The Quality of Kenyan University Websites: A Study for the Re-engineering of the Masinde Muliro University Website

Abstract

With the increasing uptake of websites by universities, competition is no longer limited to physical campuses but has also shifted online, where each university seeks to create a high quality website. Online promotion and communication is even more important for African universities, which are spread on large territories, as it presents an opportunity for them to promote their existence and achievements, collaborate with other institutions, and deliver online education to students. Challenges facing Africa’s higher education institutions include: cultural differences, funding problems, language issues, and governance problems. In this paper we present the results of the evaluation of the website quality of three representative Kenyan universities. The study is based on an evaluation framework derived from a meta-model based on 7 dimensions. An in-depth evaluation was carried out using surveys, inspective analysis and automated tools. Results highlighted a number of critical issues and gave important suggestions for the improvement of the Masinde Muliro University (MMUST) website.

Keywords

• university website quality
• multi-stakeholder framework
• surveys
• Kenyan universities