Responsive Web Design Trend in Official Ministries and Government Institutions Websites in Palestine

Abstract

Websites compatibility with different browsers is quite necessary as modern technology evolves and more new devices are being invented. This paper aims at determining the application of the Responsive Web Design approach in the Palestinian ministries and governmental institutions. Thirty official websites in Palestine were evaluated and tested using Google DevTools, which is a testing environment that provides a quick and easy way to test websites on mobile devices and tablets, and the Google Mobile-Friendly Test Tool, which analyzes URLs and progress reports on a site's relevance for mobile users. Maintaining accuracy in results, real devices were used to test the responsiveness of the websites. The survey results have shown that 40% of the ministries and official governmental institutions' websites are responsive ones, 30% are semi-responsive, and 30% are unresponsive websites. They also have revealed that 43% of the websites are compatible with mobile phones and tablets. The study highly signifies the responsive design technology as it is a suitable and viable solution for providing web content in an effective and efficient manner for the users of desktop devices and mobile phones with different screen sizes. The researchers also recommended that websites providing electronic services should be given special attention and that a responsive design approach should be used with different dimensional frameworks.