Evaluation of e-government web sites regarding their usability, according to the standards and guidelines

By using the information and communication technology in providing their services to citizens, public institutions aim to gain effectiveness, to save money and to improve the quality of their services. In attaining these objectives of public institutions` e-government services, their usability by citizens is an important criteria. The purpose of this study is to develop a mechanism for evaluating the e-government web sites in Turkey, regarding their usability, which is an important quality factor. By analyzing the national and international guidelines, a usability evaluation rule set is prepared which enables to evaluate e-government web-sites under various categories. In accordance with this evaluation rules set, a usability evaluation tool is implemented. Using this tool, 6 e-government web-sites are evaluated by 3 different users and the results are analyzed.