Anthill Magazine

spellr.us, the handy website spell-checking service run by Sydney-based Melon Media (past coverage here and here) has unveiled its annual Higher Education Online Content Survey – and the results are sure to cause several red faces in ivory towers around the world.

The spellr.us engine scanned the first 1,000 pages of the world’s top 20 universities (as ranked by the Times Higher Education – Quacquarelli Symonds Report), revealing that the word “university” was misspelled by 13 of the world’s top 20 universities. Other significant errors included Harvard Law School’s misspelling of “professor” on a primary navigation menu, and Yale University’s misspelling of “Yale University”.

According to Melon Media’s Kevin Garber, such errors are embarrassing and easily avoidable.

“A University’s website is often the first point of contact for prospective students and staff,” he said. “Spelling errors can convey sloppiness and lack of attention to detail, which can detract from the message that a high quality education is on offer.”

The top five misspelled words on the websites were “accommodation,” “technology,” “university,” harassment,” and “research.”

Image: Lentini

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