Evaluating Metropolitan Assembly Web Sites in Ghana: Accessibility, Compatibility and Usability
Journal Title: Webology - Year 2018, Vol 15, Issue 1
Abstract
In recent years, metropolitan assemblies in Ghana have undergone population increase due to urbanization (rural-urban migration). As a conduit for engaging residents, local governments all over the world are leveraging on web sites to provide e-services for citizens and residents so as to establish communication, trust and accountability. Quality web sites are crucial in user retention and user participation. Using Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) heuristics and the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) standards, this paper analyses content professionalism and public outreach of the web sites of four out of Ghana’s six metropolitan assemblies. The study evaluates the selected web sites by utilizing an automated web testing technique, mobile-friendliness and usability test, and content observation technique. The study proposes a Double Evaluation Technique (DET) for assessing web sites. The study uncovers shortcomings with regards to non-compliance to international web standards. Finally results, practical implications and recommendations are discussed. The results of this study contain implications for e-government stakeholders, precisely government web designers and developers. Ultimately, the study emphasizes on the need for policymakers at the metropolitan level to encourage frequent web site evaluation so as to be up to date with the fast changing web landscape.
Authors and Affiliations
Ebenezer Agbozo and Kamen Spassov
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP687787
- DOI -
- Views 185
- Downloads 0
Letter to the Editor 'Scientific collaboration and quality of scientific research'
The conclusions you reached in your editorial (Noruzi, 2008) that 'a published paper resulting from collaborative research has a higher chance of attracting more citations' might well be right, but not from the data that...
Ontology Driven Software Development for Automated Documentation
Recent outsourcing /off-shoring software development practices testify that any development done without a proper sharing mechanism leads to the generation of inconsistent information, which further results in an undesir...
Social networking tools and research information systems: Do they compete?
Current developments in the area of research information have led to two different kinds of systems dealing with research-related information: Social networking tools for researchers have reached public attention through...
Editorial Folksonomies: Why do we need controlled vocabulary?
The Web consists of diverse information collections in terms of the type of content, context, format and quality. However, this diversity, as good as it is, often brings challenges for users in their web information seek...
The Information Service Evaluation (ISE) Model
Information services are an inherent part of our everyday life. Especially since ubiquitous cities are being developed all over the world their number is increasing even faster. They aim at facilitating the production of...