Evaluating China’s Municipal Government Web Portal Translations: A Reader-oriented Approach

E-government has gradually become one of the main tools to enhanceadministration efficiency and effectiveness in international relations. Although therehas been research on e-government evaluation from both home and abroad, most ofthem either focus on a limited number of quality factors or a specific governmentwebsite. A comprehensive and scientific evaluation system to guide the constructionof the English versions of Chinese governments’ websites is rarely discussed. Thisstudy aims to propose a reader-oriented quality evaluation model and scale fordimensions such as web content, web design and user experience. Using bothqualitative and quantitative research methods, the author has conducted a thoroughinvestigation of English versions of12Chinese government websites to evaluate theirquality. Errors prevalent in these websites are analyzed with the support of acollection of87sample articles. Research results show that the overall quality of theEnglish version of the Chinese government websites is far from satisfying due topragmatic, cultural, linguistic and medium-specific malfunctions. The reasons arerooted in the ignorance and negligence of the target readers’ information needs andreading habits.