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ERIC Number: EJ1146773
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010-Jul-19
Pages: 37
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1545-679X
EISSN: N/A
Website Accessibility for Users with Visual Impairment
Smith, J. A.; Lind, M. R.
Information Systems Education Journal, v8 n53 Jul 2010
In this web accessibility study of homepages of education departments in post-secondary educational institutions, the 1998 US Section 508 Law regarding webpage accessibility for people with disabilities was addressed. Along with the requirements of this legislation, there are growing demands for web accessibility resulting from age-related visual disabilities and the ubiquitous handheld, mobile Internet devices. In this study six hypotheses were addressed to analyze web accessibility in terms of website complexity, enactment of web accessibility policies and practices, and webmaster web accessibility training, end-user communications, and strategic decision-making. A survey was mailed to education department webmasters to identify levels of web accessibility skills and training. Tools utilized to analyze homepage accessibility were AChecker™, A-Prompt™, JAWS™, and Kelvin™. Also, the existence of institutional web accessibility policies and language in job requirements for webmaster job postings were examined to determine the importance placed on Section 508 compliance by employers. Results showed a 95% failure rate in Section 508 compliance where two significant relationships existed for higher web inaccessibility: lower levels of webmaster web accessibility training and increasing complexity in webpage design.
Information Systems and Computing Academic Professionals. Box 488, Wrightsville Beach, NC 28480. e-mail: publisher@isedj.org; Web site: http://isedj.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research; Tests/Questionnaires
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A