Assessing the Usability of University Websites in Saudi Arabia: A Heuristic Evaluation Approach

This paper discusses Heuristic Evaluation (HE) as a method for evaluating the usability of websites, particularly for universities. This study has demonstrated the empirical application of HE, as a means for examining the usability of university websites in Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, it provides a comparison of private and government universities, in accordance with a set of HE components. Based on related studies, a set of principles and heuristics were developed to evaluate university websites, including: visual design and consistency, links and navigation, data entry forms, information truth and precision, privacy and security, search functionality, as well as, help, feedback and error tolerance. In fact, twelve (n=12) university websites were assessed by thirty (n=30) evaluators for each heuristic, using a four-point scale ranging from zero (0-not applicable) to three (3-yes). The main results of the study indicated that Saudi universities exhibit a significant tendency toward implementing high-quality usability practices. Yet, websites of Saudi private universities were found to offer 5% lower usability when compared to government universities.