Abstract:
A website plays a pivotal role in diverse application domains and more especially in
education. In this regard the degree of quality of service delivered and user
satisfaction in the usage of such websites is of major concern for many institutions of
higher learning in Kenya. This study therefore, focused on assessing the quality of
service of the University of Eastern Africa, Baraton website application.The aim was
to develop a software tool that would automatically solicit feedback from the website
users on the quality of the website. A review of Literature shows that existing quality
evaluation models are not largely used due to their poor structured characteristics and
non domain specificity.The objectives of the study were: To determine the level of
satisfaction of the users by the services offered by the UEAB website application
based on the research parameters; To determine the users‟ assessment and opinions on
the current website; To determine how the users‟ prioritize the attributes of a good
website; To determine the limitations of the base model in assessment of institutional
websites; To make recommendations for improving service delivery and user
satisfaction of the UEAB website; To develop a software tool that can be used to
evaluate the quality of the UEAB website application.The study adopted the Unified
Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTUAT) which was integrated with a
web application model (WAM). The study adopted a quantitative case study research
design where systematic and simple random sampling techniques were used to
determine the study sample from a population of 2218 website users. In determining
the sample size, the researcher adopted Slovin‟s formula. The sample size comprised
of 401 participants of whom 240 were students, 80 faculty (teaching staff) and 80
staff (non teaching staff). Questionnaires were used as the data collection tools. Data
was collected from the main users of the website who were expected to give sufficient
and accurate information and these included the students, teaching staff and non
teaching staff at the main campus. The data was then coded, classified and
summarized with the use of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The
results from the case study indicated that the base model used to assess the website
was effective even though the comprehensive framework used to design the
assessment tool would give broader results from users‟ perspectives. As a result of the
findings, a Website Assessment Tool (WAT) was developed using the iterative
design. The prototype developed was tested using actual data and the output matched
the expected output even though improvements have to be done over time. The
researcher recommends frequent assessment of the website since it is not a one time
task; hence, using the automated tool presented in this study will make frequent
assessments possible and easier. This will help web designers and webmasters create
quality website with improved electronic services and improve the image of the
organization on the internet. In conclusion, the assessment of the UEAB website
showed that the website offers good quality services in terms of functionality,
usability and content. Efficiency and security were of moderate quality while
reliability and availability scored lowest.