Evaluating the Internal and External Usability Attributes of E-Learning Websites in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Web usability is important for users who depend on the websites they use, such as online distance education students. Accordingly, universities and educational websites need to determine the types of usability problems that occur on their websites. However, far too little attention has been paid to providing detailed information regarding the types of specific usability problems that occur on e-learning websites in general and on those in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) in particular. The aim of this paper was to study and analyse the internal and external usability attributes of university websites that offer distance education courses in Saudi Arabia. Twelve universities in Saudi Arabia were considered — 11 government-affiliated universities and one private university. The analysis of the data indicates the level of usability of distance education websites. Results reveal that in Saudi Arabia, distance education websites are reliable but violate basic usability guidelines. Furthermore, Saudi e-learning websites need to focus on the utility of their home page search engines, provide more advanced search functionality, and provide sitemaps linked to every page on the websites.