Evaluating the performance of websites from a public value, usability, and readability perspectives: a review of Turkish national government websites

This study aims to examine the public values, usability, and readability attributes of national level e-government Websites in Turkey. The Website analysis included 112 sites in the E-Government Gateway. The Websites were evaluated on the basis of public values aspects of accessibility, public participation, trust and legitimacy (i.e., transparency/openness and security/privacy), dialogue, service delivery quality, and accountability. The research also aims to examine the usability of Turkey's national Websites and assess their usability using online diagnostic methods. The pages are evaluated according to a selection of usability criteria: bounce rate, design optimization, download time, Google page rank, markup validation, mobile accountability, page size, response time, traffic rank (Turkey), and traffic rank (Global). Lastly, three most popular readability measures, Flesch-Kincaid Reading Ease, Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level, and Gunning Fog Index have been used to assess readability of national level Turkish government Websites. Results reveal that the situation in Turkey is far from satisfying with regards to overall performance of e-government services. Additionally, the results of this study depicted that the usability and performance criteria are neglected in these Websites. Lastly, the study also revealed readability and security vulnerabilities in the Websites. The findings of the study have critical theoretical, practical, and policy implications.