An evaluation of Islamic websites` design & content features

Abstract

THE PROBLEM: The problem addressed by this study was the lack of suitable evaluation method and definition for Islamic websites. The main purpose of this study was to identify and examine both design and content features that relates to Islamic websites. The study evaluated 50 selected Islamic websites based on nine (9) identified design features (i.e. navigation, interactivity, and attractiveness) and content features (i.e. legitimacy, objectivity, authority, relevance, credibility, and reliability). METHOD: In this study, heuristic evaluation method involving single-user was used to evaluate top 50 selected Islamic websites. The websites were selected from google.com on 8th December 2009 using the keyword “islamic websites” as the search keywords. Data was collected using an evaluation instrument adapted from selected studies on Islamic websites. The evaluation measures were carefully examined and thereafter modified to suite the objectives of this study. The data collected were analyzed using Microsoft Excel 2007 to obtain descriptive statistics. Each item was rated either positive or negative and the rating scores were converted into net positive values (NPV). RESULTS: The results revealed that Islamic websites demonstrates significant quality improvements on their design & content features over time. That was observed mostly on the large Islamic websites like the islamonline.net, islamicweb.net, 2muslims.com, and islamicity.com. The results also indicated that the overall Islamic website’s quality varied significantly between different Islamic websites. Some websites were categorized as top-rated while others as least-rated. Based upon individual design and content features, each Islamic website was ranked as either best or bad quality website. In addition, the results suggested that new additional features influence the overall quality of Islamic websites. Thus, we propose a new model for evaluating the quality of Islamic websites base on design & content features.