Examination of the educational web-sites in terms of readability

With the continual increase in the number of users of the internet medium, where the connection and interaction among people are established intensively, everyday many new web-sites are founded to serve in diverse areas. Among these, educational web-sites are established with the aim of satisfying the need for obtaining information effectively. Therefore, presenting the information directly in a way that avoids unnecessary details, animations, etc. can increase the contentment of the users and effectiveness of the web-site.Purpose of this work is to investigate the readability levels of the web-sites that have educational contents. When the web-site readability is considered, some of the researchers investigate the issue in terms of the structural properties of the texts, while the others base their research on the analysis of physical properties. In this thesis, readability measurements are performed by employing both of the above mentioned methods. Text readability levels of the educational web-sites are determined by using Atesman?s (1997) Turkish readability formula, which has been adapted from Flesch?s readability formula. Additionally, physical properties of the texts, that affect the readability level, are evaluated using a scale which has the purpose of determining the elements of text design. This scale, which investigates the key elements of the text design process, is evaluated by a group of 8 experts where 5 of them specialize in Instructional Technology, and 3 of them in Turkish Education areas. With the help of these evaluations and literature search, the scale is treated under five main titles; general text design, headings, lists, links and concept texts.Ten educational web-sites, which are chosen after a simple search on a popular search engine, constitute the sample set of the research. Physical properties of the texts on these web-sites are examined using ?Web site text design evaluation scale?, which is prepared as a part of this thesis work. In addition, readability levels of the texts on these educational web-sites are determined using previously quoted Atesman?s (1997) Turkish readability formula. The data observed from these web-sites are analyzed using SPSS, and the results are discussed in this thesis.As a result of the research; it is observed that readability and text design levels of the investigated web-sites are consistent with each other. According to the data observed, it is concluded that 20% of the web-sites are easy, 50% are mediocre, and 30% of them are difficult in terms of readability.