Website quality evaluation: a model for developing comprehensive assessment instruments based on key quality factors

Abstract

PurposeThe field of website quality evaluation attracts the interest of a range of disciplines, each bringing its own particular perspective to bear. This study aims to identify the main characteristics – methods, techniques and tools – of the instruments of evaluation described in this literature, with a specific concern for the factors analysed, and based on these, a multipurpose model is proposed for the development of new comprehensive instruments.Design/methodology/approachFollowing a systematic bibliographic review, 305 publications on website quality are examined, the field's leading authors, their disciplines of origin and the sectors to which the websites being assessed belong are identified, and the methods they employ characterised.FindingsEvaluations of website quality tend to be conducted with one of three primary focuses: strategic, functional or experiential. The technique of expert analysis predominates over user studies and most of the instruments examined classify the characteristics to be evaluated – for example, usability and content – into factors that operate at different levels, albeit that there is little agreement on the names used in referring to them.Originality/valueBased on the factors detected in the 50 most cited works, a model is developed that classifies these factors into 13 dimensions and more than 120 general parameters. The resulting model provides a comprehensive evaluation framework and constitutes an initial step towards a shared conceptualization of the discipline of website quality.

Information as a water resources management tool: an analysis of the website of the River Basin Agencies of São Paulo/Brazil

“…Website quality assessment has several methodological frameworks, composed of variable criteria and analysis categories (Morales-Vargas et al, 2023). This article is based on the approaches proposed by Iribarnegaray and Seghezzo (2012), Siano et al (2016), Souza Júnior (2017 and Morales-Vargas et al (2023). The methodology was adapted to meet the specificities of the study objects of this article.…”

“…In the context of the network society, which is "a social structure built around digital communication networks" (Castells, 2009, p. 25), the tools available online are an advantageous option for those who want to share information, products and services. Over the last 30 years, websites have become one of the most important internet platforms for disseminating content in society (Morales-Vargas et al, 2023).…”

“…Adapted fromIribarnegaray and Seghezzo (2012),Siano et al (2016), Souza Júnior (2017 andMorales- Vargas et al (2023) …”

Caracterización multidimensional de revistas científicas

“…Tal crecimiento del sector demanda a sus responsables no solo un alto nivel de profesionalización en la gestión editorial (Delgado López-Cozar et al, 2006;Baiget, 2020) sino un especial cuidado por la calidad de los sitios web (Morales-Vargas et al, 2023) de las revistas científicas, de manera tal que no solo ofrezcan una acceso expedito a los contenidos basado en estándares internacionales de interoperabilidad, visibilidad e indexación, sino que brinden una óptima experiencia de usuario tanto a los autores de los artículos en sus procesos de revisión como a los investigadores que los consultan.…”

Building an Expert System through Machine Learning for Predicting the Quality of a Website Based on Its Completion

“…According to a survey by Morales-Vargas et al [16], one of the three dimensionsstrategic, functional, and experimental-is used to judge the quality of websites. The necessary method for evaluating the quality of a website is expert analysis.…”