Localization and Globalization of Website Design: A pilot study focuses on comparison of government websites

Abstract

The issues of localization, globalization of websites, and effects of cultural diversity in design of the user-interfaces have been around for a while, where most of the studies focused on Western, American, Southeast Asian which are commonly portrayed from their perspectives and cultures. Therefore, this research aims to define the design elements of user interfaces which are affected by the cultural diversity through a pilot study on Arabic and Western government websites. This study intends to identify the differences between the government websites of each of (UK, French, Iraq, UAE) in terms of the design features, as well as examine to what extent these features are affected by cultural diversity of nations. The outcomes of this study contribute as guidelines within a content framework that takes into consideration the process of Arabic website development, especially towards improving the e-government websites design.