Usability Evaluation of Kenyan Universities Websites for Webometrics Ranking

Abstract

The study aimed to evaluate the usability of Kenyan universities websites for webometrics ranking using web analysis tools. The target population for the study was the top five (5) universities in the January 2020 edition of webometrics ranking in Kenya. The study collected, analyzed, and evaluated website usability of the following website attributes: URL structure, Website Age, Uptime, Content Management System, website hosting service provider, Responsiveness, Browser compatibility, Color contrast, Domain Authority, Domain Backlinks, Website traffic, Broken Links, Number of Subdomains, Website Speed, Indexed webpages, Website compression, Search Engine Optimization, Website content utility, Website design and Website Accessibility. After analysis, it was noted that Kenyan universities need to improve on some of the usability criteria used in the study where a score of less than 50% was attained, such as Website compression, website speeds, website subdomain, website indexed pages, website traffic, website backlinks, website colour contrast and website design.