Literacy on the Web is not just about making sense of the words, sounds and images that we 'read'. We now have to critique the material in a manner that will indicate any hidden bias; evaluate the quality of sources and of writing; and scrutinize links by doing effective searches. Why do we need to be so cautious and thorough? The reason being that this is the digital age where everyone shares everything on the Web. A lot of the content is unedited and not peer-reviewed, and so poses a threat to students in search of valid research material.
Information or media literacy allows us to treat this new digital world as an addition to the analog paper world (Richardson, 2008). Traditionally, reading instruction in the primary and secondary grades does not support these different reading strategies that students must now adopt. So, we must first develop that skill of discernment in order to demonstrate that all sites are not created equal.
Librarians are the ideal professionals to conduct usability testing on Web sites. The goal will be to assess the effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction of typical users, as they execute typical tasks. "Usability testing" generally refers to 'the observation and analysis of user behaviour while users use a product or product prototype to achieve a goal (Canadian Library Association, 2004). This type of testing is now being viewed as an integral part of website development, however, one significant challenge in applying usability testing to library sites is the lack of benchmark standards in this area. So, it is imperative that teachers provide students with the criteria and practice for evaluating web pages, since these sites are becoming more complex each day.
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