An efficient framework for evaluating the usability of academic websites: Calibration, validation, analysis, and methods

Abstract

The success of an organization nowadays is heavily dependent on the usability of its website. Offering educational content
and services online is becoming more commonplace in the higher education sector. University websites serve a wide range
of users, like students, faculty, parents, staff, etc. Hence, the website must address the different needs of these users while
maintaining good usability. Good usability makes it easier for users to find what they are looking for, understand how to
use the website, and navigate through the content. This helps improve user satisfaction and engagement with the website,
which can lead to increased productivity and better outcomes. Therefore, usability testing and analysis is the unspoken
metric for success. Understanding the many factors contributing to the usability of academic websites is a multi-criteria
decision-making (MCDM) topic. In this paper, we propose a framework for evaluating the usability of academic websites
using the Entropy and Weighted Aggregated Sum Product Assessment (WASPAS) MCDM methods under type-2
neutrosophic sets. The entropy method is used to compute the objective weights of four main criteria contributing to the
usability of academic websites, namely (Content, Organization, Presentation and Interaction, and Trustworthiness), with
31 sub-criteria. The WASPAS method is then used to rank five Egyptian university websites and select the best one in terms
of usability. This framework will help designers understand the important criteria to consider while designing for
university websites in addition to providing them with a usability evaluation method tailored to university websites.