Assessing Higher Education Websites in the Middle East: A Comparative Analysis of UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar

Web technologies are the fundamental platforms for educational organizations, and thus, assessing their usability and accessibility is inevitable. The study examines the usability and accessibility of 134 university homepages in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. The websites are evaluated using automated online testing techniques. The research indicates that the evaluated websites had low levels of WCAG 2.0 compliance. According to the findings, websites in Qatar performed better in terms of homepage usability and accessibility than websites in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Usability and security were not significant concerns, but there was room for advancement. This study provides web developers with recommendations for improving the accessibility and usability of university websites and homepages.