Abstract
The world wide web as a service offered on top of the internet has become the information repository through which we access the web pages of each individual or organization. To make the content accessible for users with disabilities, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) developed the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). In addition to accessibility, the websites should be designed in a way that is usable for their users. As no previous research has been done to evaluate the accessibility and usability of university websites in Afghanistan, this research fills the gap by evaluating the usability and accessibility of public and private universities in Afghanistan and comparing the usability and accessibility status of public and private universities’ websites. AChecker and WAVE were the tools used for accessibility evaluation against WCAG 2.0 guidelines. For usability evaluation, a heuristic approach was used with eight dimensions. The results show that none of the university websites conform to the accessibility guidelines while violating various accessibility criteria. It was also found that a large portion of both public and private universities are ignoring the usability measures related to information structure, hyperlink conventions, multi-language options, navigational design, and the readability of text on the website. Public administrators, policymakers, website designers, and web administrators are to benefit from the findings of this research regarding the accessibility and usability of university websites in Afghanistan.
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Conceptualization was done by MKM; Methodology was done by MKM and Dr. VE; Formal analysis and investigation were carried out by MKM; Writing—original draft preparation were done by MKM; Writing—review and editing were done by MKM, Dr. VE, and AM; Resources were done by AM; Supervision was done by Dr. VE.
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Appendix
Appendix
ID | University name | URL | Status of website | ID | University name | URL | Status of website |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Private universities | |||||||
1 | Kardan university | Active | 64 | Moora IHE | Active | ||
2 | Maulana Jalaludin Balkhi | Active | 65 | Jahan-e-noor IHE | Active | ||
3 | Bakhtar university | bakhtar.edu.af | Active | 66 | Dunya university | Error in achecker | |
4 | Kateb university | Active | 67 | Bamika IHE | Error on website | ||
5 | Maryam university | Active | 68 | Maiwand university | Internal Server Error | ||
6 | Khatam Al-Nabieen University | Active | 69 | American university of Afghanistan | inactive | No active website | |
7 | Peshgam unviersity | Active | 70 | Khurasan university | No active website | ||
8 | Rana University | Active | 71 | Mashal university | No active website | ||
9 | Ariana university | Active | 72 | Alazhar IHE | No active website | ||
10 | Dawat university | Active | 73 | afghan IHE | No active website | ||
11 | Spinghar university | Active | 74 | Payman IHE | No active website | ||
12 | Salam university | Active | 75 | Cheragh university | No website | ||
13 | Karwan university | Active | 76 | Sadat university | No website | ||
14 | Khane-Noor university | Active | 77 | Aria university | No website | ||
15 | Eshraq IHE | Active | 78 | Tabesh university | No website | ||
16 | Ghalib university | Active | 79 | Amir ali shir nawaie IHE | No website | ||
17 | Taj IHE | Active | 80 | Wadi Helmand IHE | No website | ||
18 | Gharjistan university | Active | 81 | Pamir IHE | No website | ||
19 | Avicenna university | Active | 82 | Barak IHE | No website | ||
20 | Islamic Azad University (Kabul) | Active | 83 | Kaboora IHE | No website | ||
21 | Gowharshad university | Active | 84 | Orooj IHE | No website | ||
22 | Jami university | Active | 85 | Roshan IHE | No website | ||
23 | Maihan IHE | Active | 86 | Mirwais Nika IHE | No website | ||
24 | Asia IHE | Active | 87 | Ahmad shah abdali IHE | No website | ||
25 | Payam-e-Noor university | Active | 88 | Malalai IHE | No website | ||
26 | Naser khosrow IHE | Active | 89 | Hakim Sanayee university | No website | ||
27 | Rahe-saadat IHE | Active | 90 | Fajrestan IHE | No website | ||
28 | Khaja abdullah ansari IHE | Active | 91 | Sayed jamaludin afghan IHE | No website | ||
29 | Al mustafa IHE | Active | 92 | Meli IHE | No website | ||
30 | Alghias IHE | Active | 93 | Tanwir IHE | No website | ||
31 | Hewad IHE | Active | 94 | Kahkashan sharq IHE | No website | ||
32 | Alfalah university | Active | 95 | Esteqamat IHE | No website | ||
33 | Arakozia IHE | Active | 96 | Borna IHE | No website | ||
34 | Altaqwa IHE | Active | 97 | Khane-danish IHE | No website | ||
35 | Danish IHE | Active | 98 | Fanoos IHE | No website | ||
36 | Bost university | Active | 99 | Amanullah khan IHE | No website | ||
37 | Rabe-balkhi university | Active | 100 | Royan IHE | No website | ||
38 | Sharq IHE | Active | 101 | Hariwa IHE | No website | ||
39 | Reshad IHE | Active | 102 | Hekmat IHE | No website | ||
40 | Afghanistan IHE | Active | 103 | Khatamul-nabien IHE | No website | ||
41 | Esteqlal IHE | Active | 104 | Ashan IHE | No website | ||
42 | Afghan-swiss IHE | Active | 105 | Zam zam IHE | No website | ||
43 | Zawool IHE | Active | 106 | Bayan IHE | No website | ||
44 | Payam IHE | Active | 107 | Hanzala IHE | No website | ||
45 | Jahan IHE | Active | 108 | Matanat IHE | No website | ||
46 | Ahlobait IHE | Active | 109 | Barlas IHE | No website | ||
47 | Rahnaward university | Active | 110 | Binawa IHE | No website | ||
48 | Allamah IHE | Active | 111 | Shamal IHE | No website | ||
49 | Mostaqbal IHE | Active | 112 | Qalam IHE | No website | ||
50 | Edrak IHE | Active | 113 | Namr IHE | No website | ||
51 | Aburayhan IHE | Active | 114 | Nayestan IHE | No website | ||
52 | Kawun IHE | Active | 115 | Shahid sayed Jan IHE | No website | ||
53 | Quds IHE | Active | 116 | Abu-nasr IHE | No website | ||
54 | Sultan mahmood ghaznawi IHE | Active | 117 | shirzai afghan IHE | No website | ||
55 | Shifa IHE | Active | 118 | Alburz IHE | No website | ||
56 | Khurshid IHE | Active | 119 | Imam mohammad shaibani IHE | No website | ||
57 | Neman Sadat IHE | Active | 120 | Saber IHE | No website | ||
58 | Turkistan IHE | Active | 121 | Saba IHE | No website | ||
59 | Afghan Pamir IHE | Active | 122 | Norin IHE | No website | ||
60 | Muslim IHE | muslimuniversity.edu.af/ | Active | 123 | Ibne-khuldon IHE | No website | |
61 | Kohandazh IHE | Active | 124 | Nokhbagan IHE | No website | ||
62 | Bayazid Roshan IHE | bayazid.rokhan.edu.af | Active | 125 | Rah-e-abrisham IHE | No website | |
63 | Razi IHE | Active | |||||
Public universities | |||||||
1 | Herat university | Unsecure URL | 20 | Kabul polytehcnic university | Active | ||
2 | Logar IHE | Unsecure URL | 21 | Kabul university | Active | ||
3 | National agricultural technology university | Unsecure URL | 22 | Kandahar university | Active | ||
4 | Albironi university | Active | 23 | Kunduz university | Active | ||
5 | Badakhshan university | Active | 24 | Laghman univserity | Active | ||
6 | Badghis IHE | Active | 25 | Nangarhar university | Active | ||
7 | Baghlan university | Active | 26 | Nimroz IHE | Active | ||
8 | Balkh university | Active | 27 | Paktia university | Active | ||
9 | Bamyan university | Active | 28 | Paktika IHE | Active | ||
10 | Daikundi IHE | Active | 29 | Panjshir IHE | Active | ||
11 | Farah IHE | Active | 30 | Parwan university | Active | ||
12 | Faryab university | Active | 31 | Samangan IHE | Active | ||
13 | Ghazni technical university | Active | 32 | Sarepul IHE | Active | ||
14 | Ghazni university | Active | 33 | Sheikh Zayed university | Active | ||
15 | Ghor IHE | Active | 34 | Takhar university | Active | ||
16 | Helmand IHE | Active | 35 | Urozgan IHE | Active | ||
17 | Jowzjan university | Active | 36 | Wardak IHE | Active | ||
18 | Kabul education university | Active | 37 | Zabul IHE | Active | ||
19 | Kabul medical university | Active | 38 | Sayed Jamaluddin Afghan university | No active website | ||
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Mohammadi, M.K., Esichaikul, V. & Mohammadi, A. Accessibility and usability evaluation of university websites in Afghanistan: a comparison between public and private universities. Univ Access Inf Soc (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-022-00896-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-022-00896-6