Site Usability as an Indicator of the Educational Institution Media Culture (On the Example of Basic Schools of the Kirov Region)

Abstract

The article discusses the concept of the site "usability" as an indicator of educational institution media culture. Being a multicomponent concept, usability (the level of accessibility, simplicity and comfort for a visitor to work with the site) includes not only objective aspects affecting operational comfort, but also subjective aspects of perceiving the web interface. The user should easily find the necessary information without getting lost in the functionality and numerous pages, and at the same time enjoy working with the resource. The criteria matrix proposed by the authors allows to study the level of the site usability of a general educational institution and evaluate its success. The research results based on the sites of 37 basic schools of the Kirov region included in the Basic School Project showed that focusing on user-friendly web-interface parameters is poorly developed. Educational organizations do not pay due attention to the proper development of the header (the "head" of the site), the footer (the "basement" of the site), and of the site content usability as a whole. Despite the fact that the resources analyzed clearly demonstrate complying with legal requirements to the structure and content of the site, at the same time, the user convenience parameters are taken into account insignificantly. All this reduce the work efficiency, leads to site visitors' dissatisfaction. It is emphasized that usability plays an important role in the effective interaction of students with the institution, affects the formation of the school image and loyal public attitude. The research results are of practical importance and can be used to increase the level of information work and media culture of educational institutions in the Internet.