An Investigation into News Webpage interface Design in Kurdistan Region of Iraq

Abstract

Recently the Kurdistan Region of Iraq has experienced an explosion in exposure to new technologies in different sectors especially in media and telecommunication. Internet is one of those technologies that have opened a way for information proliferation amongst a previously censored region.

Developing web sites to deliver news and other information is a relatively new phenomenon in Kurdistan; this means that the design and development of web pages may lack the quality standard required. In this paper the quality of webpage interface design and usability in the field of news journalism in the KRI is examined against a set of web interface design and usability criterion. For the purpose of data collection 9 available popular news websites are chosen and 900 questionnaires are sent to 100 random users. The result is analyzed and we have found that the majority of users are satisfied with the interface design and usability of the news WebPages, however the result points out some weakness that can be improved. The outcome of this research can be used to enhance website design and usability in the field of journalism in the KRI.