ARTTE Applied Researches in Technics, Technologies and Education Journal of the Faculty of Technics and Technologies, Trakia University https://sites.google.com/a/trakia-uni.bg/artte/ ARTTE Vol. 1, No. 3, 2013 ISSN 1314-8788 (print), ISSN 1314-8796 (online) 173 QUALITY OF THE SERVICES PROVIDED BY A UNIVERSITY WEB PORTAL Veselina Nedeva, Zlatin Zlatev Faculty of Technics and Technologies, Trakia University Graf Ignatiev 38, 8600 Yambol, Bulgaria e-mail: veselina.nedeva@gmail.com, zlatin.zlatev@trakia-uni.bg Abstract: The term web portal is defined in this article. The web portal development stages are examined while taking into consideration the quality of the service as a separate step in the development process. An analysis of the sources, which examined the quality of the services of the web portal, is provided. The article also shows the methodology used for determining the quality of the services and their specifics in the university web portals. The main criteria for assessing the quality of the services are also provided. Quality of the web services provided by the web portal depends of many factors during design and implementation of the web portals. The factors, influencing the overall assessment of quality are shown: facilitation in user experience, content usability, information adequacy, content accessibility, user interaction. The methodology for determining the quality of services is presented in this paper. The factors determining of the services in a web are presented too. Keywords: Web-portal, Quality of service, Quality factors. 1. INTRODUCTION The main problem for any university is how to present the vast amount of information to the various fields of study/departments, which are related to its activity. The University Web portal can be defined as a web site that accumulates and integrates content from different fields and provides online information and information services to the customers, including data search engines. The portal is the connection/hub between different web sites and information sources, which contain information pertaining to the structure, curriculum, research and administration of the university. The quality of the services, provided by the portal, depends on how good the connection structure is. Also of importance is the graphic design of the main site, as well as the stylistic connection between the sub sites [3]. Research in this area shows that the bigger business organisations have a substantial advance in providing information to the customers using the Internet [1,8]. Similar to these results, the main objective for creating a university web portal is the integration of the web portal in the already existing work process.The aim is to create an efficient communication channel with the customers, for example prospective and current students, applicants, staff, experts in the field of education, companies, that might be interested in hiring graduates, and other interested parties. For prospective students, the web portal is a platform that enables them to learn more about the university activities, about the provided courses and course requirements, to receive information on issues that of importance to them. For the current students and the staff, the web portal is the place to gather information about news, present activities, and upcoming events. They can retrieve information based on specific criteria, and thus correctly state the services they are interested in. The services provided by the web portal are considerably different than the traditional sources of communication in the area of human interactions (between consumer and provider of information resources).