Digital Governance: A Usability Study of Omani E-Government Websites

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the usability of Omani ministry websites (OMW). The researchers depended mainly on the dimensions and typical variables proposed by Baker (2009) to measure the usability of the websites and only on a few dimensions adopted from Smith (2001). The borrowed dimensions were used to evaluate the websites' ease of use. The researchers organized the dimensions of website usability into six dimensions, which were: (1) Online services, (2) User-help, (3) Navigation, (4) Legitimacy, (5) Information Architecture, and (6) Accessibility accommodations. Based on the study findings, the researchers made a number of recommendations to improve the performance of Omani e-government websites, including the following: Users should be involved in the early stages of a website's development, in addition to automatic tools, when testing its accessibility. This will ensure that the website is usable and accessible.