Title: Quality assessment of academic websites using structured equation modelling

Authors: Akash Deep; Yagya Sharma; Ramesh Anbanandam

Addresses: Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee 247667, Uttarakhand, India ' Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee 247667, Uttarakhand, India ' Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee 247667, Uttarakhand, India

Abstract: Academic websites have not evolved much as compared to other sector websites, like e-commerce, tourism, etc. They seem to fall back in areas such as structural design and maintenance quality, which have a direct influence on user experience. A model is hypothesised to evaluate the quality of academic websites. The research is intended to suggest future developers to construct an effective website. A survey has been conducted to gain the user's perspective for an academic website. Data were collected from 124 respondents, and confirmatory factor analysis and other reliability tests have been employed to validate the model. Structured equation modelling has been further used to test the hypotheses. The study indicates that the suggested nine quality constructs (system accessibility, design, responsiveness and functionality; information understandability, relevance and current; service perception of service and trust building) directly affect the user satisfaction of an academic website from a student's point of view.

Keywords: website quality; academic websites; SEM; structured equation modelling; information systems; India; web design; website maintenance quality; user experience; user satisfaction; universities; higher education; university websites.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMIE.2017.083357

International Journal of Management in Education, 2017 Vol.11 No.2, pp.206 - 222

Received: 17 Feb 2016
Accepted: 27 May 2016

Published online: 24 Mar 2017 *

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