Testing the level of interactivity of institutional websites: From museums 1.0 to museums 2.0

• Web 2.0 is changing the way that museums communication with their publics.
• Museums have a low level of interactivity in relation with the Presentation of Information.
• Museums have a medium level of interactivity with regard the Resources for Interaction.
• Museums are not using the potential of Web 2.0 to establish dialogue with visitors
• Museums are progressively implementing more interactive and dialogic sources.

The Internet has changed the way in which organizations communicate with their publics, and museums are not an exception. The consolidation of Web 2.0 has not only given museums access to a powerful new tool for disseminating information, but has involved significant changes in the relationship between institutions and their publics, facilitating and enhancing the interaction between them. The overall objective of this paper is to analyze the degree of interactivity implemented in the websites of major international art museums, in order to assess if museums are evolving towards more dialogic systems with relation to their publics. The results indicate that museums still have a low level of interactivity on their websites, both in the tools used to present information and the resources available for interaction with virtual visitors. But it has also observed that museums are progressively implementing interactive and dialogic sources, suggesting a clear trend towards new ways of managing these platforms in order to establish more participatory and collaborative communication systems with virtual users.