increase of the users of websites in the Arab world and the increase of the number of websites related to the academic institutions, there is no interest in the quality of these websites in terms of their compatibility with the international standards in designing and building the websites, and their inclusion of the elements or the essential requirements that suit the needs of the different users. This paper aims to propose a theoretical framework for evaluating the quality of academic websites and improving their level and performance to meet the needs of users. The proposed framework contains a set of basic elements that should be available in any academic website, where each element has a set of indicators. The elements of the proposed framework: Architecture and navigation, content, accessibility and customer service, design, and easy interaction with site, together with their indicators provide a scientific method in evaluating the quality of academic websites, in order to improve the service provided, which contribute to give a good image about them. Abstract :The Decisions support systems that combine between databases, statistical and mathematical models together. The es- sence of Decisions support systems is the forecasting and early warning, which are work mixing between the data available with personal visions of the decision, are all within the crucible of mathematical models to predict the situation will be in the future and use of statistical methods in estimating variables outside time series.