Research Article
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Evaluating The Accessibility, Usability, and Security of Turkish Universities’ Prospective Student Web Pages

Year 2022, Volume: 15 Issue: 3, 261 - 274, 31.07.2022
https://doi.org/10.17671/gazibtd.1066330

Abstract

Prospective student web pages of universities are an important source of communication in providing information to their stakeholders in social and academic terms, therefore, these pages are expected to be easy to use, secure and in accordance with accessibility standards. This article presents the accessibility, usability, and security evaluation of prospective student web pages of universities in Turkey. For this purpose, 147 web pages for prospective students of universities were determined and evaluated with various automated testing tools. In addition, after the evaluation, clustering analysis was carried out to determine similar behavior patterns of universities. The results showed that the majority of state and private universities paid less attention to accessibility and quality of use. Evaluated web pages were found to have a low compatibility level according to the WCAG 2.0 directive. No critical security issues were identified, but there were certain areas that needed improvement. Additionally, this study offers some valuable suggestions to web developers and administrators for resolving accessibility, usability, and security violations of web pages.

References

  • W. G. Ford, “Evaluating the Effectiveness of College Web Sites for Prospective Students”, J. Coll. Admiss., 212(2001), 26–31, 2011.
  • K. Schimmel, D. Motley, G. Marco, & M. Eschenfelder, “The Importance Of University Web Pages In Selecting A Higher Education Institution”, Res. High. Educ. J., 9(1), 1–16, 2010.
  • A. Kaur, D. Dani, & G. Agrawal, “Evaluating the accessibility, usability and security of Hospitals websites: An exploratory study”, 2017 7th International Conference On Cloud Computing, Data Science & Engineering-Confluence, 674–680, 2017.
  • N. A. Karaim & Y. Inal, “Usability and accessibility evaluation of Libyan government websites”, Univers. Access Inf. Soc., 18, 207–216, 2019, doi: 10.1007/s10209-017-0575-3.
  • Y. Akgül & K. Vatansever, “Web Accessibility Evaluation of Government Websites for People with Disabilities in Turkey”, J. Adv. Manag. Sci., 4(3), 201–210, 2016, doi: 10.12720/joams.4.3.201-210.
  • Z. Yerlikaya & P. O. Durdu, “Evaluation of accessibility of university websites: A case from Turkey”, Commun. Comput. Inf. Sci., 714, 663–668, 2017, doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-58753-0_94.
  • T. Alahmadi & S. Drew, “Accessibility Evaluation of Top-Ranking University Websites in World, Oceania, and Arab Categories for Home, Admission, and Course Description Webpages”, J. Open, Flex. Distance Learn., 21(1), 7–24, 2017.
  • G. Llinás, J. J. Mira, S. Lorenzo, & C. Aibar, “A Comparison of Websites from Spanish , American and British Hospitals”, Methods Inf. Med., 47, 124–130, 2008, doi: 10.3414/ME0474.
  • K. A. Harper & J. DeWaters, “A Quest for website accessibility in higher education institutions”, Internet High. Educ., 11(3–4), 160–164, Jan. 2008, doi: 10.1016/j.iheduc.2008.06.007.
  • C. Rowland, “Accessibility of the Internet in postsecondary education: Meeting the challenge”, Univers. Web Access. Symp., 31, 2000.
  • M. Campoverde-Molina, S. Luján-Mora, & L. Valverde, “Accessibility of university websites worldwide: a systematic literature review”, Universal Access in the Information Society, 1-36, 2021.
  • Ş. S. Macakoğlu, S. Peker, & İ. T. Medeni, “Accessibility, usability, and security evaluation of universities’ prospective student web pages: a comparative study of Europe, North America, and Oceania”, Univers. Access Inf. Soc., 1-13, 2022, doi: 10.1007/s10209-022-00869-9.
  • Internet: WCAG 2 Documents | Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) | W3C, https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/wcag/docs/,01.01.2022.
  • B. R. Barricelli, E. Casiraghi, A. Dattolo, & A. Rizzi, “15 Years of Stanca Act: Are Italian Public universities websites accessible?”, Univers. Access Inf. Soc., 20(1), 185–200, 2021, doi: 10.1007/s10209-020-00711-0.
  • R. Ismailova & Y. Inal, “Web site accessibility and quality in use: a comparative study of government Web sites in Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkey”, Univers. Access Inf. Soc., 16(4), 987–996, 2017, doi: 10.1007/s10209-016-0490-z.
  • M. Bilal, Z. Yu, S. Song, & C. Wang, “Evaluate Accessibility and Usability Issues of Particular China and Pakistan Government Websites”, 2019 2nd International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Big Data (ICAIBD), 316–322, 2019, doi: 10.1109/ICAIBD.2019.8836990.
  • M. Ahmed, Z. Yan, S. Islam, & M. M. H. Sunny, “Accessibility Analysis of Bangladesh Government Websites Based on WCAG 2.0”, Int. J. Comput. Sci. Mob. Comput., 9(3), 157 – 167, 2020, doi: 10.1109/IEMTRONICS51293.2020.9216445.
  • P. Zaphiris & R. D. Ellis, “Website usability and content accessibility of the top USA universities”, 1380–1385, 2001.
  • A. A. Al-Ananbeh, B. A. Ata, M. Al-Kabi, & I. Alsmadi, “Website Usability Evaluation and Search Engine Optimization for Eighty Arab University Websites”, Basic Science & Engineering, 211: 107-122. , 2012.
  • M. Iqbal & N. F. Warraich, “Usability evaluation of an academic library website: A case of the university of the Punjab”, Pakistan J. Libr. Inf. Sci., 13, 2012, doi: 10.47657/201213777.
  • S. Kaur, K. Kaur, & P. Kaur, “An Empirical Performance Evaluation of Universities Website”, Int. J. Comput. Appl., 146(15), 10–16, 2016, doi: 10.5120/ijca2016910922.
  • I. N. Sodhar, A. A. Mirani, & A. N. Sodhar, “Automated usability evaluation of government and private sector educational websites of Pakistan”, Inf. Sci. Lett., 8(2), 51–55, 2019, doi: 10.18576/isl/080202.
  • A. Alarifi, M. Alsaleh, & A. M. Al-Salman, “Security analysis of top visited Arabic Web sites,” Int. Conf. Adv. Commun. Technol. (ICACT), 173–178, 2013.
  • N. Elisa, “Usability, Accessibility and Web Security Assessment of E-government Websites in Tanzania”, Int. J. Comput. Appl., 164(5), 42–48, 2017.
  • A. A. Ali & M. Z. Murah, “Security Assessment of Libyan Government Websites”, 2018 Cyber Resilience Conference (CRC), 1–4, doi: 10.1109/CR.2018.8626862.
  • I. F. Aguillo, J. L. Ortega, & M. Fernández, “Webometric ranking of world universities: Introduction, methodology, and future developments”, High. Educ. Eur., 33(2–3), 233–244, 2008, doi: 10.1080/03797720802254031.
  • S. Peker, S. Kucukozer-Cavdar, & K. Cagiltay, “Exploring the relationship between web presence and web usability for universities: A case study from Turkey”, Progr. Electron. Libr. Inf. Syst., 50(2), 157–174, 2017, doi: 10.1108/PROG-04-2014-0024.
  • S. K. Kane, J. A. Shulman, T. J. Shockley, & R. E. Ladner, “A web accessibility report card for top international university web sites”, Proceedings of the 2007 international cross-disciplinary conference on Web accessibility (W4A), 148–156, 2007, doi: 10.1145/1243441.1243472.
  • M. A. Aziz, W. A. R. Wan Mohd Isa, & N. Nordin, “Assessing the accessibility and usability of Malaysia higher education website,” 2010 International Conference on User Science and Engineering (i-USEr), 203–208, 2010, doi: 10.1109/IUSER.2010.5716752.
  • A. Ismail, K. S. Kuppusamy, & S. Paiva, “Accessibility analysis of higher education institution websites of Portugal,” Univers. Access Inf. Soc., 19(3), 685–700, 2020, doi: 10.1007/s10209-019-00653-2.
  • C. Máñez-Carvajal, J. F. Cervera-Mérida, & R. Fernández-Piqueras, “Web accessibility evaluation of top-ranking university Web sites in Spain, Chile and Mexico”, Univers. Access Inf. Soc., 20(1), 179–184, 2021, doi: 10.1007/s10209-019-00702-w.
  • S. Kurt, “The accessibility of university web sites: The case of Turkish universities”, Univers. Access Inf. Soc., 10(1), 101–110, 2011, doi: 10.1007/s10209-010-0190-z.
  • S. Kurt, “Accessibility of Turkish university Web sites,” Univers. Access Inf. Soc., 16(2), 505–515, 2017, doi: 10.1007/s10209-016-0468-x.
  • S. Ataç, G. Beyazgül, & Ç. Cengiz, “URAP Dünya Sıralamasında Yer Alan Türkiye Üniversitelerinin Kurumsal Web Sitelerinin Erişilebilirlik Açısından İncelenmesi,” İzmir Sos. Bilim. Derg., 2(2), 121–132, 2020.
  • Y. Akgül, “Accessibility, usability, quality performance, and readability evaluation of university websites of Turkey: a comparative study of state and private universities”, Univers. Access Inf. Soc., 20(1), 157–170, 2021, doi: 10.1007/s10209-020-00715-w.
  • Internet: YÖK Üniversiteler, https://www.yok.gov.tr/universiteler/universitelerimiz, 01.03.2021.
  • Ş. S. Macakoğlu & S. Peker, “Web accessibility performance analysis using web content accessibility guidelines and automated tools: a systematic literature review”, 2022 International Congress on Human-Computer Interaction, Optimization and Robotic Applications (HORA), 1-8, IEEE, 2022.
  • Internet: TAW | Web accessibility and W3C standardization services, https://www.tawdis.net/?lang=en, 19.06.2021.
  • M. Pădure & C. Pribeanu, “Exploring the differences between five accessibility evaluation tools”, Proc. RoCHI 2019-International Conference on Human-Computer interaction, 2019.
  • W. Arasid vd., “An Analysis of Website Accessibility in Higher Education in Indonesia Based on WCAG 2.0 Guidelines,” IOP Conf. Ser. Mater. Sci. Eng., 306(1), 0–8, 2018, doi: 10.1088/1757-899X/306/1/012130.
  • Internet: Mobil Uyumluluk Testi - Google Search Console, https://search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly, 15.10.2021.
  • Internet: GTmetrix | Website Performance Testing and Monitoring, https://gtmetrix.com, 19.06.2021.
  • N. A. Ismail, F. I. Jamaluddin, A. H. Hamidan, A. F. Ali, S. E. Mohamed, & C. S. Said, “Usability Evaluation of Encyclopedia Websites”, Int. J. Innov. Comput., 11(1), 21–25, 2021, doi: 10.11113/ijic.v11n1.282.
  • Internet: Sucuri - Complete Website Security, Protection & Monitoring, https://sucuri.net, 19.06.2021.
  • J. H. Ward, “Hierarchical Grouping to Optimize an Objective Function”, J. Am. Stat. Assoc., 58(301), 236–244, 1963, doi: 10.1080/01621459.1963.10500845.

Türk Üniversitelerinin Aday Öğrenci Web Sayfalarının Erişilebilirlik, Kullanılabilirlik ve Güvenlik Açısından Değerlendirilmesi

Year 2022, Volume: 15 Issue: 3, 261 - 274, 31.07.2022
https://doi.org/10.17671/gazibtd.1066330

Abstract

Üniversitelerin aday öğrenci web sayfaları sosyal ve akademik anlamda paydaşlarına bilgi sağlama konusunda önemli bir iletişim kaynağıdır, bu sebeple bu sayfaların kullanımının kolay, güvenli ve erişilebilirlik standartlarına uygun olması beklenir. Bu makale, Türkiye’deki üniversitelerin aday öğrenci web sayfalarının erişilebilirlik, kullanılabilirlik ve güvenlik değerlendirmesini sunmaktadır. Bu amaçla, üniversitelerin aday öğrencilerine yönelik 147 adet web sayfası tespit edilmiş ve çeşitli otomatik test araçları ile değerlendirilmiştir. Ayrıca, değerlendirme sonrası üniversitelerin benzer davranış kalıplarının belirlenmesi amacıyla kümeleme analizi yapılmıştır. Sonuçlar, devlet ya da vakıf fark etmeksizin üniversitelerin büyük çoğunluğunun erişilebilirlik ve kullanım kalitesine daha az dikkat ettiğini göstermiştir. Değerlendirilen web sayfalarının WCAG 2.0 yönergesine göre düşük uyumluluk seviyesine sahip olduğu görüldü. Güvenlik açısından kritik bir sorun tespit edilmemiştir ancak geliştirilmesi gereken belirli noktalar bulunmuştur. Ayrıca bu çalışma, web sayfalarının erişilebilirlik, kullanılabilirlik ve güvenlik ihlallerin çözülebilmesi için geliştiricilere ve yöneticilere bazı değerli öneriler sunmaktadır.

References

  • W. G. Ford, “Evaluating the Effectiveness of College Web Sites for Prospective Students”, J. Coll. Admiss., 212(2001), 26–31, 2011.
  • K. Schimmel, D. Motley, G. Marco, & M. Eschenfelder, “The Importance Of University Web Pages In Selecting A Higher Education Institution”, Res. High. Educ. J., 9(1), 1–16, 2010.
  • A. Kaur, D. Dani, & G. Agrawal, “Evaluating the accessibility, usability and security of Hospitals websites: An exploratory study”, 2017 7th International Conference On Cloud Computing, Data Science & Engineering-Confluence, 674–680, 2017.
  • N. A. Karaim & Y. Inal, “Usability and accessibility evaluation of Libyan government websites”, Univers. Access Inf. Soc., 18, 207–216, 2019, doi: 10.1007/s10209-017-0575-3.
  • Y. Akgül & K. Vatansever, “Web Accessibility Evaluation of Government Websites for People with Disabilities in Turkey”, J. Adv. Manag. Sci., 4(3), 201–210, 2016, doi: 10.12720/joams.4.3.201-210.
  • Z. Yerlikaya & P. O. Durdu, “Evaluation of accessibility of university websites: A case from Turkey”, Commun. Comput. Inf. Sci., 714, 663–668, 2017, doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-58753-0_94.
  • T. Alahmadi & S. Drew, “Accessibility Evaluation of Top-Ranking University Websites in World, Oceania, and Arab Categories for Home, Admission, and Course Description Webpages”, J. Open, Flex. Distance Learn., 21(1), 7–24, 2017.
  • G. Llinás, J. J. Mira, S. Lorenzo, & C. Aibar, “A Comparison of Websites from Spanish , American and British Hospitals”, Methods Inf. Med., 47, 124–130, 2008, doi: 10.3414/ME0474.
  • K. A. Harper & J. DeWaters, “A Quest for website accessibility in higher education institutions”, Internet High. Educ., 11(3–4), 160–164, Jan. 2008, doi: 10.1016/j.iheduc.2008.06.007.
  • C. Rowland, “Accessibility of the Internet in postsecondary education: Meeting the challenge”, Univers. Web Access. Symp., 31, 2000.
  • M. Campoverde-Molina, S. Luján-Mora, & L. Valverde, “Accessibility of university websites worldwide: a systematic literature review”, Universal Access in the Information Society, 1-36, 2021.
  • Ş. S. Macakoğlu, S. Peker, & İ. T. Medeni, “Accessibility, usability, and security evaluation of universities’ prospective student web pages: a comparative study of Europe, North America, and Oceania”, Univers. Access Inf. Soc., 1-13, 2022, doi: 10.1007/s10209-022-00869-9.
  • Internet: WCAG 2 Documents | Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) | W3C, https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/wcag/docs/,01.01.2022.
  • B. R. Barricelli, E. Casiraghi, A. Dattolo, & A. Rizzi, “15 Years of Stanca Act: Are Italian Public universities websites accessible?”, Univers. Access Inf. Soc., 20(1), 185–200, 2021, doi: 10.1007/s10209-020-00711-0.
  • R. Ismailova & Y. Inal, “Web site accessibility and quality in use: a comparative study of government Web sites in Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkey”, Univers. Access Inf. Soc., 16(4), 987–996, 2017, doi: 10.1007/s10209-016-0490-z.
  • M. Bilal, Z. Yu, S. Song, & C. Wang, “Evaluate Accessibility and Usability Issues of Particular China and Pakistan Government Websites”, 2019 2nd International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Big Data (ICAIBD), 316–322, 2019, doi: 10.1109/ICAIBD.2019.8836990.
  • M. Ahmed, Z. Yan, S. Islam, & M. M. H. Sunny, “Accessibility Analysis of Bangladesh Government Websites Based on WCAG 2.0”, Int. J. Comput. Sci. Mob. Comput., 9(3), 157 – 167, 2020, doi: 10.1109/IEMTRONICS51293.2020.9216445.
  • P. Zaphiris & R. D. Ellis, “Website usability and content accessibility of the top USA universities”, 1380–1385, 2001.
  • A. A. Al-Ananbeh, B. A. Ata, M. Al-Kabi, & I. Alsmadi, “Website Usability Evaluation and Search Engine Optimization for Eighty Arab University Websites”, Basic Science & Engineering, 211: 107-122. , 2012.
  • M. Iqbal & N. F. Warraich, “Usability evaluation of an academic library website: A case of the university of the Punjab”, Pakistan J. Libr. Inf. Sci., 13, 2012, doi: 10.47657/201213777.
  • S. Kaur, K. Kaur, & P. Kaur, “An Empirical Performance Evaluation of Universities Website”, Int. J. Comput. Appl., 146(15), 10–16, 2016, doi: 10.5120/ijca2016910922.
  • I. N. Sodhar, A. A. Mirani, & A. N. Sodhar, “Automated usability evaluation of government and private sector educational websites of Pakistan”, Inf. Sci. Lett., 8(2), 51–55, 2019, doi: 10.18576/isl/080202.
  • A. Alarifi, M. Alsaleh, & A. M. Al-Salman, “Security analysis of top visited Arabic Web sites,” Int. Conf. Adv. Commun. Technol. (ICACT), 173–178, 2013.
  • N. Elisa, “Usability, Accessibility and Web Security Assessment of E-government Websites in Tanzania”, Int. J. Comput. Appl., 164(5), 42–48, 2017.
  • A. A. Ali & M. Z. Murah, “Security Assessment of Libyan Government Websites”, 2018 Cyber Resilience Conference (CRC), 1–4, doi: 10.1109/CR.2018.8626862.
  • I. F. Aguillo, J. L. Ortega, & M. Fernández, “Webometric ranking of world universities: Introduction, methodology, and future developments”, High. Educ. Eur., 33(2–3), 233–244, 2008, doi: 10.1080/03797720802254031.
  • S. Peker, S. Kucukozer-Cavdar, & K. Cagiltay, “Exploring the relationship between web presence and web usability for universities: A case study from Turkey”, Progr. Electron. Libr. Inf. Syst., 50(2), 157–174, 2017, doi: 10.1108/PROG-04-2014-0024.
  • S. K. Kane, J. A. Shulman, T. J. Shockley, & R. E. Ladner, “A web accessibility report card for top international university web sites”, Proceedings of the 2007 international cross-disciplinary conference on Web accessibility (W4A), 148–156, 2007, doi: 10.1145/1243441.1243472.
  • M. A. Aziz, W. A. R. Wan Mohd Isa, & N. Nordin, “Assessing the accessibility and usability of Malaysia higher education website,” 2010 International Conference on User Science and Engineering (i-USEr), 203–208, 2010, doi: 10.1109/IUSER.2010.5716752.
  • A. Ismail, K. S. Kuppusamy, & S. Paiva, “Accessibility analysis of higher education institution websites of Portugal,” Univers. Access Inf. Soc., 19(3), 685–700, 2020, doi: 10.1007/s10209-019-00653-2.
  • C. Máñez-Carvajal, J. F. Cervera-Mérida, & R. Fernández-Piqueras, “Web accessibility evaluation of top-ranking university Web sites in Spain, Chile and Mexico”, Univers. Access Inf. Soc., 20(1), 179–184, 2021, doi: 10.1007/s10209-019-00702-w.
  • S. Kurt, “The accessibility of university web sites: The case of Turkish universities”, Univers. Access Inf. Soc., 10(1), 101–110, 2011, doi: 10.1007/s10209-010-0190-z.
  • S. Kurt, “Accessibility of Turkish university Web sites,” Univers. Access Inf. Soc., 16(2), 505–515, 2017, doi: 10.1007/s10209-016-0468-x.
  • S. Ataç, G. Beyazgül, & Ç. Cengiz, “URAP Dünya Sıralamasında Yer Alan Türkiye Üniversitelerinin Kurumsal Web Sitelerinin Erişilebilirlik Açısından İncelenmesi,” İzmir Sos. Bilim. Derg., 2(2), 121–132, 2020.
  • Y. Akgül, “Accessibility, usability, quality performance, and readability evaluation of university websites of Turkey: a comparative study of state and private universities”, Univers. Access Inf. Soc., 20(1), 157–170, 2021, doi: 10.1007/s10209-020-00715-w.
  • Internet: YÖK Üniversiteler, https://www.yok.gov.tr/universiteler/universitelerimiz, 01.03.2021.
  • Ş. S. Macakoğlu & S. Peker, “Web accessibility performance analysis using web content accessibility guidelines and automated tools: a systematic literature review”, 2022 International Congress on Human-Computer Interaction, Optimization and Robotic Applications (HORA), 1-8, IEEE, 2022.
  • Internet: TAW | Web accessibility and W3C standardization services, https://www.tawdis.net/?lang=en, 19.06.2021.
  • M. Pădure & C. Pribeanu, “Exploring the differences between five accessibility evaluation tools”, Proc. RoCHI 2019-International Conference on Human-Computer interaction, 2019.
  • W. Arasid vd., “An Analysis of Website Accessibility in Higher Education in Indonesia Based on WCAG 2.0 Guidelines,” IOP Conf. Ser. Mater. Sci. Eng., 306(1), 0–8, 2018, doi: 10.1088/1757-899X/306/1/012130.
  • Internet: Mobil Uyumluluk Testi - Google Search Console, https://search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly, 15.10.2021.
  • Internet: GTmetrix | Website Performance Testing and Monitoring, https://gtmetrix.com, 19.06.2021.
  • N. A. Ismail, F. I. Jamaluddin, A. H. Hamidan, A. F. Ali, S. E. Mohamed, & C. S. Said, “Usability Evaluation of Encyclopedia Websites”, Int. J. Innov. Comput., 11(1), 21–25, 2021, doi: 10.11113/ijic.v11n1.282.
  • Internet: Sucuri - Complete Website Security, Protection & Monitoring, https://sucuri.net, 19.06.2021.
  • J. H. Ward, “Hierarchical Grouping to Optimize an Objective Function”, J. Am. Stat. Assoc., 58(301), 236–244, 1963, doi: 10.1080/01621459.1963.10500845.
There are 45 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language Turkish
Subjects Computer Software
Journal Section Articles
Authors

Şevval Seray Macakoğlu 0000-0003-3166-4611

Serhat Peker 0000-0002-6876-3982

İhsan Tolga Medeni 0000-0002-0642-7908

Tunç Durmuş Medeni 0000-0002-2964-3320

Publication Date July 31, 2022
Submission Date February 5, 2022
Published in Issue Year 2022 Volume: 15 Issue: 3

Cite

APA Macakoğlu, Ş. S., Peker, S., Medeni, İ. T., Medeni, T. D. (2022). Türk Üniversitelerinin Aday Öğrenci Web Sayfalarının Erişilebilirlik, Kullanılabilirlik ve Güvenlik Açısından Değerlendirilmesi. Bilişim Teknolojileri Dergisi, 15(3), 261-274. https://doi.org/10.17671/gazibtd.1066330