BIBLIOGRAPHY LICLICAN, RENATO C. April...
BIBLIOGRAPHY
LICLICAN, RENATO C. April 2008. Evaluation of the Benguet State University
Website. Benguet State University, La Trinidad, Benguet.
Adviser: Maria Luz D. Fang-asan, PhD
ABSTRACT
The study was conducted to evaluate the Benguet State University website
according to web standards and description of the content of the site in terms of accuracy,
currency, accessibility and other website features.
There were two groups of respondents in the study: 88 user-respondents (users)
and the designer-respondents (designers). The web designer of the BSU website was also
interviewed. The evaluation of the contents of the website was done with a questionnaire
while the evaluation of the website was done with the Web Standard Checklist by Russ
Weakley. The instruments were answered while browsing the BSU website.
The study was conducted in Benguet State University, La Trinidad, Benguet from
October 2007 to January 2008. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as
frequency and percentage.
Majority of the respondents were not frequent visitors of the BSU Website since
they were visiting the website once a month only. While the website provides information
about the university, it did not adhere to web standards and it lacked many features that
would make it more user-friendly and more useful. It is also weak in terms of accuracy,
currency, and accessibility. There is a need to improve the website and it is recommended
that the results of this study be considered. The internet has already become a convenient
source of information especially among students who are the primary clients of the
university. The BSU Website should therefore be enhanced as a medium for bringing
information to the clients.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i
Abstract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i
Table of Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
INTRODUCTION
Rationale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Statement of the Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Objectives of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Importance of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Scope and Limitations of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
What is a Website? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Web Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
General Website Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Criteria for Evaluating Websites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
The BSU Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Definition of Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
METHODOLOGY
Locale and Time of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Respondents of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Data Collection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
iii
Data Gathered . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Data Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Profile of the BSU Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Evaluation by Web Designers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Evaluation by Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Suggested BSU Website Features to be Improved . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Suggested Features for the BSU Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
LITERATURE CITED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
APPENDICES
Appendix A: Letters to the Respondents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Appendix B: Instruments
Questionnaire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Web Standards Checklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Appendix C: BSU Website Home Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
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INTRODUCTION
Rationale
The World Wide Web can be a great place to be apprised on many topics from all
over the world through information and data offered by different websites.
Websites are information systems that provide users knowledge, information,
insights, goods and services through effective and efficient contents which are properly
structured. They serve as bridges that connect users to a variety of experiences which
may entertain, educate, or persuade them.
An academic institution, particularly a university, constructs a website that serves
as an introduction of the university, as an interface to outside resources, as publisher of
good works, and as data resources (McKenzie, 1997). The Benguet State University
(BSU) Website has been developed under this premise.
However, there are web resources that are not very credible and that are poorly
organized. This can be attributed to the fact that putting documents or uploading
information to the web is easy, cheap or sometimes free, unregulated, and unmonitored.
These things must be checked by those who are responsible for maintaining and
developing websites especially university websites.
For BSU, checking these things will help avoid some problems that affect the
users especially the students, faculty, and others in their search for information. However,
unless one has a knowledge of website standards, site accuracy, web source credibility,
relevance, currency, and website accessibility, it is difficult to determine whether or not a
website is good, effective, efficient, reliable, and accessible.
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
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It is therefore important to evaluate the BSU website to help improve, maintain,
and develop a standard, accurate, educational, and accessible website with relevant,
reliable, and current information. This will enable the students, faculty, and other users of
the website to access BSU information at a minimum cost in a minimum period of time.
Statement of the Problem
This study aimed to answer the following questions:
1. What is the profile of the BSU website?
2. Was the BSU website created based on web standards?
3. Does the BSU website meet the needs of its intended users?
4. What features of the BSU website do the BSU students and faculty members
wish to have in the BSU website?
Objectives of the Study
This study evaluated the BSU website in terms of website standards, site statistics,
and site content and structure.
Specifically, this study aimed to:
1. determine the profile of the BSU website;
2. determine if the BSU website adheres to web standards in terms of the
following criteria:
• quality of code,
• degree of separation between content and presentation,
• accessibility for users,
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• accessibility for devices,
• basic usability, and
• site management.
3. evaluate the attributes of the BSU website in terms of the following criteria:
•
indication of the author’s name or the site publisher on the website;
•
purpose, clarity, relevance, accuracy, source credibility, and
currency of the content;
•
website accessibility and stability;
•
design, organization and ease of navigation; and
•
visibility and functionality of links on the website.
4. elicit suggestions from the BSU students and faculty members for the
improvement of the BSU website.
Importance of the Study
An evaluation of an academic institution website will help in its improvement and
redevelopment. It will provide insights to web publishers and web designers on whether
or not the services and information offered in the website meet the needs of its intended
audience.
The results of this study may be used by the web publishers and web designers in
creating websites that are user-centric, timely, accessible, effective, efficient, and a
website built based on web standards. This study may serve as their guide in maintaining
or improving the website.
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In addition, this may also help the web visitors especially the students, teachers
and even researchers to evaluate a website in terms of the said criteria to avoid meeting
some problems while surfing information on the web.
Scope and Limitation of the Study
The study focused only on the official website of the Benguet State University
(http://www.bsu.edu.ph). It was conducted from October 2007 to January 2008. Key
informant interviews regarding the profile of the BSU website were conducted. The
researcher also used the Web Standards Checklist by Russ Weakley for the evaluation of
the BSU website by four web designers. A questionnaire formulated by the researcher
was used as an instrument and it was answered by 88 respondents from BSU who
answered the questionnaire while browsing the said website.
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REVIEW OF LITERATURE
What is a Website?
A website is a collection of web pages consisting of information, images, videos
and other digital assets that are hosted on one or several web server(s), usually accessible
via the internet, cell phone or a LAN (Local Area Network). It is a publication which has
an author(s), a purpose, and has a proper scope of information which must be truly
understood by the intended user (Kirk, 1996).
Web Standards
According to the Web Standards Project Developer Education Committee (2002),
web standards are technologies, established by the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium)
and other standard bodies that are used to create and interpret web-based content. These
technologies are designed to future-proof documents published on the web and to make
those documents accessible to as many as possible.
A site built according to web standards should follow best practices (correct
doctype, valid code, accessible code, semantically correct code, user-friendly URLs etc)
and adhere to the following W3C standards (Max Design, 2006):
• HTML 4.0 - HyperText Markup Language (HTML)
• XML 1.0 - Extensible Markup Language (XML)
• XHTML 1.0, 1.1, and Modularization
• CSS - Cascading Style Sheets
• DOM 1 - Document Object Model Level 1
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In addition to using the above technologies, a document is said to adhere to web
standards when it:
• consists of valid HTML or XHTML
• uses CSS instead of tables for layout
• is properly structured and semantically marked up
• works in any web browser
General Website Guidelines
Intention guidelines. According to Cubbins (2000), a website that states its
purpose in the introduction or in the title gives you immediate information about the
content. If the site follows its declared intent, a straightforward and coherent relationship
exists between the Web Builder and the reader. This helps to create the site's credibility.
Determine the purpose of the website by looking closely at the content of the
information. Some sites provide links to a page “About Our Organization” or a “Mission
Statement”, detailing the purpose in creating the website. The purpose of other sites
might not be obvious at first (UM Libraries, 2006).
Content guidelines. Content is the reason why people come to the web. Website
content should be concise, well organized, and targeted at the intended users of the
website (BRAINBOX Intelligent Web Development, 2007).
According to the UM Libraries (2006), the currency or regularity of updating
information is vital for some types of information and not so important for others. For
example, a website that provides historical information, such as the presidential papers of
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George Washington do not have to be updated as often as compared to sites that provide
news stories or stock market information.
Construction guidelines. For someone to be able to understand and easily access
its content, the website must be designed so that the information seeker can move within
a page, or from page to page, without getting lost or having to click again and again
through layers of links to get to the substantive information (Cubbins, 2000).
Design, organization and ease of use are important considerations. Web sites can
provide useful sources of information, but if they are slow to load, difficult to navigate,
search or read, then their contribution or usefulness will be lost (UM Libraries, 2006).
Based on the BRAINBOX Intelligent Web Development report (2007), modern
website construction techniques must be used to ensure that each page of the website
consists of valid code that loads as quickly as possible.
Authority guidelines. Knowing about the author of a website through a provided
email address is also useful to determine whether a site is reliable or not (Cubbins,
2006).
According to Kirk (1996), authorship is perhaps the major criterion used in
evaluating information. When we look for information with some type of critical value,
we want to know the basis of the authority with which the author speaks.
The publishing body also helps evaluate any kind of document you may be
reading. In the print universe, this generally means that the author's manuscript has
undergone screening in order to verify that it meets the standards or aims of the
organization that serves as publisher.
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Links functionality guidelines. Evaluation of a site also means evaluating the links
that the Web Builder chooses to include. Links are part of the site's total content, and
links to respectful and accurate websites are important to maintaining quality; however, a
quality link may not benefit an otherwise disrespectful or inaccurate website beyond
being merely a good link, and links to disrespectful or inaccurate sites are like citations to
questionable printed material, reflecting poorly on the Web builder’s choice of links
(Cubbins, 2000).
Usability guidelines. The user’s goal is not to use the computer or the website but
to accomplish some task; to get information, be entertained or buy a product etc.
However, the core idea of user-centered design is to always remember that we are
designing for users and not ourselves; you are not the user and the users are not designers
(Powell, 2002).
Here is a list of important site considerations according to Alohas Online:
1. Functionality
• The site contains all desired information.
• The site includes all desired methods of contact or interaction.
2. Navigation
• Site navigation is easily understood.
• All site areas can be reached with a minimum number of mouse clicks.
3. Consistency
• All of the site's content is consistent with the client's message.
• All of the site's design and graphic elements are consistent with the desired style
for the site.
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4. Accuracy
• Each link on every site page has been tested.
• Each programming element on the site has been tested for all anticipated user
responses.
• All site elements have been checked for errors in spelling and grammar
5. Speed
• Each site page loads within the desired amount of time.
• All graphic elements have been optimized to load as quickly as possible.
6. Appearance
• The site's overall design is appropriate and appealing.
• All graphic elements are as attractive as possible for loading within the desired
amount of time.
7. Browsers
• All site pages display correctly within Internet Explorer and Netscape
Navigator.
Criteria for Evaluating Websites
According to Kapoun (1997), you may have a web page that could be of value to
your research through this list of criteria for evaluating websites:
• Accuracy. If your page lists the author and institution that published the page and
provides a way of contacting him/her.
• Authority. If your page lists the author credentials and its domain is preferred
(.edu, .gov, .org, or .net).
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• Objectivity. If your page provides accurate information with limited advertising
and it is objective in presenting the information.
• Currency. If your page is current and updated regularly (as stated on the page)
and the links (if any) are also up-to-date.
• Coverage. If you can view the information properly--not limited to fees, browser
technology, or software requirement.
The BSU Website
According to Macasieb (2000), the first BSU website was launched in January
2000 in the internet courtesy of the Belgian government through the Philippine
Institutional University Cooperation (PIUC) Project. Benguet State University was one of
the 8000 Universities in 200 countries, reviewed and ranked by web popularity, included
in the 4 International Colleges & Universities higher education directory, an international
education directory selecting and reviewing world-wide accredited Universities and
Colleges.
Definition of Terms
Accessibility.
It refers to the access to the web by everyone, regardless of
disability. It also includes device independence, universal access, availability of
information, performance speed, and ease of navigation.
Accuracy. How accurate or precise the information is.
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). It is a system used for changing the appearance of
HTML elements, by assigning styles to element types, self-defined classes of elements or
individual
instances.
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Currency. It refers to the timeliness of articles being published (how current the
information is) .
Design consistency and ease of navigation. It refers to the easiness of surfing on a
web page through proper arrangement of information and consistent pattern throughout
the site.
Hyperlinks. It refers to the reference or navigation element in a document to
another section of the same document, another document or a specified section of another
document that automatically brings the referred information to the user.
Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML). It is widely used for adding structure to
text
documents.
Links. These are references to other documents within the same website (Internal
link) or in another websites (External link) or web pages. Clicking on them may take you
to
another
document.
Search engines. Search capability of a site where you can search for information
needed by typing keywords inside the search box.
Site integrity. It refers to the stability of the website over time.
Visibility and functionality. This means that the links are clearly labeled, easy to
read, distinguishable from the content, functional and not broken or dead.
Web browser. It refers to the interpreter of the website. It allows a user to access
information quickly and easily provided on many web pages at many websites by
navigating the links. Users often don’t blame the browsers for simple errors instead they
blame the websites. Examples of these are the Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and
Netscape’s
Communicator,
Navigator.
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Webmaster. It is a person or an organization whose occupation is to design, to
develop,
to
market,
or
to
maintain
websites.
Web server. It is a computer program that stores information contained on
websites. It sends information to a computer when a link on the website was clicked.
Apache and Zeus are some examples of web servers.
Website. Set of interconnected web pages generally located on the same server,
and prepared and maintained as a collection of information by a person, group, or an
organization.
Website publisher. It refers to a person, an institution, or any web agency that is
responsible for publishing the website on the web.
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). It is the main international standards
organization for the World Wide Web (W3).
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METHODOLOGY
Locale and Time of the Study
Benguet State University is an institution of higher education in La Trinidad,
Benguet. It is the oldest institution among all state colleges and universities in the region.
It has been a recipient of grants from local, regional, national, and international entities
promoting information and communication technologies.
BSU has a total land area of 658.6250 hectares (Figure 1) and is five kilometers
away from Baguio City, the educational center of Northern Luzon, Philippines. Since the
study evaluated the BSU website using BSU facilities, it was chosen as the area of study
just the same.
The study was conducted from October 2007 to January 2008.
Respondents of the Study
There were 92 respondents purposively chosen by the researcher. There were two
groups of respondents: the designer-respondents referred to as designers and the user-
respondents referred to as users in this study. Four were web designers/developers; one
from AMA and three from NIIT. They have evaluated the website in terms of web
standards as well as their experiences in web development.
The user-respondents (users) were 18 4th year Bachelor of Science in
Development Communication students, 18 4th year Bachelor of Science in Information
Technology students, 19 3rd year Bachelor of Science in Home Economics students, 16
4th year Bachelor of Science in Nursing students, 15 2nd year Bachelor in Elementary
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
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Education students, and two faculty members from College of Agriculture and College of
Nursing. They were expected to evaluate the website from the prospective target users
who are at the same time insiders and therefore are in a position to make judgments
where necessary.
Benguet State
University
Figure 1. Map of Benguet showing the locale of the study
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Data Collection
A key informant interview regarding the profile of the BSU website was
conducted. The researcher interviewed Ms. Julie Ann R. Dugat, the web designer of the
BSU Website. The researcher used the Web Standards Checklist by Russ Weakley for the
evaluation of the BSU website.
For the evaluation of the BSU website in terms of certain criteria, a questionnaire
formulated by the researcher was used as an instrument answered by user-respondents
while online. This was based on the different criteria and content elements for evaluating
the authority, accuracy, relevance, purpose, clarity, currency, site statistics, site features,
and accessibility of a website.
Data Gathered
The data gathered were on the profile of the BSU website; evaluation of the BSU
website based on web standards; indication of the author’s name or the site publisher;
purpose, clarity, relevance, accuracy, credibility of source, and currency of the content;
accessibility and stability of the website; design, organization and ease of navigation;
visibility and functionality of links on the website; site statistics of the BSU website by
the respondents (BSU students and faculty members); and suggested features for the BSU
website by the said respondents.
Data Analysis
The data gathered were tabulated, analyzed, and consolidated through descriptive
statistics. Data from key informant interviews were presented in a narrative form.
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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Profile of the BSU Website
The URL address of the BSU website at the time of evaluation was
http://www.bsu.edu.ph. The construction of the website was in 2003-2004 according to
the designer, a computer maintenance officer of the BSU-ICT Division. As indicated in
the home page of the website in Figure 2, it was copyrighted in 2005.
Contents. Figure 2 also shows the contents of the home page of the website as
follows: name and address of the university, university logo, pictures depicting the
different functions of the university, log-in form to the BSU web mail, current date, main
menu bar, latest article, links to news archives, Google search tool box, logo of Adobe
Reader, logo of Fedora, logo of Apache, and BSU contact details. In addition, there were
two marquees running across the header: “Center of Excellence in Agriculture
Education” and “The Regional State University of the Cordillera”.
Organization. The organization of information in the website as indicated in the
main menu bar did not follow any hierarchical ordering. For example, there was a link for
Office of the President and another for Key University Offices, which gave the impression
that the Office of the President is not a key university office. Another example is a link
for Admission and another for Forms, both of which actually led to admission forms.
Sources of contents. The contents of the site came from different units in the
university. News articles usually came from UPAO (University Public Affairs Office).
Apache was the web server of the site while Fedora was its operating system. The Adobe
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Reader was the software used for downloadable files issued by the university such as
application forms for entrance examinations, academic calendars etc.
URL Address
Header
Current Date
Log-in
Form
Main
Menu Bar
News
Archives
Software for
Downloadable
Files
Articles
Search
Tool Box
Operating
Web Server
BSU
System
Address
and Contact
Details
Figure 2. Home page of the BSU website showing different attributes
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Figure 3 shows another page of the BSU website containing a news article.
Compared to its home page, the main menu bar changed its position horizontally. The
link Key Offices was featured at the left portion yet it had the same link found at the main
menu bar.
The date of publication of the article was indicated with the name of its author.
But there was no given date of last revision or last update of the website found in the web
page. The font size of the picture caption was also bigger than the font size used in the
article.
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Main
Menu
Author(s) of Article
Toolbar
Source of Article
Links
Date of Publication
News
Article
Image
Photo
Caption
Figure 3. BSU web page containing news article
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Frequency of site visits by users. Figure 4 shows that majority (78%) of the users
visited the website once a month. Out of the 88 users, only five of them claimed that they
visited the website twice a week. These users were 4th year Bachelor of Science in
Information Technology students who were required to access the E-learning site
provided by the BSU website and to log-in for their attendance.
However, there were 14 users (16%) who never visited the BSU website which
means that it is only their first time to visit the site during the evaluation day. Seven of
them were from the College of Nursing, six from the College of Home Economics and
Technology, and one from the College of Teacher Education.
Frequency of Site Visits
14
16%
5
6%
69
78%
once a month
twice a week
never
Figure 4. Frequency of site visits by users
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Evaluation by Web Designers
One of the objectives of the study was to determine if the BSU website adhered to
the web standards in terms of the following criteria: quality of the code, degree of
separation between content and presentation, accessibility for users and devices, basic
usability, and site management. The evaluation was done through a checklist which is
presented in Table 1.
Code and degree of separation between content and presentation. According to
designers, the BSU website consisted of a valid HTML and CSS, which was used for all
presentation aspects including fonts, images and color. They also indicated that the code
was well structured and that it worked for any web browser. With these features, the
website adhered to web standards as indicated by Max Design (2006).
However, they also noted that there were broken and dead links like the links
Employment and Campus Tour which were not linked anywhere. It was also observed
that loading was very slow. In terms of these features, the BSU website did not pass the
standards.
Accessibility. The website did not adhere to web standards when it comes to
accessibility for users because it did not use visible skip menus, descriptive link texts and
accessible forms. However in terms of accessibility for devices, the website worked in
any browser thus it passed web standards.
Basic usability. The links were clearly defined when visited and the link to home
page was provided in all web pages thus favoring basic usability. However, the designers
noticed that the links on the website were not underlined for easy distinction from the
other contents of the site and site navigation was not easy to understand. This is attributed
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to design inconsistencies like one where a page of the website contained so many links
which were also found on other pages. This tended to confuse an ordinary user or visitor
of the site. For example, if you clicked on the link Phil-Organic, it led you to the News
and Updates web page which contained the links Publications and RDE News Updates.
Since some of the links at the main menu bar had been removed or added to these web
pages, there was no more link going back to the Phil-Organic web page. Users would be
lost in the site especially if they were not familiar with shortcut navigation aids (if
provided) such as back, next, home, top, end etc.
Site management. The website used a friendly URL which functioned even
without “www”.
Other observations. The designers noticed that the left and right margins of the
website were too large for a web page. Some texts also could not be read easily because
of the font style used. The designers also noticed that a log-in form was provided in the
home page of the website but there was no sign-up form. This indicates that users could
not register. Furthermore, there was no comment box provided in the site where users can
post their comments regarding the site.
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
23
Table 1. Adherence of BSU website to web standards according to web designers
CRITERIA STANDARDS
YES
NO
Quality of the
Consists of valid HTML or
Code
(X)HTML and CSS
Has well structured code
Has no dead/broken links
Performs/loads fast
Degree of
Has CSS for all presentation
Separation
aspects (fonts, color, images etc.)
between Content
and Presentation
Accessibility for Has visible skip menus
Users
Has descriptive link texts
Has accessible forms
Accessibility for Website works in any browser
Devices
Basic Usability
Site’s navigation easy to
understand
Has underlined links
Has clearly defined links
Provides a link to home page in
every page in the site
Site
Has friendly URLs and functions
Management
even without “www”
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
24
Evaluation by Users
The users evaluated the BSU website in terms of content, accessibility, design,
organization, and navigation.
Content. Table 2 shows that majority (60.23%) of the users thought that the
purpose of the website was clear even though there was no Mission or About Us feature
found on the website. This is the feature which usually details the purpose of a website.
The web designer of the BSU website said that the main purpose of the website was to
give information about the university- its services, events, products, and colleges.
Majority (78.41 %) of the users said that the page title and images used were
appropriate for its content, that the language used was appropriate for the intended
audience, that the links were relevant, and that the content of the site was free from
errors. These are all positive attributes of a website.
However, half of the users observed that the articles in the BSU website were no
longer current news at the time of evaluation. For example, the article shown in Figure 3
was all about the accreditation of some degree programs offered in BSU which occurred
on November 28, 2007 and was published in the website January, 2008. The current news
during the time of the evaluation was the University Charter Day.
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
25
Table 2. BSU site content attributes as evaluated by users
CRITERIA YES
NO NO
ANSWER
NO. PERCENTAGE NO. PERCENTAGE NO. PERCENTAGE
(n=88)
(n=88)
(n=88)
Purpose is
53 60.23
% 30 34.09% 5 5.68%
clear
Page title is
appropriate
85
96.59%
3
3.41%
-
-
for the
content
Images
used are
69
78.41%
16
18.18%
3
3.41%
appropriate
for the
content
Language
used
81
92.05%
7
7.95%
-
-
appropriate
for the
intended
audience
Links are
71 80.68% 16 18.18% 1 1.14%
relevant
Articles are
43 48.86% 44 50.00% 1 1.14%
up-to-date
Content of
the site is
67
76.14%
20
22.73%
1
1.14%
free from
errors
(spelling,
grammar
etc.)
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
26
Website accessibility. Table 3 presents the evaluation of the BSU website by the
users in terms of speed and accessibility of the website. Majority (53.41%) of the users
have observed the fast access of the website during the evaluation. However, the speed of
internet connection depends on the internet source provider which is sometimes affected
by the location of the internet shop, and the number of users in that area (Anonymous,
n.d.).
Majority (63.64%) of the users claimed that the website can be accessed anytime.
However, there were some users and even designers who noticed that there were times
the BSU website could not be accessed outside the campus and even inside the
university. The BSU web designer explained that the site must have been under
construction or updating during those times.
Table 3. BSU website accessibility as evaluated by the users
CRITERIA YES
NO NO
ANSWER
NO.
PERCENTAGE
NO.
PERCENTAGE
NO.
PERCENTAGE
(n=88)
(n=88)
(n=88)
Modem
speed is
very slow
40
45.45%
47
53.41%
1
1.14%
when
loading
Site can be
accessed
56
63.64%
32
36.36%
-
-
anytime
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
27
Website design, organization, and ease of navigation. Table 4 presents that most
(67.05%) of the users agreed that the website was well designed and organized. This is
supported by a majority (71.59%) claim that it was easy to read and navigate but contrary
to the response of the web designers who said that the site was not well organized, hard
to understand and hard to navigate. These differences in the observation of the users and
the evaluators can be attributed to differences in knowledge and exposure. The web
designers are expected to know that there are better ways of web design and content
organization for easier navigation.
While majority (77.27%) agreed that the main menu bar was consistent
throughout the site, 19 users (21.59%) noticed that the main menu bar was not consistent.
An inspection of the site indicated that indeed it was not consistent. For example, when a
link at the main menu bar in the home page was clicked, it led to a page where some of
the links in the main menu bar were removed or added.
Table 4. Design, organization, and ease of navigation of the BSU website
CRITERIA YES
NO
NO
ANSWER
NO.
PERCENTAGE
NO.
PERCENTAGE
NO.
PERCENTAGE
(n=88)
(n=88)
(n=88)
Site is well-
designed
59
67.05%
29
32.95%
-
-
and
organized
Site content
is easy to
read and
63
71.59%
24
27.27%
1
1.14%
navigate
Main menu
toolbar is
consistent
68
77.27%
19
21.59%
1
1.14%
throughout
the site
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
28
Majority (60.23%) of the users were able to distinguish the links that were
functioning from those which were not functioning. Some dead links were found at the
web pages of the Vice President for Administration, some links at the University Services
page, Employment, and Campus Tour link at the main menu bar.
Table 5. Visibility and functionality of links
CRITERIA YES
NO NO
ANSWER
NO.
PERCENTAGE
NO.
PERCENTAGE
NO.
PERCENTAGE
(n=88)
(n=88)
(n=88)
Links are
53 60.23% 34 38.64% 1 1.14%
visible
Dead/broken
64 72.73% 24 27.27% -
-
links
Suggested BSU Website Features to be Improved
Table 6 shows the features/attributes of the BSU website that should be improved
as suggested by the users. Majority (72.73%) suggested that the dead/broken links be
made functional.
Many (40.91%) suggested the incorporation of more graphics and also the
increase of speed. However, these suggestions are contradictory because excessive
graphics tend to slow down the loading of a website.
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
29
Table 6. Suggestions for the improvement of the BSU website
FEATURES
NUMBER
PERCENTAGE
(n=88)
Eliminate dead/broken links
64 72.73%
Add more graphics
36 40.91%
Increase speed
36 40.91%
Improve design/lay-out
24 27.27%
Use appropriate images
21 23.86%
Increase font size
15 17.05%
Update articles
9 10.23%
Change font style
7 7.95%
*Multiple responses
Suggested Features for the BSU Website
Table 7 shows the different website features suggested by the users for the BSU
website to have.
Out of 88 users, 65 or 73.86% suggested that a campus photo and video gallery
must be included in the BSU website. This reflects that man indeed is visual by nature
(Gur, 2002).
Majority of the users suggested that there should be a Campus Bulletin Box for
announcements and a Message Board for the exchange of ideas/opinions.
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
30
Table 7. Suggested features for the BSU website
FEATURES
NUMBER
PERCENTAGE
(n=88)
Campus Photo and Video
65 73.86%
Gallery
Announcements (Campus
61 69.32%
Bulletin Box)
Forum (Message Boards)
52 59.09%
BSU Map/Directory
37 42.05%
BSU Products web pages
37 42.05%
BSU Societies web pages
34 38.64%
*Multiple responses
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
31
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary
The study was conducted to evaluate the Benguet State University website
according to web standards and to describe the content of the site in terms of, accuracy,
currency, accessibility and other website features.
There were two groups of respondents used in the study: the user-respondents
(users) and the designer-respondents (designers). The web designer of the BSU website
was interviewed to know the profile of the said website. The evaluation of the contents of
the website was done through a questionnaire distributed to 86 BSU students and two
faculty members as users from five colleges with big population in the university - CA,
CAS, CHET, CN, and CTE. The evaluation of the website according to web standards
was done through the Web Standard Checklist by Russ Weakley, answered by four web
developers/designers from NIIT and AMA. The users and designers answered the
instrument while browsing the BSU website.
The data gathering for the study was conducted in Benguet State University,
La Trinidad, Benguet from October 2007 to January 2008, and data were analyzed using
descriptive statistics such as frequency and percentage. Qualitative data were presented
in a narrative form.
The main purpose of the BSU website was to give information about the
university - its services, colleges, products etc. This was agreed by the users though there
was no Mission Statement or About Us feature, and products web pages provided by the
site. Majority of the users said that they were visiting the website once a month only.
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
32
The site author and its contact details were not indicated in the website while the
news articles in the site indicated the authors’ names and the source of publication. The
articles in the website were no longer current news and there was no given date of last
update or last modification of the website. Only the date of publication was given in the
news articles which have used appropriate language and images. These articles were also
free from any errors as evaluated by the users and designers.
Majority of the users observed the fast access of the website during the time of
evaluation but there were those who said that it can not be accessed anytime. According
to the BSU Web Designer, it could not be accessed when it is under construction.
Moreover, the links provided in the BSU website could not be easily
distinguished from the texts in the website thus these should be underlined and clearly
defined when visited as suggested by the users. There were some dead/broken links and
these links should be eliminated according to the users.
The website’s main menu tool bar was not consistent thus site navigation could
not be easily understood. Some texts could not be read also because of the font size and
font style used. The users suggested that these should be changed. The users also
suggested that the website must minimize its margin to fit the browser space.
Majority of the users suggested a campus photo and video gallery for the BSU
website. The other suggested features for the website to have are campus bulletin box,
message boards (forums), and a web page for BSU Map and BSU products. Both groups
of respondents also suggested that the design including margin, colors, images and
graphics, or the lay-out of the website be changed or improved.
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
33
Conclusions
Based on the findings, the following conclusions were drawn:
1. The BSU website has not shown authorship which is a major criterion used in
evaluating information. This may indicates that the website is not a reliable source
of information for not showing author’s affiliations/contact details, and sponsors.
2. The said website did not adhere to web standards in terms of degree of separation
between content and presentation, basic usability, and quality of the code.
3. The website is weak in terms of in accuracy, currency, and accessibility.
4. Site needs more and properly designed navigation tools for better and easier
access to information. It also needs to make all links functional and visible
throughout the site.
5. Site needs interesting features, promotional activities, and more information that
will interest, benefit, and invite users to visit the site.
6. Site needs to be improved in terms of web page design. There are many features
that are not present.
Recommendations
The following recommendations were made based on the conclusions:
1. The website should provide contact information about the author.
2. The BSU website designer should follow the web standards in establishing the
website for the accuracy, currency, accessibility, stability, links visibility and
functionality, proper design, and ease of navigation throughout the website.
These should include proper organization of information for better understanding.
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
34
3. The BSU web developers should always monitor and update the site if it is well
functioning in order to avoid “under construction” pages and misleading
information.
4. All links found in the website must function well, be visible, defined when
visited, and distinct from any other texts found in the website.
5. The site’s margin must be minimized to fit its maximum window width; font size
and font style be changed for better understanding; and the main menu tool bar
must be consistent throughout the site for easy navigation.
6. The website should provide a sign-up form for the log-in form provided in the
homepage of the website. The registration should be online with an added safety
net to make sure that only members of BSU can register. Online registration is
more convenient and will therefore encourage more to register and therefore
improve interactive participation.
7. The Campus Tour link found at the main menu tool bar of the website must
contain the web pages of the different colleges of the university and other services
and utilities found within the university.
8. There must be a link for BSU Research Journals at the main menu tool bar.
9. A site visit-counter and a comment box should be provided in the website since
visitors should be encouraged to give their feedback.
10. The web developers of the BSU website should put some other important features
for the site especially an external link for a campus photo and video gallery, a web
page for all the different products of BSU including not only food products but
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
35
also products of research, extension, and instruction in order to attain the real
purpose of the BSU website.
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
36
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Ask & Strategies for Getting the Answers. (Library, University of California--
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Good Idea to Evaluate Web Sources. 1997. Retrieved September 6, 2007 from
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http://vvv.state.ct.us/cmac/stds/form.htm
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http://www.4icu.org/
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http://www.library.jhu.edu/researchhelp/general/evaluating/index.html
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LESLEY UNIVERSITY. Checklist for Evaluating Web Resources. Retrieved
September 6, 2007 from http://www.lib.vt.edu/research/libinst/evalbiblio.html
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Volume 2 Issue No. 2. Benguet State University, La Trinidad, Benguet. p.1.
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MIFFLIN, HOUGHTON 2005. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English
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Overview - Key Ideas http://liblearn.osu.edu/tutor/. Revised: June 25, 2007.
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2006. Retrieved September 1, 2007 from
http://www.lib.umd.edu/guides/evaluate.html
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2007 from http://www.maxdesign.com.au/presentation/checklist.htm
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Website
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38
WIKIPEDIA. Map of La Trinidad, Benguet. Retrieved September 10, 2007 from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Trinidad,_Benguet
WIKIPEDIA. Web Browser. Retrieved September 12, 2007 from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_browser
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_server
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September 17, 2007 from
http://www.456bereastreet.com/lab/developing_with_web_standards/webstandars
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
39
APPENDICES
Appendix A. Letters to the Respondents
Benguet State University
COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE
Department of Extension Education and Development Communication
La Trinidad, Benguet
17 October 2007
Dear Evaluators,
Greetings!
I am Renato C. Liclican, 4th year Development Communication student majoring
Educational Communication and presently conducting my thesis study entitled
“Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website”.
In this connection, kindly fill up the questionnaire that will help the researcher to
determine if the BSU website adheres to web standards. Your cooperation in this study
will be of great help to me and also to the university. Rest assured that your answers will
only be used for the purpose of this study.
Thank you very much and God Bless!
Respectfully yours,
RENATO C. LICLICAN
Researcher
Noted by:
MARIA LUZ D. FANG-ASAN, Ph. D.
Adviser
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
40
Benguet State University
COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE
Department of Extension Education and Development Communication
La Trinidad, Benguet
14
January
2008
Dear Respondent,
Greetings!
I am Renato C. Liclican, 4th year BS Development Communication student
majoring Educational Communication and presently conducting my thesis study entitled
“Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website”.
In this connection, kindly fill up the questionnaire. Your cooperation in this study
will be of great help to me and also to the university. Rest assured that your answers will
only be used for the purpose of this study.
Thank you very much and God bless!
Respectfully yours,
RENATO C. LICLICAN
Researcher
Noted by:
MARIA LUZ D. FANG-ASAN Ph. D.
Adviser
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
41
Benguet State University
COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE
Department of Extension Education and Development Communication
La Trinidad, Benguet
18 December 2007
JULIE ANN R. DUGAT
Computer Maintenance-ICT Division
PIUC
Madam:
Seasons Greetings!
I am Renato C. Liclican, 4th year BS Development Communication student
majoring in Educational Communication and presently conducting my thesis study titled
“Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website.”
In this connection, I would like to request your good office for an interview
regarding the profile of the BSU website. Your cooperation in this study will be of great
help to me and also to the university. Hoping for your immediate response regarding this
matter.
God bless and thank you very much!
Respectfully yours,
RENATO C. LICLICAN
Researcher
Noted by:
MARIA LUZ D. FANG-ASAN, Ph. D.
Adviser
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
42
Benguet State University
COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE
Department Of Extension Education and Development Communication
La Trinidad, Benguet
16 January 2008
MACARIO D. CADATAL Ph. D.
Dean
College of Agriculture
Sir:
Greetings!
I am Renato C. Liclican, 4th year BS Development Communication student
majoring in Educational Communication and presently conducting my thesis study titled
“Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website.”
In this connection, I would like to reserve 5 units at the CA Computer Laboratory
room on the following dates:
January 17-18 (ThF),
January 21 (M),
January 23-25 (WThF), and
January 28-31 (M-Th), 2008 at 9:00 AM-12:00 PM for the said study.
Your participation on this study is very essential and highly appreciated.
God bless and thank you very much!
Respectfully
yours,
RENATO C. LICLICAN
Researcher
Noted by:
MARIA LUZ D. FANG-ASAN Ph. D.
Adviser
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
43
Benguet State University
COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE
Department of Extension Education and Development Communication
La Trinidad, Benguet
16
January
2008
MARY JANE L. LARUAN Ph. D.
Dean
College of Teacher Education
Madam:
Greetings!
I am Renato C. Liclican, 4th year BS Development Communication student
majoring Educational Communication and presently conducting my thesis study entitled
“Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website”.
In this connection, I would like to reserve the CTE Computer Laboratory on
January 18, 2007 at 9:00 AM -11:00AM for the study. Twenty (20) CTE students will be
answering a questionnaire while browsing the said website.
Your cooperation in this study will be of great help to me and also to the
university. Hoping for your immediate response regarding this matter.
God bless and thank you very much!
Respectfully yours,
RENATO C. LICLICAN
Researcher
Noted by:
MARIA LUZ D. FANG-ASAN Ph. D.
Adviser
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
44
Benguet State University
COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE
Department of Extension Education and Development Communication
La Trinidad, Benguet
18
January
2008
CHRISANDO P. PAZA
Instructor
CAS-MPS
Sir:
Greetings!
I am Renato C. Liclican, 4th year BS Development Communication student
majoring Educational Communication and presently conducting my thesis study titled
“Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website”.
In this connection, I would like to ask for permission if you would allow me to
distribute my questionnaire to twenty (20) students from your class in the following
schedules:
January 22, 2008 (Tuesday) – 1:00 PM (BSN IV-B)
January 23, 2008 (Wednesday) – 9:00 PM (BSIT IV-P1)
Your cooperation in this study will be of great help to me and also to the
university. Hoping for your immediate response regarding this matter.
God bless and thank you very much!
Respectfully yours,
RENATO C. LICLICAN
Researcher
Noted by:
MARIA LUZ D. FANG-ASAN Ph. D.
Adviser
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
45
Benguet State University
COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE
Department of Extension Education and Development Communication
La Trinidad, Benguet
21
January
2008
MA. TERESA P. TEOFILO
Instructor
CAS-MPS
Madam:
Greetings!
I am Renato C. Liclican, 4th year BS Development Communication student
majoring Educational Communication and presently conducting my thesis study titled
“Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website”.
In this connection, I would like to ask for permission if you would allow me to
distribute my questionnaire to twenty (20) students from your class on January 23, 2008
(Wednesday) at 1:00 PM.
The students will be answering the questionnaire while browsing the said website.
Your cooperation in this study will be of great help to me and also to the
university. Hoping for your immediate response regarding this matter.
God bless and thank you very much!
Respectfully yours,
RENATO C. LICLICAN
Researcher
Noted by:
MARIA LUZ D. FANG-ASAN Ph. D.
Adviser
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
46
Benguet State University
COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE
Department of Extension Education and Development Communication
La Trinidad, Benguet
21
January
2008
VICENTE PANAGAN Jr.
Clinical Instructor
College of Nursing
Sir:
Greetings!
I am Renato C. Liclican, 4th year BS Development Communication student
majoring Educational Communication and presently conducting my thesis study titled
“Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website”.
In this connection, I would like to inform you that you are one of the faculty
members chosen to be one of my respondents for my study. Attached with this letter is
the questionnaire which will be answered while browsing the BSU website.
Your cooperation in this study will be of great help to me and also to the
university. Hoping for your immediate response regarding this matter.
God bless and thank you very much!
Respectfully yours,
RENATO C. LICLICAN
Researcher
Noted by:
MARIA LUZ D. FANG-ASAN Ph. D.
Adviser
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
47
Appendix B. Instruments
QUESTIONNAIRE
Name: (optional): ______________________
College/Dept: ________________
Course and Year: ______________________
Date: ______________________
I. Attributes of the BSU Website
Instructions:
Check the corresponding box whether your answer is YES or NO to the
following questions.
Please read and analyze the following questions carefully and answer it honestly.
*It is in your hands to establish the good quality, authorship, accuracy, currency,
and accessibility of the BSU website.
CRITERIA ATTRIBUTES
QUESTIONS YES NO
Site Publisher
Site publisher indicated?
Link to publisher’s webpage provided?
Author’s name indicated?
Author’s contact details provided?
AND
Site Author
Author’s credentials/biography is
AUTHORITY
ACCURACY
available?
“COPYRIGHT” statement included?
Is purpose of the site clear?
Purpose
“MISSION” statement or “ABOUT US”
feature included?
Page title appropriate/descriptive of the
content?
Clarity and
Images used appropriate for the content?
Relevance
Language used appropriate for the
intended audience?
Provided links relevant?
Date when article was placed on the
web given?
Date of article’s last revision given?
Currency
Date of article’s last update and
modification given?
Articles are up-to-date?
CONTENT
“WHAT’S NEW?” section included?
Is it free from errors? (Spelling,
Accuracy and
grammar etc.)
Correctness
Bibliography/references were given?
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48
CRITERIA QUESTION
YES NO
Very slow to load?
ACCESSIBILITY AND
“HELP” feature available?
Requires registration or password to
STABILITY
access it?
Can you access the website anytime?
Well designed and organized?
Easy to read and navigate?
DESIGN,
“SEARCH” feature/SITE MAP
ORGANIZATION,
available?
AND NAVIGATION
Links visible and properly functioning?
Main Menu Toolbar consistent
throughout the site?
II. BSU Site Statistics and Features
1. How often do you use or visit the BSU website? (Pls. check)
o Always (when online)
o Sometimes (when it is only needed)
o Never (this is just your first time)
2. What features do you want for the BSU website to have? (Pls. check)
o Forum (Message Boards)
o Campus Photo and Video Gallery
o Announcements (Campus Bulletin Box)
o BSU Societies/Groups/Clubs Web pages
o BSU Colleges/Departments Web pages
o BSU Products Web page
o BSU Map/Directory
o BSU News Publications Web pages
o BSU Research Journals Web pages
o Others (Pls. specify)____________________________________
3. What features/attributes do you hate in the BSU website?
o Design/Layout
o Font size
o Font style
o Speed
o Unnecessary Images
o Dead/broken (not functioning) Links
o Articles
o No graphics
o Others (Pls. specify) _____________________________________
Comments/Suggestions:
________________________________________________________________________
Thank you very much! God bless always! RCLiclican
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
49
WEB STANDARD CHECKLIST
Name: ____________________
Agency/Company: ___________________
Position: __________________
Date: ______________
Instructions:
Log on to http://www.bsu.edu.ph, the official website of Benguet State University
and evaluate it through this checklist.
Check the corresponding box whether your answer is YES or NO to the following
questions regarding the BSU website. Put your remarks after each item.
CRITERIA
QUESTIONS
YES NO REMARKS
Used a correct Doctype?
Used a Character set?
Used valid (X) HTML?
Used valid CSS?
Used unnecessary classes or
IDs?
Code well structured?
Have any broken links?
Performs fast in terms of
speed/page size?
Have JavaScript errors?
Quality of the Code
Summary Remarks/Recommendations:
QUESTIONS
YES NO REMARKS
Used CSS for all
presentation aspects (fonts,
color, padding, borders etc)?
Are all decorative images in
the CSS or do they appear in
the (X) HTML?
Summary Remarks/Recommendations:
Content and Presentation
Degree of Separation between
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50
CRITERIA
QUESTIONS YES NO REMARKS
"ALT" attributes used for all
descriptive images?
Used relative units rather
than absolute units for text
size?
Used visible skip menus?
Used accessible forms?
Used accessible tables?
Is there sufficient color
brightness/contrasts?
Link texts descriptive?
Summary Remarks/Recommendations:
Accessibility for Users
QUESTIONS YES NO REMARKS
Does the site work
acceptably across modern
and older browsers?
Is the content accessible with
CSS switched off or not
supported?
Does the site work in text
browsers such as Lynx?
Does the site work well
when printed?
Does the site include detailed
metadata?
Does the site work well in a
range of browser window
sizes?
Accessibility for Devices
Summary Remarks/Recommendations:
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
51
CRITRIA
QUESTIONS YES NO REMARKS
Is there a clear visual
hierarchy?
Are heading levels easy to
distinguish?
Site's navigation easy to
understand?
Site's navigation consistent?
Used consistent and
appropriate language?
Have a sitemap page and
contact page? Are they easy
to find?
For large sites, is there a
search tool?
Is there a link to the home
Basic Usability
page on every page in the
site?
Are links underlined?
Are visited links clearly
defined?
Summary Remarks/Recommendations:
QUESTIONS YES NO REMARKS
Have a meaningful and
helpful 404 error page that
works from any depth in the
site?
Used friendly URLs?
URL functions even without
"www"?
Have a favicon?
Summary Remarks/Recommendations:
Site Management
THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!
http://www.maxdesign.com.au/presentation/checklist.htm
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
52
Appendix C. BSU Website Home Page
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
LICLICAN, RENATO C. April 2008. Evaluation of the Benguet State University
Website. Benguet State University, La Trinidad, Benguet.
Adviser: Maria Luz D. Fang-asan, PhD
ABSTRACT
The study was conducted to evaluate the Benguet State University website
according to web standards and description of the content of the site in terms of accuracy,
currency, accessibility and other website features.
There were two groups of respondents in the study: 88 user-respondents (users)
and the designer-respondents (designers). The web designer of the BSU website was also
interviewed. The evaluation of the contents of the website was done with a questionnaire
while the evaluation of the website was done with the Web Standard Checklist by Russ
Weakley. The instruments were answered while browsing the BSU website.
The study was conducted in Benguet State University, La Trinidad, Benguet from
October 2007 to January 2008. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as
frequency and percentage.
Majority of the respondents were not frequent visitors of the BSU Website since
they were visiting the website once a month only. While the website provides information
about the university, it did not adhere to web standards and it lacked many features that
would make it more user-friendly and more useful. It is also weak in terms of accuracy,
currency, and accessibility. There is a need to improve the website and it is recommended
that the results of this study be considered. The internet has already become a convenient
source of information especially among students who are the primary clients of the
university. The BSU Website should therefore be enhanced as a medium for bringing
information to the clients.
ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i
Abstract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i
Table of Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
INTRODUCTION
Rationale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Statement of the Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Objectives of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Importance of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Scope and Limitations of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
What is a Website? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Web Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
General Website Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Criteria for Evaluating Websites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
The BSU Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Definition of Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
METHODOLOGY
Locale and Time of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Respondents of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Data Collection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
iii
Data Gathered . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Data Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Profile of the BSU Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Evaluation by Web Designers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Evaluation by Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Suggested BSU Website Features to be Improved . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Suggested Features for the BSU Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
LITERATURE CITED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
APPENDICES
Appendix A: Letters to the Respondents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Appendix B: Instruments
Questionnaire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Web Standards Checklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Appendix C: BSU Website Home Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
iv
1
INTRODUCTION
Rationale
The World Wide Web can be a great place to be apprised on many topics from all
over the world through information and data offered by different websites.
Websites are information systems that provide users knowledge, information,
insights, goods and services through effective and efficient contents which are properly
structured. They serve as bridges that connect users to a variety of experiences which
may entertain, educate, or persuade them.
An academic institution, particularly a university, constructs a website that serves
as an introduction of the university, as an interface to outside resources, as publisher of
good works, and as data resources (McKenzie, 1997). The Benguet State University
(BSU) Website has been developed under this premise.
However, there are web resources that are not very credible and that are poorly
organized. This can be attributed to the fact that putting documents or uploading
information to the web is easy, cheap or sometimes free, unregulated, and unmonitored.
These things must be checked by those who are responsible for maintaining and
developing websites especially university websites.
For BSU, checking these things will help avoid some problems that affect the
users especially the students, faculty, and others in their search for information. However,
unless one has a knowledge of website standards, site accuracy, web source credibility,
relevance, currency, and website accessibility, it is difficult to determine whether or not a
website is good, effective, efficient, reliable, and accessible.
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
2
It is therefore important to evaluate the BSU website to help improve, maintain,
and develop a standard, accurate, educational, and accessible website with relevant,
reliable, and current information. This will enable the students, faculty, and other users of
the website to access BSU information at a minimum cost in a minimum period of time.
Statement of the Problem
This study aimed to answer the following questions:
1. What is the profile of the BSU website?
2. Was the BSU website created based on web standards?
3. Does the BSU website meet the needs of its intended users?
4. What features of the BSU website do the BSU students and faculty members
wish to have in the BSU website?
Objectives of the Study
This study evaluated the BSU website in terms of website standards, site statistics,
and site content and structure.
Specifically, this study aimed to:
1. determine the profile of the BSU website;
2. determine if the BSU website adheres to web standards in terms of the
following criteria:
• quality of code,
• degree of separation between content and presentation,
• accessibility for users,
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
3
• accessibility for devices,
• basic usability, and
• site management.
3. evaluate the attributes of the BSU website in terms of the following criteria:
•
indication of the author’s name or the site publisher on the website;
•
purpose, clarity, relevance, accuracy, source credibility, and
currency of the content;
•
website accessibility and stability;
•
design, organization and ease of navigation; and
•
visibility and functionality of links on the website.
4. elicit suggestions from the BSU students and faculty members for the
improvement of the BSU website.
Importance of the Study
An evaluation of an academic institution website will help in its improvement and
redevelopment. It will provide insights to web publishers and web designers on whether
or not the services and information offered in the website meet the needs of its intended
audience.
The results of this study may be used by the web publishers and web designers in
creating websites that are user-centric, timely, accessible, effective, efficient, and a
website built based on web standards. This study may serve as their guide in maintaining
or improving the website.
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
4
In addition, this may also help the web visitors especially the students, teachers
and even researchers to evaluate a website in terms of the said criteria to avoid meeting
some problems while surfing information on the web.
Scope and Limitation of the Study
The study focused only on the official website of the Benguet State University
(http://www.bsu.edu.ph). It was conducted from October 2007 to January 2008. Key
informant interviews regarding the profile of the BSU website were conducted. The
researcher also used the Web Standards Checklist by Russ Weakley for the evaluation of
the BSU website by four web designers. A questionnaire formulated by the researcher
was used as an instrument and it was answered by 88 respondents from BSU who
answered the questionnaire while browsing the said website.
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REVIEW OF LITERATURE
What is a Website?
A website is a collection of web pages consisting of information, images, videos
and other digital assets that are hosted on one or several web server(s), usually accessible
via the internet, cell phone or a LAN (Local Area Network). It is a publication which has
an author(s), a purpose, and has a proper scope of information which must be truly
understood by the intended user (Kirk, 1996).
Web Standards
According to the Web Standards Project Developer Education Committee (2002),
web standards are technologies, established by the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium)
and other standard bodies that are used to create and interpret web-based content. These
technologies are designed to future-proof documents published on the web and to make
those documents accessible to as many as possible.
A site built according to web standards should follow best practices (correct
doctype, valid code, accessible code, semantically correct code, user-friendly URLs etc)
and adhere to the following W3C standards (Max Design, 2006):
• HTML 4.0 - HyperText Markup Language (HTML)
• XML 1.0 - Extensible Markup Language (XML)
• XHTML 1.0, 1.1, and Modularization
• CSS - Cascading Style Sheets
• DOM 1 - Document Object Model Level 1
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In addition to using the above technologies, a document is said to adhere to web
standards when it:
• consists of valid HTML or XHTML
• uses CSS instead of tables for layout
• is properly structured and semantically marked up
• works in any web browser
General Website Guidelines
Intention guidelines. According to Cubbins (2000), a website that states its
purpose in the introduction or in the title gives you immediate information about the
content. If the site follows its declared intent, a straightforward and coherent relationship
exists between the Web Builder and the reader. This helps to create the site's credibility.
Determine the purpose of the website by looking closely at the content of the
information. Some sites provide links to a page “About Our Organization” or a “Mission
Statement”, detailing the purpose in creating the website. The purpose of other sites
might not be obvious at first (UM Libraries, 2006).
Content guidelines. Content is the reason why people come to the web. Website
content should be concise, well organized, and targeted at the intended users of the
website (BRAINBOX Intelligent Web Development, 2007).
According to the UM Libraries (2006), the currency or regularity of updating
information is vital for some types of information and not so important for others. For
example, a website that provides historical information, such as the presidential papers of
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
7
George Washington do not have to be updated as often as compared to sites that provide
news stories or stock market information.
Construction guidelines. For someone to be able to understand and easily access
its content, the website must be designed so that the information seeker can move within
a page, or from page to page, without getting lost or having to click again and again
through layers of links to get to the substantive information (Cubbins, 2000).
Design, organization and ease of use are important considerations. Web sites can
provide useful sources of information, but if they are slow to load, difficult to navigate,
search or read, then their contribution or usefulness will be lost (UM Libraries, 2006).
Based on the BRAINBOX Intelligent Web Development report (2007), modern
website construction techniques must be used to ensure that each page of the website
consists of valid code that loads as quickly as possible.
Authority guidelines. Knowing about the author of a website through a provided
email address is also useful to determine whether a site is reliable or not (Cubbins,
2006).
According to Kirk (1996), authorship is perhaps the major criterion used in
evaluating information. When we look for information with some type of critical value,
we want to know the basis of the authority with which the author speaks.
The publishing body also helps evaluate any kind of document you may be
reading. In the print universe, this generally means that the author's manuscript has
undergone screening in order to verify that it meets the standards or aims of the
organization that serves as publisher.
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8
Links functionality guidelines. Evaluation of a site also means evaluating the links
that the Web Builder chooses to include. Links are part of the site's total content, and
links to respectful and accurate websites are important to maintaining quality; however, a
quality link may not benefit an otherwise disrespectful or inaccurate website beyond
being merely a good link, and links to disrespectful or inaccurate sites are like citations to
questionable printed material, reflecting poorly on the Web builder’s choice of links
(Cubbins, 2000).
Usability guidelines. The user’s goal is not to use the computer or the website but
to accomplish some task; to get information, be entertained or buy a product etc.
However, the core idea of user-centered design is to always remember that we are
designing for users and not ourselves; you are not the user and the users are not designers
(Powell, 2002).
Here is a list of important site considerations according to Alohas Online:
1. Functionality
• The site contains all desired information.
• The site includes all desired methods of contact or interaction.
2. Navigation
• Site navigation is easily understood.
• All site areas can be reached with a minimum number of mouse clicks.
3. Consistency
• All of the site's content is consistent with the client's message.
• All of the site's design and graphic elements are consistent with the desired style
for the site.
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4. Accuracy
• Each link on every site page has been tested.
• Each programming element on the site has been tested for all anticipated user
responses.
• All site elements have been checked for errors in spelling and grammar
5. Speed
• Each site page loads within the desired amount of time.
• All graphic elements have been optimized to load as quickly as possible.
6. Appearance
• The site's overall design is appropriate and appealing.
• All graphic elements are as attractive as possible for loading within the desired
amount of time.
7. Browsers
• All site pages display correctly within Internet Explorer and Netscape
Navigator.
Criteria for Evaluating Websites
According to Kapoun (1997), you may have a web page that could be of value to
your research through this list of criteria for evaluating websites:
• Accuracy. If your page lists the author and institution that published the page and
provides a way of contacting him/her.
• Authority. If your page lists the author credentials and its domain is preferred
(.edu, .gov, .org, or .net).
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
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• Objectivity. If your page provides accurate information with limited advertising
and it is objective in presenting the information.
• Currency. If your page is current and updated regularly (as stated on the page)
and the links (if any) are also up-to-date.
• Coverage. If you can view the information properly--not limited to fees, browser
technology, or software requirement.
The BSU Website
According to Macasieb (2000), the first BSU website was launched in January
2000 in the internet courtesy of the Belgian government through the Philippine
Institutional University Cooperation (PIUC) Project. Benguet State University was one of
the 8000 Universities in 200 countries, reviewed and ranked by web popularity, included
in the 4 International Colleges & Universities higher education directory, an international
education directory selecting and reviewing world-wide accredited Universities and
Colleges.
Definition of Terms
Accessibility.
It refers to the access to the web by everyone, regardless of
disability. It also includes device independence, universal access, availability of
information, performance speed, and ease of navigation.
Accuracy. How accurate or precise the information is.
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). It is a system used for changing the appearance of
HTML elements, by assigning styles to element types, self-defined classes of elements or
individual
instances.
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11
Currency. It refers to the timeliness of articles being published (how current the
information is) .
Design consistency and ease of navigation. It refers to the easiness of surfing on a
web page through proper arrangement of information and consistent pattern throughout
the site.
Hyperlinks. It refers to the reference or navigation element in a document to
another section of the same document, another document or a specified section of another
document that automatically brings the referred information to the user.
Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML). It is widely used for adding structure to
text
documents.
Links. These are references to other documents within the same website (Internal
link) or in another websites (External link) or web pages. Clicking on them may take you
to
another
document.
Search engines. Search capability of a site where you can search for information
needed by typing keywords inside the search box.
Site integrity. It refers to the stability of the website over time.
Visibility and functionality. This means that the links are clearly labeled, easy to
read, distinguishable from the content, functional and not broken or dead.
Web browser. It refers to the interpreter of the website. It allows a user to access
information quickly and easily provided on many web pages at many websites by
navigating the links. Users often don’t blame the browsers for simple errors instead they
blame the websites. Examples of these are the Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and
Netscape’s
Communicator,
Navigator.
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12
Webmaster. It is a person or an organization whose occupation is to design, to
develop,
to
market,
or
to
maintain
websites.
Web server. It is a computer program that stores information contained on
websites. It sends information to a computer when a link on the website was clicked.
Apache and Zeus are some examples of web servers.
Website. Set of interconnected web pages generally located on the same server,
and prepared and maintained as a collection of information by a person, group, or an
organization.
Website publisher. It refers to a person, an institution, or any web agency that is
responsible for publishing the website on the web.
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). It is the main international standards
organization for the World Wide Web (W3).
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
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METHODOLOGY
Locale and Time of the Study
Benguet State University is an institution of higher education in La Trinidad,
Benguet. It is the oldest institution among all state colleges and universities in the region.
It has been a recipient of grants from local, regional, national, and international entities
promoting information and communication technologies.
BSU has a total land area of 658.6250 hectares (Figure 1) and is five kilometers
away from Baguio City, the educational center of Northern Luzon, Philippines. Since the
study evaluated the BSU website using BSU facilities, it was chosen as the area of study
just the same.
The study was conducted from October 2007 to January 2008.
Respondents of the Study
There were 92 respondents purposively chosen by the researcher. There were two
groups of respondents: the designer-respondents referred to as designers and the user-
respondents referred to as users in this study. Four were web designers/developers; one
from AMA and three from NIIT. They have evaluated the website in terms of web
standards as well as their experiences in web development.
The user-respondents (users) were 18 4th year Bachelor of Science in
Development Communication students, 18 4th year Bachelor of Science in Information
Technology students, 19 3rd year Bachelor of Science in Home Economics students, 16
4th year Bachelor of Science in Nursing students, 15 2nd year Bachelor in Elementary
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
14
Education students, and two faculty members from College of Agriculture and College of
Nursing. They were expected to evaluate the website from the prospective target users
who are at the same time insiders and therefore are in a position to make judgments
where necessary.
Benguet State
University
Figure 1. Map of Benguet showing the locale of the study
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
15
Data Collection
A key informant interview regarding the profile of the BSU website was
conducted. The researcher interviewed Ms. Julie Ann R. Dugat, the web designer of the
BSU Website. The researcher used the Web Standards Checklist by Russ Weakley for the
evaluation of the BSU website.
For the evaluation of the BSU website in terms of certain criteria, a questionnaire
formulated by the researcher was used as an instrument answered by user-respondents
while online. This was based on the different criteria and content elements for evaluating
the authority, accuracy, relevance, purpose, clarity, currency, site statistics, site features,
and accessibility of a website.
Data Gathered
The data gathered were on the profile of the BSU website; evaluation of the BSU
website based on web standards; indication of the author’s name or the site publisher;
purpose, clarity, relevance, accuracy, credibility of source, and currency of the content;
accessibility and stability of the website; design, organization and ease of navigation;
visibility and functionality of links on the website; site statistics of the BSU website by
the respondents (BSU students and faculty members); and suggested features for the BSU
website by the said respondents.
Data Analysis
The data gathered were tabulated, analyzed, and consolidated through descriptive
statistics. Data from key informant interviews were presented in a narrative form.
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
16
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Profile of the BSU Website
The URL address of the BSU website at the time of evaluation was
http://www.bsu.edu.ph. The construction of the website was in 2003-2004 according to
the designer, a computer maintenance officer of the BSU-ICT Division. As indicated in
the home page of the website in Figure 2, it was copyrighted in 2005.
Contents. Figure 2 also shows the contents of the home page of the website as
follows: name and address of the university, university logo, pictures depicting the
different functions of the university, log-in form to the BSU web mail, current date, main
menu bar, latest article, links to news archives, Google search tool box, logo of Adobe
Reader, logo of Fedora, logo of Apache, and BSU contact details. In addition, there were
two marquees running across the header: “Center of Excellence in Agriculture
Education” and “The Regional State University of the Cordillera”.
Organization. The organization of information in the website as indicated in the
main menu bar did not follow any hierarchical ordering. For example, there was a link for
Office of the President and another for Key University Offices, which gave the impression
that the Office of the President is not a key university office. Another example is a link
for Admission and another for Forms, both of which actually led to admission forms.
Sources of contents. The contents of the site came from different units in the
university. News articles usually came from UPAO (University Public Affairs Office).
Apache was the web server of the site while Fedora was its operating system. The Adobe
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
17
Reader was the software used for downloadable files issued by the university such as
application forms for entrance examinations, academic calendars etc.
URL Address
Header
Current Date
Log-in
Form
Main
Menu Bar
News
Archives
Software for
Downloadable
Files
Articles
Search
Tool Box
Operating
Web Server
BSU
System
Address
and Contact
Details
Figure 2. Home page of the BSU website showing different attributes
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
18
Figure 3 shows another page of the BSU website containing a news article.
Compared to its home page, the main menu bar changed its position horizontally. The
link Key Offices was featured at the left portion yet it had the same link found at the main
menu bar.
The date of publication of the article was indicated with the name of its author.
But there was no given date of last revision or last update of the website found in the web
page. The font size of the picture caption was also bigger than the font size used in the
article.
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
19
Main
Menu
Author(s) of Article
Toolbar
Source of Article
Links
Date of Publication
News
Article
Image
Photo
Caption
Figure 3. BSU web page containing news article
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
20
Frequency of site visits by users. Figure 4 shows that majority (78%) of the users
visited the website once a month. Out of the 88 users, only five of them claimed that they
visited the website twice a week. These users were 4th year Bachelor of Science in
Information Technology students who were required to access the E-learning site
provided by the BSU website and to log-in for their attendance.
However, there were 14 users (16%) who never visited the BSU website which
means that it is only their first time to visit the site during the evaluation day. Seven of
them were from the College of Nursing, six from the College of Home Economics and
Technology, and one from the College of Teacher Education.
Frequency of Site Visits
14
16%
5
6%
69
78%
once a month
twice a week
never
Figure 4. Frequency of site visits by users
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
21
Evaluation by Web Designers
One of the objectives of the study was to determine if the BSU website adhered to
the web standards in terms of the following criteria: quality of the code, degree of
separation between content and presentation, accessibility for users and devices, basic
usability, and site management. The evaluation was done through a checklist which is
presented in Table 1.
Code and degree of separation between content and presentation. According to
designers, the BSU website consisted of a valid HTML and CSS, which was used for all
presentation aspects including fonts, images and color. They also indicated that the code
was well structured and that it worked for any web browser. With these features, the
website adhered to web standards as indicated by Max Design (2006).
However, they also noted that there were broken and dead links like the links
Employment and Campus Tour which were not linked anywhere. It was also observed
that loading was very slow. In terms of these features, the BSU website did not pass the
standards.
Accessibility. The website did not adhere to web standards when it comes to
accessibility for users because it did not use visible skip menus, descriptive link texts and
accessible forms. However in terms of accessibility for devices, the website worked in
any browser thus it passed web standards.
Basic usability. The links were clearly defined when visited and the link to home
page was provided in all web pages thus favoring basic usability. However, the designers
noticed that the links on the website were not underlined for easy distinction from the
other contents of the site and site navigation was not easy to understand. This is attributed
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
22
to design inconsistencies like one where a page of the website contained so many links
which were also found on other pages. This tended to confuse an ordinary user or visitor
of the site. For example, if you clicked on the link Phil-Organic, it led you to the News
and Updates web page which contained the links Publications and RDE News Updates.
Since some of the links at the main menu bar had been removed or added to these web
pages, there was no more link going back to the Phil-Organic web page. Users would be
lost in the site especially if they were not familiar with shortcut navigation aids (if
provided) such as back, next, home, top, end etc.
Site management. The website used a friendly URL which functioned even
without “www”.
Other observations. The designers noticed that the left and right margins of the
website were too large for a web page. Some texts also could not be read easily because
of the font style used. The designers also noticed that a log-in form was provided in the
home page of the website but there was no sign-up form. This indicates that users could
not register. Furthermore, there was no comment box provided in the site where users can
post their comments regarding the site.
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
23
Table 1. Adherence of BSU website to web standards according to web designers
CRITERIA STANDARDS
YES
NO
Quality of the
Consists of valid HTML or
Code
(X)HTML and CSS
Has well structured code
Has no dead/broken links
Performs/loads fast
Degree of
Has CSS for all presentation
Separation
aspects (fonts, color, images etc.)
between Content
and Presentation
Accessibility for Has visible skip menus
Users
Has descriptive link texts
Has accessible forms
Accessibility for Website works in any browser
Devices
Basic Usability
Site’s navigation easy to
understand
Has underlined links
Has clearly defined links
Provides a link to home page in
every page in the site
Site
Has friendly URLs and functions
Management
even without “www”
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
24
Evaluation by Users
The users evaluated the BSU website in terms of content, accessibility, design,
organization, and navigation.
Content. Table 2 shows that majority (60.23%) of the users thought that the
purpose of the website was clear even though there was no Mission or About Us feature
found on the website. This is the feature which usually details the purpose of a website.
The web designer of the BSU website said that the main purpose of the website was to
give information about the university- its services, events, products, and colleges.
Majority (78.41 %) of the users said that the page title and images used were
appropriate for its content, that the language used was appropriate for the intended
audience, that the links were relevant, and that the content of the site was free from
errors. These are all positive attributes of a website.
However, half of the users observed that the articles in the BSU website were no
longer current news at the time of evaluation. For example, the article shown in Figure 3
was all about the accreditation of some degree programs offered in BSU which occurred
on November 28, 2007 and was published in the website January, 2008. The current news
during the time of the evaluation was the University Charter Day.
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
25
Table 2. BSU site content attributes as evaluated by users
CRITERIA YES
NO NO
ANSWER
NO. PERCENTAGE NO. PERCENTAGE NO. PERCENTAGE
(n=88)
(n=88)
(n=88)
Purpose is
53 60.23
% 30 34.09% 5 5.68%
clear
Page title is
appropriate
85
96.59%
3
3.41%
-
-
for the
content
Images
used are
69
78.41%
16
18.18%
3
3.41%
appropriate
for the
content
Language
used
81
92.05%
7
7.95%
-
-
appropriate
for the
intended
audience
Links are
71 80.68% 16 18.18% 1 1.14%
relevant
Articles are
43 48.86% 44 50.00% 1 1.14%
up-to-date
Content of
the site is
67
76.14%
20
22.73%
1
1.14%
free from
errors
(spelling,
grammar
etc.)
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
26
Website accessibility. Table 3 presents the evaluation of the BSU website by the
users in terms of speed and accessibility of the website. Majority (53.41%) of the users
have observed the fast access of the website during the evaluation. However, the speed of
internet connection depends on the internet source provider which is sometimes affected
by the location of the internet shop, and the number of users in that area (Anonymous,
n.d.).
Majority (63.64%) of the users claimed that the website can be accessed anytime.
However, there were some users and even designers who noticed that there were times
the BSU website could not be accessed outside the campus and even inside the
university. The BSU web designer explained that the site must have been under
construction or updating during those times.
Table 3. BSU website accessibility as evaluated by the users
CRITERIA YES
NO NO
ANSWER
NO.
PERCENTAGE
NO.
PERCENTAGE
NO.
PERCENTAGE
(n=88)
(n=88)
(n=88)
Modem
speed is
very slow
40
45.45%
47
53.41%
1
1.14%
when
loading
Site can be
accessed
56
63.64%
32
36.36%
-
-
anytime
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
27
Website design, organization, and ease of navigation. Table 4 presents that most
(67.05%) of the users agreed that the website was well designed and organized. This is
supported by a majority (71.59%) claim that it was easy to read and navigate but contrary
to the response of the web designers who said that the site was not well organized, hard
to understand and hard to navigate. These differences in the observation of the users and
the evaluators can be attributed to differences in knowledge and exposure. The web
designers are expected to know that there are better ways of web design and content
organization for easier navigation.
While majority (77.27%) agreed that the main menu bar was consistent
throughout the site, 19 users (21.59%) noticed that the main menu bar was not consistent.
An inspection of the site indicated that indeed it was not consistent. For example, when a
link at the main menu bar in the home page was clicked, it led to a page where some of
the links in the main menu bar were removed or added.
Table 4. Design, organization, and ease of navigation of the BSU website
CRITERIA YES
NO
NO
ANSWER
NO.
PERCENTAGE
NO.
PERCENTAGE
NO.
PERCENTAGE
(n=88)
(n=88)
(n=88)
Site is well-
designed
59
67.05%
29
32.95%
-
-
and
organized
Site content
is easy to
read and
63
71.59%
24
27.27%
1
1.14%
navigate
Main menu
toolbar is
consistent
68
77.27%
19
21.59%
1
1.14%
throughout
the site
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
28
Majority (60.23%) of the users were able to distinguish the links that were
functioning from those which were not functioning. Some dead links were found at the
web pages of the Vice President for Administration, some links at the University Services
page, Employment, and Campus Tour link at the main menu bar.
Table 5. Visibility and functionality of links
CRITERIA YES
NO NO
ANSWER
NO.
PERCENTAGE
NO.
PERCENTAGE
NO.
PERCENTAGE
(n=88)
(n=88)
(n=88)
Links are
53 60.23% 34 38.64% 1 1.14%
visible
Dead/broken
64 72.73% 24 27.27% -
-
links
Suggested BSU Website Features to be Improved
Table 6 shows the features/attributes of the BSU website that should be improved
as suggested by the users. Majority (72.73%) suggested that the dead/broken links be
made functional.
Many (40.91%) suggested the incorporation of more graphics and also the
increase of speed. However, these suggestions are contradictory because excessive
graphics tend to slow down the loading of a website.
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
29
Table 6. Suggestions for the improvement of the BSU website
FEATURES
NUMBER
PERCENTAGE
(n=88)
Eliminate dead/broken links
64 72.73%
Add more graphics
36 40.91%
Increase speed
36 40.91%
Improve design/lay-out
24 27.27%
Use appropriate images
21 23.86%
Increase font size
15 17.05%
Update articles
9 10.23%
Change font style
7 7.95%
*Multiple responses
Suggested Features for the BSU Website
Table 7 shows the different website features suggested by the users for the BSU
website to have.
Out of 88 users, 65 or 73.86% suggested that a campus photo and video gallery
must be included in the BSU website. This reflects that man indeed is visual by nature
(Gur, 2002).
Majority of the users suggested that there should be a Campus Bulletin Box for
announcements and a Message Board for the exchange of ideas/opinions.
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
30
Table 7. Suggested features for the BSU website
FEATURES
NUMBER
PERCENTAGE
(n=88)
Campus Photo and Video
65 73.86%
Gallery
Announcements (Campus
61 69.32%
Bulletin Box)
Forum (Message Boards)
52 59.09%
BSU Map/Directory
37 42.05%
BSU Products web pages
37 42.05%
BSU Societies web pages
34 38.64%
*Multiple responses
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
31
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary
The study was conducted to evaluate the Benguet State University website
according to web standards and to describe the content of the site in terms of, accuracy,
currency, accessibility and other website features.
There were two groups of respondents used in the study: the user-respondents
(users) and the designer-respondents (designers). The web designer of the BSU website
was interviewed to know the profile of the said website. The evaluation of the contents of
the website was done through a questionnaire distributed to 86 BSU students and two
faculty members as users from five colleges with big population in the university - CA,
CAS, CHET, CN, and CTE. The evaluation of the website according to web standards
was done through the Web Standard Checklist by Russ Weakley, answered by four web
developers/designers from NIIT and AMA. The users and designers answered the
instrument while browsing the BSU website.
The data gathering for the study was conducted in Benguet State University,
La Trinidad, Benguet from October 2007 to January 2008, and data were analyzed using
descriptive statistics such as frequency and percentage. Qualitative data were presented
in a narrative form.
The main purpose of the BSU website was to give information about the
university - its services, colleges, products etc. This was agreed by the users though there
was no Mission Statement or About Us feature, and products web pages provided by the
site. Majority of the users said that they were visiting the website once a month only.
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
32
The site author and its contact details were not indicated in the website while the
news articles in the site indicated the authors’ names and the source of publication. The
articles in the website were no longer current news and there was no given date of last
update or last modification of the website. Only the date of publication was given in the
news articles which have used appropriate language and images. These articles were also
free from any errors as evaluated by the users and designers.
Majority of the users observed the fast access of the website during the time of
evaluation but there were those who said that it can not be accessed anytime. According
to the BSU Web Designer, it could not be accessed when it is under construction.
Moreover, the links provided in the BSU website could not be easily
distinguished from the texts in the website thus these should be underlined and clearly
defined when visited as suggested by the users. There were some dead/broken links and
these links should be eliminated according to the users.
The website’s main menu tool bar was not consistent thus site navigation could
not be easily understood. Some texts could not be read also because of the font size and
font style used. The users suggested that these should be changed. The users also
suggested that the website must minimize its margin to fit the browser space.
Majority of the users suggested a campus photo and video gallery for the BSU
website. The other suggested features for the website to have are campus bulletin box,
message boards (forums), and a web page for BSU Map and BSU products. Both groups
of respondents also suggested that the design including margin, colors, images and
graphics, or the lay-out of the website be changed or improved.
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
33
Conclusions
Based on the findings, the following conclusions were drawn:
1. The BSU website has not shown authorship which is a major criterion used in
evaluating information. This may indicates that the website is not a reliable source
of information for not showing author’s affiliations/contact details, and sponsors.
2. The said website did not adhere to web standards in terms of degree of separation
between content and presentation, basic usability, and quality of the code.
3. The website is weak in terms of in accuracy, currency, and accessibility.
4. Site needs more and properly designed navigation tools for better and easier
access to information. It also needs to make all links functional and visible
throughout the site.
5. Site needs interesting features, promotional activities, and more information that
will interest, benefit, and invite users to visit the site.
6. Site needs to be improved in terms of web page design. There are many features
that are not present.
Recommendations
The following recommendations were made based on the conclusions:
1. The website should provide contact information about the author.
2. The BSU website designer should follow the web standards in establishing the
website for the accuracy, currency, accessibility, stability, links visibility and
functionality, proper design, and ease of navigation throughout the website.
These should include proper organization of information for better understanding.
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
34
3. The BSU web developers should always monitor and update the site if it is well
functioning in order to avoid “under construction” pages and misleading
information.
4. All links found in the website must function well, be visible, defined when
visited, and distinct from any other texts found in the website.
5. The site’s margin must be minimized to fit its maximum window width; font size
and font style be changed for better understanding; and the main menu tool bar
must be consistent throughout the site for easy navigation.
6. The website should provide a sign-up form for the log-in form provided in the
homepage of the website. The registration should be online with an added safety
net to make sure that only members of BSU can register. Online registration is
more convenient and will therefore encourage more to register and therefore
improve interactive participation.
7. The Campus Tour link found at the main menu tool bar of the website must
contain the web pages of the different colleges of the university and other services
and utilities found within the university.
8. There must be a link for BSU Research Journals at the main menu tool bar.
9. A site visit-counter and a comment box should be provided in the website since
visitors should be encouraged to give their feedback.
10. The web developers of the BSU website should put some other important features
for the site especially an external link for a campus photo and video gallery, a web
page for all the different products of BSU including not only food products but
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
35
also products of research, extension, and instruction in order to attain the real
purpose of the BSU website.
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
36
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38
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Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
39
APPENDICES
Appendix A. Letters to the Respondents
Benguet State University
COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE
Department of Extension Education and Development Communication
La Trinidad, Benguet
17 October 2007
Dear Evaluators,
Greetings!
I am Renato C. Liclican, 4th year Development Communication student majoring
Educational Communication and presently conducting my thesis study entitled
“Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website”.
In this connection, kindly fill up the questionnaire that will help the researcher to
determine if the BSU website adheres to web standards. Your cooperation in this study
will be of great help to me and also to the university. Rest assured that your answers will
only be used for the purpose of this study.
Thank you very much and God Bless!
Respectfully yours,
RENATO C. LICLICAN
Researcher
Noted by:
MARIA LUZ D. FANG-ASAN, Ph. D.
Adviser
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
40
Benguet State University
COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE
Department of Extension Education and Development Communication
La Trinidad, Benguet
14
January
2008
Dear Respondent,
Greetings!
I am Renato C. Liclican, 4th year BS Development Communication student
majoring Educational Communication and presently conducting my thesis study entitled
“Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website”.
In this connection, kindly fill up the questionnaire. Your cooperation in this study
will be of great help to me and also to the university. Rest assured that your answers will
only be used for the purpose of this study.
Thank you very much and God bless!
Respectfully yours,
RENATO C. LICLICAN
Researcher
Noted by:
MARIA LUZ D. FANG-ASAN Ph. D.
Adviser
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
41
Benguet State University
COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE
Department of Extension Education and Development Communication
La Trinidad, Benguet
18 December 2007
JULIE ANN R. DUGAT
Computer Maintenance-ICT Division
PIUC
Madam:
Seasons Greetings!
I am Renato C. Liclican, 4th year BS Development Communication student
majoring in Educational Communication and presently conducting my thesis study titled
“Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website.”
In this connection, I would like to request your good office for an interview
regarding the profile of the BSU website. Your cooperation in this study will be of great
help to me and also to the university. Hoping for your immediate response regarding this
matter.
God bless and thank you very much!
Respectfully yours,
RENATO C. LICLICAN
Researcher
Noted by:
MARIA LUZ D. FANG-ASAN, Ph. D.
Adviser
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
42
Benguet State University
COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE
Department Of Extension Education and Development Communication
La Trinidad, Benguet
16 January 2008
MACARIO D. CADATAL Ph. D.
Dean
College of Agriculture
Sir:
Greetings!
I am Renato C. Liclican, 4th year BS Development Communication student
majoring in Educational Communication and presently conducting my thesis study titled
“Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website.”
In this connection, I would like to reserve 5 units at the CA Computer Laboratory
room on the following dates:
January 17-18 (ThF),
January 21 (M),
January 23-25 (WThF), and
January 28-31 (M-Th), 2008 at 9:00 AM-12:00 PM for the said study.
Your participation on this study is very essential and highly appreciated.
God bless and thank you very much!
Respectfully
yours,
RENATO C. LICLICAN
Researcher
Noted by:
MARIA LUZ D. FANG-ASAN Ph. D.
Adviser
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
43
Benguet State University
COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE
Department of Extension Education and Development Communication
La Trinidad, Benguet
16
January
2008
MARY JANE L. LARUAN Ph. D.
Dean
College of Teacher Education
Madam:
Greetings!
I am Renato C. Liclican, 4th year BS Development Communication student
majoring Educational Communication and presently conducting my thesis study entitled
“Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website”.
In this connection, I would like to reserve the CTE Computer Laboratory on
January 18, 2007 at 9:00 AM -11:00AM for the study. Twenty (20) CTE students will be
answering a questionnaire while browsing the said website.
Your cooperation in this study will be of great help to me and also to the
university. Hoping for your immediate response regarding this matter.
God bless and thank you very much!
Respectfully yours,
RENATO C. LICLICAN
Researcher
Noted by:
MARIA LUZ D. FANG-ASAN Ph. D.
Adviser
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
44
Benguet State University
COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE
Department of Extension Education and Development Communication
La Trinidad, Benguet
18
January
2008
CHRISANDO P. PAZA
Instructor
CAS-MPS
Sir:
Greetings!
I am Renato C. Liclican, 4th year BS Development Communication student
majoring Educational Communication and presently conducting my thesis study titled
“Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website”.
In this connection, I would like to ask for permission if you would allow me to
distribute my questionnaire to twenty (20) students from your class in the following
schedules:
January 22, 2008 (Tuesday) – 1:00 PM (BSN IV-B)
January 23, 2008 (Wednesday) – 9:00 PM (BSIT IV-P1)
Your cooperation in this study will be of great help to me and also to the
university. Hoping for your immediate response regarding this matter.
God bless and thank you very much!
Respectfully yours,
RENATO C. LICLICAN
Researcher
Noted by:
MARIA LUZ D. FANG-ASAN Ph. D.
Adviser
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
45
Benguet State University
COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE
Department of Extension Education and Development Communication
La Trinidad, Benguet
21
January
2008
MA. TERESA P. TEOFILO
Instructor
CAS-MPS
Madam:
Greetings!
I am Renato C. Liclican, 4th year BS Development Communication student
majoring Educational Communication and presently conducting my thesis study titled
“Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website”.
In this connection, I would like to ask for permission if you would allow me to
distribute my questionnaire to twenty (20) students from your class on January 23, 2008
(Wednesday) at 1:00 PM.
The students will be answering the questionnaire while browsing the said website.
Your cooperation in this study will be of great help to me and also to the
university. Hoping for your immediate response regarding this matter.
God bless and thank you very much!
Respectfully yours,
RENATO C. LICLICAN
Researcher
Noted by:
MARIA LUZ D. FANG-ASAN Ph. D.
Adviser
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
46
Benguet State University
COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE
Department of Extension Education and Development Communication
La Trinidad, Benguet
21
January
2008
VICENTE PANAGAN Jr.
Clinical Instructor
College of Nursing
Sir:
Greetings!
I am Renato C. Liclican, 4th year BS Development Communication student
majoring Educational Communication and presently conducting my thesis study titled
“Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website”.
In this connection, I would like to inform you that you are one of the faculty
members chosen to be one of my respondents for my study. Attached with this letter is
the questionnaire which will be answered while browsing the BSU website.
Your cooperation in this study will be of great help to me and also to the
university. Hoping for your immediate response regarding this matter.
God bless and thank you very much!
Respectfully yours,
RENATO C. LICLICAN
Researcher
Noted by:
MARIA LUZ D. FANG-ASAN Ph. D.
Adviser
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
47
Appendix B. Instruments
QUESTIONNAIRE
Name: (optional): ______________________
College/Dept: ________________
Course and Year: ______________________
Date: ______________________
I. Attributes of the BSU Website
Instructions:
Check the corresponding box whether your answer is YES or NO to the
following questions.
Please read and analyze the following questions carefully and answer it honestly.
*It is in your hands to establish the good quality, authorship, accuracy, currency,
and accessibility of the BSU website.
CRITERIA ATTRIBUTES
QUESTIONS YES NO
Site Publisher
Site publisher indicated?
Link to publisher’s webpage provided?
Author’s name indicated?
Author’s contact details provided?
AND
Site Author
Author’s credentials/biography is
AUTHORITY
ACCURACY
available?
“COPYRIGHT” statement included?
Is purpose of the site clear?
Purpose
“MISSION” statement or “ABOUT US”
feature included?
Page title appropriate/descriptive of the
content?
Clarity and
Images used appropriate for the content?
Relevance
Language used appropriate for the
intended audience?
Provided links relevant?
Date when article was placed on the
web given?
Date of article’s last revision given?
Currency
Date of article’s last update and
modification given?
Articles are up-to-date?
CONTENT
“WHAT’S NEW?” section included?
Is it free from errors? (Spelling,
Accuracy and
grammar etc.)
Correctness
Bibliography/references were given?
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48
CRITERIA QUESTION
YES NO
Very slow to load?
ACCESSIBILITY AND
“HELP” feature available?
Requires registration or password to
STABILITY
access it?
Can you access the website anytime?
Well designed and organized?
Easy to read and navigate?
DESIGN,
“SEARCH” feature/SITE MAP
ORGANIZATION,
available?
AND NAVIGATION
Links visible and properly functioning?
Main Menu Toolbar consistent
throughout the site?
II. BSU Site Statistics and Features
1. How often do you use or visit the BSU website? (Pls. check)
o Always (when online)
o Sometimes (when it is only needed)
o Never (this is just your first time)
2. What features do you want for the BSU website to have? (Pls. check)
o Forum (Message Boards)
o Campus Photo and Video Gallery
o Announcements (Campus Bulletin Box)
o BSU Societies/Groups/Clubs Web pages
o BSU Colleges/Departments Web pages
o BSU Products Web page
o BSU Map/Directory
o BSU News Publications Web pages
o BSU Research Journals Web pages
o Others (Pls. specify)____________________________________
3. What features/attributes do you hate in the BSU website?
o Design/Layout
o Font size
o Font style
o Speed
o Unnecessary Images
o Dead/broken (not functioning) Links
o Articles
o No graphics
o Others (Pls. specify) _____________________________________
Comments/Suggestions:
________________________________________________________________________
Thank you very much! God bless always! RCLiclican
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
49
WEB STANDARD CHECKLIST
Name: ____________________
Agency/Company: ___________________
Position: __________________
Date: ______________
Instructions:
Log on to http://www.bsu.edu.ph, the official website of Benguet State University
and evaluate it through this checklist.
Check the corresponding box whether your answer is YES or NO to the following
questions regarding the BSU website. Put your remarks after each item.
CRITERIA
QUESTIONS
YES NO REMARKS
Used a correct Doctype?
Used a Character set?
Used valid (X) HTML?
Used valid CSS?
Used unnecessary classes or
IDs?
Code well structured?
Have any broken links?
Performs fast in terms of
speed/page size?
Have JavaScript errors?
Quality of the Code
Summary Remarks/Recommendations:
QUESTIONS
YES NO REMARKS
Used CSS for all
presentation aspects (fonts,
color, padding, borders etc)?
Are all decorative images in
the CSS or do they appear in
the (X) HTML?
Summary Remarks/Recommendations:
Content and Presentation
Degree of Separation between
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
50
CRITERIA
QUESTIONS YES NO REMARKS
"ALT" attributes used for all
descriptive images?
Used relative units rather
than absolute units for text
size?
Used visible skip menus?
Used accessible forms?
Used accessible tables?
Is there sufficient color
brightness/contrasts?
Link texts descriptive?
Summary Remarks/Recommendations:
Accessibility for Users
QUESTIONS YES NO REMARKS
Does the site work
acceptably across modern
and older browsers?
Is the content accessible with
CSS switched off or not
supported?
Does the site work in text
browsers such as Lynx?
Does the site work well
when printed?
Does the site include detailed
metadata?
Does the site work well in a
range of browser window
sizes?
Accessibility for Devices
Summary Remarks/Recommendations:
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
51
CRITRIA
QUESTIONS YES NO REMARKS
Is there a clear visual
hierarchy?
Are heading levels easy to
distinguish?
Site's navigation easy to
understand?
Site's navigation consistent?
Used consistent and
appropriate language?
Have a sitemap page and
contact page? Are they easy
to find?
For large sites, is there a
search tool?
Is there a link to the home
Basic Usability
page on every page in the
site?
Are links underlined?
Are visited links clearly
defined?
Summary Remarks/Recommendations:
QUESTIONS YES NO REMARKS
Have a meaningful and
helpful 404 error page that
works from any depth in the
site?
Used friendly URLs?
URL functions even without
"www"?
Have a favicon?
Summary Remarks/Recommendations:
Site Management
THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!
http://www.maxdesign.com.au/presentation/checklist.htm
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
52
Appendix C. BSU Website Home Page
Evaluation of the Benguet State University Website / Reynato C. Liclican. 2008
Document Outline
- Evaluation of the Benguet State University
Website.
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
- ABSTRACT
- TABLE OF CONTENTS
- INTRODUCTION
- Rationale
- Statement of the Problem
- Objectives of the Study
- Importance of the Study
- Scope and Limitation of the Study
- REVIEW OF LITERATURE
- What is a Website?
- Web Standards
- General Website Guidelines
- Criteria for Evaluating Websites
- The BSU Website
- Definition of Terms
- METHODOLOGY
- Locale and Time of the Study
- Respondents of the Study
- Data Collection
- Data Gathered
- Data Analysis
- RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
- Profile of the BSU Website
- Evaluation by Web Designers
- Evaluation by Users
- Suggested BSU Website Features to be Improved
- Suggested Features for the BSU Website
- SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
- Summary
- Conclusions
- Recommendations
- LITERATURE CITED
- APPENDICES