THE time for Haj is near. With millions of pilgrims searching for information about the Kingdom, the holy rituals and Islam, one would think that government websites would be using the latest technologies to cater to this demand. Unfortunately, that isn't quite the case.
The good news is that the Ministry of Haj, the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Da’wah and Guidance, The King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Qur’an, and the Saudi Arabian Supreme Commission for Tourism all have websites in languages other than Arabic. That’s an excellent first step in reaching out to Muslims beyond the Middle East. Less satisfying though is the content, navigation and architecture of those websites.
Consider the website www.hajinformation.com, which belongs to the Ministry of Haj. The website states that it is designed to “provide general information about all aspects of the Haj.” This means that the website makes available a little information about many, many issues related to Haj, but not much is covered in detail. It isn't the comprehensive, all encompassing resource that would be expected from the organizers and hosts of one of the greatest annual events on Earth.
Vital information is a struggle to find at the site - such as how to contact responsible authorities in case difficulties arise. Guidance about the Haj rituals is seriously lacking. The feature “Haj, Day by Day” is static and individual points can’t be expanded. The Haj safety information available at the site is in the form of a video, which must be downloaded over a very high speed broadband connection and even then uses language which is too complex for the majority of pilgrims to understand. To learn general information about the Kingdom, the Ministry of Haj website links to another site, www.saudinf.com. That site was running Google advertisements offering “dating and marriage” with Saudi women.
The website http://hajj.al-islam.com, which is under the auspices of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, does offer Haj information in seven languages. Once again though, most of that information is presented in very complex language, difficult to understand by all but the most educated pilgrims. Some of the multimedia resources don’t work well. Almost every page brings up a server error and a message on every page reads, “The contents of this site do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the ministry.” This certainly doesn’t inspire confidence in the information for Muslims who are searching for the best guidance.
Terrible grammar and awful spelling are key features of the English website sponsored by The King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Qur’an at www.qurancomplex.org. This website should be a showcase for all that is wondrous about the Holy Qur’an. But the magnificent reproductions of the holy book are diminished by the poor language resources at the site. There are many coding errors throughout the site, too, and the multimedia resources would be out of reach to many Muslims since a detailed guide to their functionality is unavailable.
Pilgrims coming to Saudi Arabia will surely be interested to know more about the Kingdom than just the Haj rituals. The website of the Saudi Arabian Supreme Commission for Tourism should be a portal to inform these special guests on all the recreation activities and services for visitors that the Kingdom can offer. The Saudi tourism portal at www.sauditourism.com.sa does tell a lot about the tourism experiences special to the Kingdom. But how can visitors take advantage of any of these activities? The planning section of the site isn’t developed at all, so no information is available on local transport, travel agents or accommodation. Visitors can’t even send an electronic Saudi postcard because that site feature isn't functional. Want to request that the site be made more comprehensive? That is impossible to do because sending the feedback form results in a server error.
In this Internet age websites are no longer luxuries to be used by a privileged few. Just as roads and airports are being improved to accommodate the needs of pilgrims, so too should digital resources be brought up to the highest standard. The time is overdue for the Kingdom's virtual presence in regards to Haj to be made as compelling as its real world offering.
