Persian websites for children and teenagers in Iran

PurposeThe Internet has attracted many of society's children and teens and it has become important for parents to be aware of reputable websites and the criteria for studying these. The purpose of this paper is to examine the condition of Persian websites for children and teenagers in terms of site support, design, contents, and promotion, and also examine the differences in websites which are supported by the government.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology was based on the criteria of the American Library Association's Association for Library Services to Children's “Great websites for kids.” In total, 18 Persian websites were examined, which were found in the first ten pages of a Google search, by different kinds of search.FindingsThe obtained results indicated that there was a lack of standards in designing children's websites, demonstrating that it is necessary to ask children, librarians, computer specialists, child psychologists, and teachers to improve websites geared to children and teenagers.Originality/valueThe paper shows that it is important to focus on standard solutions for website designs that take into account the special needs of children.