EVALUATION OF
EXAMINATION BOARDS WEBSITE IN NIGERIA
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
of the study
A user interface (UI) is the intersection of a
product and a user. The commands in a computer application, the steering wheel,
gas pedal and brake pedal in a car are all examples of user interfaces. The
term ‘user interface’is
often used in relation to a computer interface. In this context, a user
interface is characterized as, “the parts of a computer system or program which
can be seen (or heard or otherwise perceived) by the human end-user, and the
commands and mechanisms the user uses to control its operation and
information.” (Galitz, 2013). The ideal website would be perfectly clear to new
users, quickly provide them with the information they need, easy to use even
after a long period of time, error free, and provide the user a very pleasant
experience. Unfortunately, few interfaces are as such. Websites are often
poorly laid-out, making navigation uneasy. Applications often have poorly
labeled buttons or unclear prompts. New users often get confused by unclear
layout, and returning users often get frustrated by awkward ways of entering
data. To prevent these problems, interfaces need to be designed for usability.
To measure and improve usability, usability
evaluations are mostly done. A usability study is an essential tool for
evaluating a user interface in which the effectiveness of the user interface is
judged. Based on the results, changes would be made to improve the interface.
However, “Usability is the degree to which individuals (users) can perform a
set of obliged tasks. It is the result of a few some of the time clashing
design objectives.” (Brinck, Gergle, & Wood, 2002) Usability has been
characterized by diverse individuals who claim it makes out of distinctive
segments.
Jakob Nielsen defines usability as being composed of
five components, which are: learnability
(how simple would it be for users to perform essential tasks the first occasion
when they experience the design?), efficiency
(how rapidly can users perform tasks?), memorability
(when users come back to the website after a time of non-use, how effortlessly
would they be able to restore capability?), errors
(what number of mistakes are made, how serious are the slips, and how
effectively would they be able to recoup from the errors?), and satisfaction (how pleasant would they
say it is to utilize the site?) (Nielsen, 2012).
However, Jordan (1994) defines it differently. His
components for usability are guessability (how successfully a system can
be used the first time), learnability (a measure of how much time/effort
is required to reach a level of competence with the interface), experienced
user performance (the “effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction” that a
long time or fully trained user would have), system potential (how
effective the system would be if used to its full theoretical potential) , and reusability
(how effective user who has not used the interface for extended time is
when returning). (Jordan, 1994) Jordan’s definition includes system potential
as part of the measure, something Nielsen’s does not.
The examination board’s websites aim at giving
up-to-date data and administrations to users in effective ways. For years,
examination boards in Nigeria have been registering students, communicating
with the teachers/users manually, until a couple of years back when the online
registration started. Online registration, result checking has been made easier
on the administrators/students who use the portal. To make this communication
go perfectly well, we need to ensure the website(s) are well usable to all
categories of people.
This research is to shed more light on the positive
and negative aspects of usability in the effect of designing the examination
board’s websites. Regardless of the exact definition, the goal of usability is
to make it easier and faster for the users of an interface to accomplish their
desired goals. Just as there are several definitions, there are also several
approaches to accomplish this goal.
This
study is aimed at identifying various problems users encounter in the course of
registering students online via the National Business and Technical
Examinations Board (NABTEB), West African Examination Council (WAEC) and
National Examination Council (NECO) websites.
1.2
Statement of the Problem
In a research study on user’s satisfaction with
examination board’s websites, users cited issues such as redirecting to another
website to solve errors, wrong allocation of information, double registration
for a student who was registered once as a source of difficulty while
registering students. It was additionally noted that while most users pointed
out the strengths, just a couple analyzed its important restrictions and
problems.
The requirement for giving reliable direction for
instructional online registration can be gotten from a few wellsprings of
dissatisfaction. Contrasts between web designers and users have as of now been recognized
as lessening fulfillment in light of the fact that web site design has not concentrated
basically on user needs. Sometimes the users of examinational websites are not
pleased with the website and this result in less usage of the website which
leads to not achieving goals of the websites.
There is a need to look at the nature of
instructional websites from the points of view of both adherence to acknowledged
design standards and the viewpoint of users who definitely, after enlisting
students, have contrasting levels of former information, computer experience
and mastery.
1.3
Aim and Objectives of the Study
The
general purpose of this study is to evaluate the usability of websites of examination
bodies in Nigeria. The objectives are as follows
- To
evaluate the accessibility of the
existing websites using automated tools. - To
analyze the performance of the websites. - To
carry out usability evaluation of the websites.
1.4
Significance of the Study
The importance of registration as well as result
checking on line is very vital to the examination boards in Nigeria. It is
expected that the results from the findings of this study will be used to evaluate
the usability level of the websites (NABTEB, WAEC and NECO) correctly. Hence,
areas where improvements are needed as well various design issues and
violations will be pointed out. The result obtained will be used to build a
better, usable and accessible website which will make the navigation and other
user activities easier. Based on the testing results, the original sites will
be improved and tested again.
1.5 Scope of Study
This study is based mainly on the usability
evaluation of examination board’s website. The three examination boards used in
this study are: National Business and Technical Examination Board (NABTEB),
West African Examination Council (WAEC) and National Examination Council
(NECO).
1.6
Limitations of the Study
This study due to a few factors, some of which are;
limited time, financial restraints, have been limited to three usability
evaluation methods, which are; questionnaire based method, interview and
accessibility testing not including heuristic evaluation,