Usability Evaluation of Online News Websites: A User Perspective Approach
Online news websites are one of the main and wide areas of Mass Media. Since the nineties several Jordanian newspapers were introduced to the World Wide Web to reach various and large numbers of audiances. Examples of these newspapers that have online version are Al-Rai, Ad-Dustor and AlGhad. Other pure online news websites include Ammon and Rum. The main aim of this study is to evaluate online newspaper websites using two assessment measures; usability and web content. This aim is achieved by using a questionnaire based evaluation which is based on the definition of usability and web content in the ISO document as the standard number 9241-part 11. The results are obtained based on 204 audiences- responses. The results of the research showed that the usability factor is relatively good for all Jordanian online newspapers whereas the web content factor is moderate.
[1] Xigen Li, (1998), "Web page design and graphic use of three U.S.
newspapers", School of Journalism, Michigan State University, Journalism &
Mass Communication Quarterly, Vol. 75, No. 2.
[2] Brain S., (2008), "Newspapers recreate their medium", eJournalUSA,
http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/, (visited on 2-10-2008).
[3] Nielsen J., (2004), "The need for speed", Usability Week Conference,
Available at http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9703a.html.
[4] Lisa S., Barbara W., Marci C., Pamela S. Haines, (2005), "Unraveling the
web: an evaluation of the content quality, usability, and readability of
nutrition websites", Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior Vol. 37 No.
6, pp. 300-305.
[5] Tania L., (2003), "Comparing website accessibility evaluation methods
and learning from usability evaluation methods", Peak Usability.
http://www.peakusability.com.au/pdf/website_accessibility.pdf
[6] Jokela, T., Iivari, N., Matero, J., Karukka, M., (2003), "The standard of
user-centered design and the standard definition of usability: analyzing ISO
13407 against ISO 9241-11", Oulu University, Nokia.
[7] Holzinger A., (2005), "Usability engineering methods for software
developers", Communications of the ACM, Vol. 48, No. 1.
[8] Tullis S., (1998), "A Method for evaluating web page design concepts", In
proceedings of ACM CHI 98 Conference on Human Factors in Computing
Systems.
[9] Keevil B., (1998), "Measuring the usability index of your website", In
proceedings of the Sixteenth Annual International Conference on Computer
Documentation, Canada.
[10] Someren M., Barnard Y., Sandberg J., (1994), "The think aloud method:
a practical guide to modeling cognitive processes", Department of Social
Science Informatics University of Amsterdam, Published by Academic Press,
London.
[11] Jurek K., (2000), "Questionnaires in usability engineering: a list of
frequently asked questions", (3rd Ed.), Human Factors Research Group, Cork,
Ireland.
[12] Michele K., (2002), "Evaluation, repair, and transformation of web pages
for web content accessibility, review of some available tools", In Proceedings
of the Fourth IEEE International Workshop on Website Evolution, pp. 65 -
72.
[13] Abdul mohsen A., Ali A. and Mayhew P., (2005), "e-Government
website accessibility: in-depth evaluation of Saudi Arabia and Oman", the
Electronic Journal of e-Government, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 99-106.
[14] Mustafa, S. and Al-Zoua-bi L. , (2008), "Evaluating the usability of
Jordanian universities websites: an empirical study", In Proceedings of the 9th
International Arab Conference for Information Technology (ACIT2008),
Tunisia.
[15] Carina I. and Maria Å., (2007), "Introducing the e-newspaper - audience
preferences and demands", In proceedings of ELPUB2007 Conference on
Electronic Publishing, Vienna, Austria, ISBN 978-3-85437-292-9, pp. 65-74.
[16] Rusli A. and Kohtieng W., (2008), "Usability measurement of Malaysia
online news websites", IJCSNS International Journal of Computer Science
and Network Security, VOL.8, No.5.
[17] Jordan Press Foundation, (2007), "Al-Rai - Jordan Press Foundation: An
Informative Publication".
[18] Alexa Internet, Inc., (2008), "Jordan- Alexa Top 100 Sites",
http://www.alexa.com/ (visited on 30-10-2008).
[19] Jordanian Higher Media Council, (2005), "Content analysis of structural
Jordanian daily newspapers and Jordan News Agency (Petra)" (15/6/2005 -
15/9/2005)", Field research.
[20] EETAP Resource Library, (November, 1999), "Evaluating the content of
websites guidelines for educators", Environmental Education and Training
Partnership.
[21] Thiam C. and SitiSalwa S., (2003), "WebUse: website usability
evaluation tool", Malaysian Journal of Computer Science, Vol. 16, No.1, pp.
47-57.
[1] Xigen Li, (1998), "Web page design and graphic use of three U.S.
newspapers", School of Journalism, Michigan State University, Journalism &
Mass Communication Quarterly, Vol. 75, No. 2.
[2] Brain S., (2008), "Newspapers recreate their medium", eJournalUSA,
http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/, (visited on 2-10-2008).
[3] Nielsen J., (2004), "The need for speed", Usability Week Conference,
Available at http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9703a.html.
[4] Lisa S., Barbara W., Marci C., Pamela S. Haines, (2005), "Unraveling the
web: an evaluation of the content quality, usability, and readability of
nutrition websites", Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior Vol. 37 No.
6, pp. 300-305.
[5] Tania L., (2003), "Comparing website accessibility evaluation methods
and learning from usability evaluation methods", Peak Usability.
http://www.peakusability.com.au/pdf/website_accessibility.pdf
[6] Jokela, T., Iivari, N., Matero, J., Karukka, M., (2003), "The standard of
user-centered design and the standard definition of usability: analyzing ISO
13407 against ISO 9241-11", Oulu University, Nokia.
[7] Holzinger A., (2005), "Usability engineering methods for software
developers", Communications of the ACM, Vol. 48, No. 1.
[8] Tullis S., (1998), "A Method for evaluating web page design concepts", In
proceedings of ACM CHI 98 Conference on Human Factors in Computing
Systems.
[9] Keevil B., (1998), "Measuring the usability index of your website", In
proceedings of the Sixteenth Annual International Conference on Computer
Documentation, Canada.
[10] Someren M., Barnard Y., Sandberg J., (1994), "The think aloud method:
a practical guide to modeling cognitive processes", Department of Social
Science Informatics University of Amsterdam, Published by Academic Press,
London.
[11] Jurek K., (2000), "Questionnaires in usability engineering: a list of
frequently asked questions", (3rd Ed.), Human Factors Research Group, Cork,
Ireland.
[12] Michele K., (2002), "Evaluation, repair, and transformation of web pages
for web content accessibility, review of some available tools", In Proceedings
of the Fourth IEEE International Workshop on Website Evolution, pp. 65 -
72.
[13] Abdul mohsen A., Ali A. and Mayhew P., (2005), "e-Government
website accessibility: in-depth evaluation of Saudi Arabia and Oman", the
Electronic Journal of e-Government, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 99-106.
[14] Mustafa, S. and Al-Zoua-bi L. , (2008), "Evaluating the usability of
Jordanian universities websites: an empirical study", In Proceedings of the 9th
International Arab Conference for Information Technology (ACIT2008),
Tunisia.
[15] Carina I. and Maria Å., (2007), "Introducing the e-newspaper - audience
preferences and demands", In proceedings of ELPUB2007 Conference on
Electronic Publishing, Vienna, Austria, ISBN 978-3-85437-292-9, pp. 65-74.
[16] Rusli A. and Kohtieng W., (2008), "Usability measurement of Malaysia
online news websites", IJCSNS International Journal of Computer Science
and Network Security, VOL.8, No.5.
[17] Jordan Press Foundation, (2007), "Al-Rai - Jordan Press Foundation: An
Informative Publication".
[18] Alexa Internet, Inc., (2008), "Jordan- Alexa Top 100 Sites",
http://www.alexa.com/ (visited on 30-10-2008).
[19] Jordanian Higher Media Council, (2005), "Content analysis of structural
Jordanian daily newspapers and Jordan News Agency (Petra)" (15/6/2005 -
15/9/2005)", Field research.
[20] EETAP Resource Library, (November, 1999), "Evaluating the content of
websites guidelines for educators", Environmental Education and Training
Partnership.
[21] Thiam C. and SitiSalwa S., (2003), "WebUse: website usability
evaluation tool", Malaysian Journal of Computer Science, Vol. 16, No.1, pp.
47-57.
@article{"International Journal of Information, Control and Computer Sciences:57516", author = "Qasem A. Al-Radaideh and Emad Abu-Shanab and Shaima Hamam and Hani Abu-Salem", title = "Usability Evaluation of Online News Websites: A User Perspective Approach", abstract = "Online news websites are one of the main and wide areas of Mass Media. Since the nineties several Jordanian newspapers were introduced to the World Wide Web to reach various and large numbers of audiances. Examples of these newspapers that have online version are Al-Rai, Ad-Dustor and AlGhad. Other pure online news websites include Ammon and Rum. The main aim of this study is to evaluate online newspaper websites using two assessment measures; usability and web content. This aim is achieved by using a questionnaire based evaluation which is based on the definition of usability and web content in the ISO document as the standard number 9241-part 11. The results are obtained based on 204 audiences- responses. The results of the research showed that the usability factor is relatively good for all Jordanian online newspapers whereas the web content factor is moderate.
", keywords = "Communication and mass media, Jordanian online news websites, website content, website usability.", volume = "5", number = "2", pages = "173-9", }
