i
 
CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF TECHNICAL AND 
NON – TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS 
WHICH INFLUENCE THE EFFICACY OF 
GOVERNMENT MULTILINGUAL WEB SITES IN  
SRI LANKA 
 
 
 
MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 
IN 
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Jayani P. Warnakulasooriya 
Department of Computer Science & Engineering 
University of Moratuwa 
December 2006 
 ii
 
CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF TECHNICAL AND 
NON – TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS 
WHICH INFLUENCE THE EFFICACY OF 
GOVERNMENT MULTILINGUAL WEB SITES IN  
SRI LANKA 
 
 
By 
 
Jayani P. Warnakulasooriya 
 
 
 
The Dissertation was submitted to the Department of Computer Science 
& Engineering of the University of Moratuwa in partial fulfillment of the 
requirement for the Degree of Master of Business Administration 
 
 
Department of Computer Science & Engineering 
University of Moratuwa 
December 2006 
 
 
 iii
Declaration of Candidate 
 
 
I certify that this thesis does not incorporate without acknowledgement any material 
previously submitted for a Degree or Diploma in any University, contain any material 
previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made 
in the text. 
 
 
 
 
.......................................................................... 
Jayani P. Warnakulasooriya 
(MBA/IT/05/9070) 
 
 
 
 
I hear by recommended that the thesis was prepared under my supervision by Jayani P. 
Warnakulasooriya (MBA/IT/05/9070) entitled “Critical analysis of technical and non 
– technical characteristics which influence the efficacy of Government multilingual 
web sites in Sri Lanka” be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the 
degree of Master of Business Administration. 
 
 
 
 
.................................................... 
(Dr. Gihan Dias) 
Thesis Adviser 
Senior Lecturer, 
Department of Computer Science and Engineering, 
University of Moratuwa, 
 
 
 
 iv
Acknowledgement 
 
 
Even though it was time consuming, this research study was transformed into a reality, 
more especially because of the unstinted support, which I received from a host of 
accommodating individuals as well as institutions. 
 
My gratitude and ultimate indebtedness must necessarily fall on the guiding hands of 
my research supervisor, Dr. Gihan Dias, Senior Lecturer, Department of Computer 
Science and Engineering, University of Moratuwa, who encouraged and guided me 
towards the completion of my study. 
 
I shall fail in my duty if I do not mention with gratitude to Mrs. Vishaka Nanayakkara, 
Course Coordinator of MBA (IT), University of Moratuwa who provided every 
facility to make the study a success with commendable encouragement and 
motivation. 
 
I convey my sincere thanks to all web committee members of Sri Lankan Government 
Ministries those who offered their valuable time to me. Finally, my thanks shall go to 
every body that helped me in numerous ways to make this attempt a success. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 v
Abstract 
 
According to the “e-Government” concept which is really new to Sri Lanka, 
introduced by the present government, All the Ministries and Institutions related to 
the government are in a mission of establishing multilingual webs for them which 
should be highly aligned with e-Government concepts. Currently a large number of 
government websites are in operation but only a few of them are functioning in all 
three languages of Sinhala, English and Tamil. Due to the rise of web enabled 
information transactions, the necessity has arisen to evaluate the effectiveness of 
government websites, especially in our local languages. 
 
Many of the Sinhala and Tamil versions of government websites were found to have 
shortcomings owing to both technical and non-technical issues. To get a precise idea 
about the status of these multilingual webs, we carried out structured interviews with 
both owners and users to get their perception about these webs. Further these 
analytical data were compared with the respective objectives of the owners of the 
websites. To assure the survey was focused and objective an organized questionnaire 
was prepared which covered the areas of functionalities of the webs. 
 
Moreover this thesis discussed the main outcome of the research with the aid of 
statistical bar graphs with analytical data. Further the study provides important 
recommendations which should be followed by the web owners to create more 
successful multilingual webs which will cater to the requirements of their audience in 
a professional manner. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 vi
Table of Contents 
 
 Page No
Title Page i
General Information ii
Declaration of Candidate iii
Acknowledgement iv
Abstract v
Table of Contents vi
List of Figures viii
List of Tables ix
 
Chapter 1 – Introduction 
 1.1  Background and Motivation 1
 1.2  Problem Statement 2
 1.3  Research Objective 3
 1.4  Importance/Benefits of the Study 3
 1.5  Research Methodology 6
 1.6  Nature and form of Results 9
  
Chapter 2 – Literature Survey 
 2.1  Introduction 10
 2.2  Web Owner’s Role 11
 2.3  Web Designer’s Role 12
 2.4  User Requirements 12
 2.5  Measures Of Success 13
 2.6  Site Evaluation 17
 2.7  Multilingual Government Web Sites 17
 2.8  Challenges 20
 2.9  Summary 21
  
 
 
 
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Chapter 3 – Current Status of Government Multilingual  
Websites in Sri Lanka – Self Analysis 
 3.1  Introduction 22
 3.2  Analysis  23
 3.3  Summary 26
  
Chapter 4 – User Perception on Government Multilingual  
Websites in Sri Lanka – User Analysis 
 4.1  Introduction 27
 4.2  Analysis 27
 4.3  Summary 32
  
Chapter 5 – Site Owner Survey 
 5.1  Introduction 33
 5.2  Analysis 33
 5.3  Summary 37
  
Chapter 6 – Discussion and Conclusion 
 6.1  Introduction 38
 6.2  Research Findings 38
 6.3  Recommendations 41
 6.4  Implications of the study 46
 6.5  Future research 46
 6.6  Limitations of the study 46
 6.7  Summary 47
  
References 48
Annexure 
 Annexure I   : List of not existing web sites 51
 Annexure II :  List of multilingual web sites 52
 Annexure III: User Survey Questionnaire 54
 Annexure IV:  Site owner Survey Questionnaire 59
 
 viii
List of Figures 
 
Figure No Name Page 
No
Figure 01 Quality of Web Site 10
Figure 02 Information Availability 19
Figure 03 Search Functionality 20
Figure 04 Feedback form Functionality 20
Figure 05 Responses to Complains 21
Figure 06 Site Map Completeness 21
Figure 07 Site Designer Details 22
Figure 08 Requirement of a multilingual Sinhala web site for 
Government Organizations 
24
Figure 09 Requirement of a multilingual Tamil web site for 
Government Organizations 
24
Figure 10 Information Quality 25
Figure 11 Readability 25
Figure 12 Site Layout 26
Figure 13 Search Function 26
Figure 14 Font Installation 27
Figure 15 Site Updating Process 28
Figure 16 Content Translation 30
Figure 17 Response to Queries 32
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ix
List of Tables 
 
Table No Name Page 
No
Table 2.1 Categories used to measure Web Success 9
Table 3.1 Availability of Web Sites in Government Web Portal 18