Assessing the usability of university websites: An empirical study on Namık Kemal University

Abstract

Web sites are emerging as a key component of an organization's survival in our ever globalizing competitive world. Usability of a web site has assumed a great deal of importance in terms of satisfying web site users' needs and expectations. The aim of the study is to evaluate and to explore the usability level of Namik Kemal University (NKU) website and provide guidance to develop better and more usable web sites. The research hypotheses have posed six different theoretical factors to be positively associated with website usability. The results have revealed that five of the six factors can positively and significantly affect the web site usability perceptions of NKU members. Results also revealed that some of the demographic factors tested, such as gender and web experience, have significant impacts on usability perceptions of individual users. Furthermore, the study also discusses the potential benefits of improved website usability on governance and proposes ways to improve the usability of websites.