Assessing web content accessibility of E-commerce websites for people with disabilities

In recent years online shopping has grown significantly. Due to the rapid growth of technology, companies also continuing to extend the functionality and design of their Business-to-Consumer (B2C) e-business websites. However, it is also important to adopt web accessibility such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines in B2C websites to increase the consumer's satisfaction of all ages and with disabilities. This study analyses 30 Australian B2C websites in accordance to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0) using an automated web service. The result shows that B2C websites in Australia are not paying attention to web accessibility for people with disabilities. However, e-commerce will succeed in meeting WCAG 2.0 by making B2C e-commerce websites accessible to consumer of all ages and with disabilities. Recommendations are proposed in order to improve web accessibility for people with sensory (hearing and vision), motor (limited use of hands) and cognition (language and learning) disabilities in B2C e-commerce websites

E-commerce in the travel and tourism industry in Sub-Saharan Africa

The e-commerce revolution in business can help African countries expand their tourism industry. Africa, with its great wealth in wildlife and unique resorts, can benefit from the ever increasing user population of the Internet, particularly in the USA and Western Europe where most of the tourists to Africa come from (Internet World Stats, 2004). E-commerce which runs on the backbone of the Internet can help the African tourism industry break into international tourism, thus increasing the flows of the much needed foreign currency. As there was little empirical data on the e-commerce activities in the African tourism industry the researcher first and foremost examined a large number of websites in order to paint a picture of the nature and extent of the e-commerce activities in four -African countries. For comparison, websites of tourism organisations from USA and Western Europe were also examined. The surveys revealed that few of the African organisations are embracing e-commerce and that although some websites were comparable to those of their western counterparts the majority had room for considerable improvement. After examining the websites another survey was carried out to find the current progress of e-commerce adoption and usage from the perspective of the African tourism organisations. Analysis of the data collected showed that e-commerce adoption among the tourism organisations was slow. This led to more surveys being carried out to find the barriers to e-commerce among tourism organisations with information-only websites and those whose websites had limited interactive facilities. These surveys revealed that tourism organisations with information-only websites faced more barriers than those with websites which had limited interactive features. They also revealed that the most common barriers were technological and security and legal barriers. The ultimate survey involved finding out from tourism organisations with fully-fledged e-commerce websites how they overcame the e-commerce barriers. The methods used by these organisations to overcome e-commerce barriers together with recommendations made in the surveys carried out earlier were used to formulate recommendations and guidelines for those organisations intending to adopt and e-commerce. The recommendations and guidelines were tested and results showed that they are helpful and easy to follow

The use of information and communication technologies in South African hotels : a self-evaluation by hotel managers.

It is fair to assume that the level of participation in a world economy depends on the capacity of business organisations to use technology efficiently. Conducting business in the world today is driven by information technology. Internet technology has changed various business activities and transactions. In the Internet age, the development of electronic commerce (EC) is considered a major indicator of the overall competitiveness of organisations. An EC marketing channel can bring customers more benefits such as greater shopping convenience and potentially lower prices. Today, most hotels have been forced by the market to consider adopting EC to carry out business processes more efficiently. Hence, the purpose of the study is to determine the determinants of EC adoption by hotels in South Africa. This study is based on Tornatzky and Fleicher’s (1990) technological, organizational and environmental (TOE) model that includes technological context, organisational context and environmental context. The TOE model has been widely used to examine the factors that influence organisational technology adoption. The research model looked at eight determinants, which are (1) relative advantage, (2) compatibility, (3) complexity, (4) organisational size, (5) technology knowledge, (6) managers’ attitudes towards EC, (7) information intensity and (8) competition. A quantitative research design was used and a questionnaire was used to collect data and answer the research questions in the study. Four hundred hotels were randomly selected from the three groups of hotels suggested by the South African Tourism office, i.e. (1) Tourism Grading council hotel listing, (2) Tshwane accommodation listing and (3) AA travel accommodation. A total of 332 questionnaires were collected for data analysis, which represents a 94.9% response rate. Descriptive statistics, correlational statistics, one way analysis of variance, (ANOVA), regression analysis, cross tabulation tests and multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVA) were used to analyse the data. The results indicated that all three contexts (TOE) were important in the decision of EC adoption by the hotels in South Africa. The findings indicated that not all the determinants used had a statistically significant relationship with the extent of EC adoption in the hotel industry. The researcher also found out that hotels were more concerned about the benefits of EC than the organisational ability to adopt EC, the hotels that had sufficient resources were more willing to adopt EC. The findings also indicated that managers’ attitude towards EC adoption is influential on the extent of EC adoption. Finally, findings indicated that there is a lot of pressure from suppliers and customers for the hotels to use EC. Even though the mangers that filled in the questionnaire were computer literate, technology knowledge of EC would help managers to realise which systems are most appropriate.Thesis (Ph.D)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011

Intellectual property protection for e-commerce business methods in South Africa : envisioning an equitable model for SMEs in the tourism industry

Includes abstract.includes biblioraphical references.This thesis examines the intellectual property (IP) protection of the functional aspects of e-commerce business methods, which are embedded in the methods' underlying computer programs. It considers how South Africa can achieve an equitable balance between creators' interests in securing remuneration and attribution for, and users' interests in securing affordable access to, these methods. The thesis' primary perspective is that of users, and its arguments centre on the position of small and medium sized enterprises that provide accommodation in the tourism sector (accommodation SMEs)

An investigation into destination management systems website evaluation theory and practice

The main aim of this thesis is an investigation into Destination Management Systems (DMS) website effectiveness and evaluation in the tourism domain from both academic and industry (destination management) perspectives. This thesis begins with a comprehensive review of the literature about theories, concepts and methods used for DMS website effectiveness evaluation. The future direction of DMS website evaluation in tourism and a conceptual framework that defines the contemporary theory versus practice of the DMS websites evaluation is elaborated. The research employed first three rounds of Delphi study to generate an up-to-date definition and aims of DMS. The Delphi study also generated an up-to-date comprehensive set of dimensions and criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of DMS websites. The research then employed structured interviews as well as online survey sent to forty-six official destination websites to review how industry is evaluating their DMS websites. What approaches they use in addition to the criteria and dimensions when evaluating the effectiveness of their DMS websites is explored. This thesis also reviews additional aspects related to the in destination evaluation. The findings of the Delphi study indicated that there is a rising emergence of social media as a new important component related to DMS. The findings also suggested additional aims to previously identified aims of the DMS. The new additional aims of DMS found in this research are: support sustainable destination management; empower and support tourism firms; enable collaboration at the destination; increase consumer satisfaction level and capture consumer data. Further findings also indicated compared with these established by previous researchers there are new additions to the evaluation dimensions of DMS websites proposed which are: sustainability, marketing, collaboration issues, and goals of the website. The findings of this thesis indicated that there is a congruence and consensus between academic experts and industry in terms of the most dimensions that are crucial for DMS websites evaluation. The findings, however, indicated that there is limited parallel between criteria identified with the Delphi study and those found and used by destination management practitioners. This thesis calls for additional research to develop a support system to ensure a focused involvement between academia and industry in the area of DMS website evaluation. This thesis contributes to knowledge by generating an up-to-date and comprehensive set of dimensions and criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of a DMS website. This thesis also contributes to knowledge through the identification of the current dimensions, criteria, and evaluation approaches used by industry practitioners. This research adopted a strategy in presenting the literature review that enhanced the understanding of the DMS websites and their comprehensive evaluation in tourism. This research is one of the first studies in the tourism field that reviews and sheds light on and compares and contracts contemporary thinking on both academia and industry evaluation of DMS websites.sub_behsubmitted2197_ethesessubmitte

Understanding accessibility problems of blind users on the web

The web is an eminently visual medium. However, not everyone accesses web content visually. Research shows that using the web is challenging for blind users. To create a good user experience for blind users on the web, we need a comprehensive understanding of the users’ problems. Currently, there is little knowledge about the problem differences between blind and sighted users, which makes it difficult to suggest and test design solutions that address these problems. This research aims to provide a further understanding of the problems blind users have on the web by comparing and contrasting problems between blind and sighted users and testing how design solutions to prevalent problems benefit blind users’ experience. The first study draws together the research literature into a common unified definition of web accessibility that was used to operationalise studies. The second study compared which verbal protocol (concurrent or retrospective) is better in user-based studies. The results showed that retrospective verbal protocol is a better option for eliciting problems on the web for blind and sighted users. Then, an empirical study compared the problems between blind and sighted users on the web. The results showed that the problems the two user groups encounter largely differ. There are specific problem types distinct to blind users, but also the characteristics of the problem types that had instances by both user groups were very different. Moreover, many problems blind users encounter were in relation to the search and browse features of the websites. A further investigation by two studies with blind users of how specific design solutions to prevalent problems users had (poor page structure, lack of feedback and excessive effort) in this specific design aspect showed that simple design solutions improve specific aspects of users’ experience. Although, for major improvements in the overall user experience a combination of design solutions is needed

An ICT strategy for sustainable tourism in Zimbabwe

This research sought to develop an ICT strategy for sustainable tourism in Zimbabwe. The Government of Zimbabwe has identified ICT and tourism both as strategic industries and pillars for economic revival. The tourism sector was identified as an essential source of foreign exchange earnings and as a means to drive the economy to greater heights and reduce poverty through direct employment in down-stream and up-stream industries. Despite being endowed with rich natural resources that include five World Natural Heritage sites, exquisite flora and fauna. Zimbabwe is not performing well in the world tourism sector. The Southern African country continues to be ranked low on World Economic Forum Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index. Despite the country‘s strengths, in terms of endowments, the low Tourism and Travel Competitiveness Index suggests weaknesses in related areas. There is currently no clear strategy for the sustainable use of ICT in the tourism sector in Zimbabwe. Despite huge investments and advances in ICT, services in the tourism sector in Zimbabwe continue to be delivered manually and in traditional ways. Therefore, this research sought to propose a strategy for the sustainable use of ICT in the tourism sector in Zimbabwe. However, this strategy had to be informed and supported by an empirical study of the shortcomings in the existing situation in the tourism sector. In order to achieve this objective, this research, which is a comprehensive case study on the tourism sector in Zimbabwe, deployed semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, observations and netnography to collect data. The case study was carried out in accordance with the steps for conducting a case as outlined by Yin guided by an interpretive paradigm. The entities and organisations that formed part of the case study were purposefully chosen to provide a representative sample of the tourism role-players in Zimbabwe. The samples were based on sample variation and feasibility (taking into consideration factors such as geographical location, organisational thrust and size). Data collection involved semi-structured interviews with various role-players in the tourism sector. The role-players interviewed included officials from the government, the regulator and from the service providers. The interviews were held in Harare, Bulawayo, Gweru, Chinhoyi, Matopos, Hwange and Victoria Falls. A Zimbabwe annual premier tourism expo, Sanganai/Hlanganani World Travel and Tourism Africa Fair, was also attended in order to interact with various players and to conduct formal and informal interviews. The questionnaires, which were completed by tourists, were administered in Harare, Hwange, Victoria Falls, Matopos, and the Beitbridge and Kazungula border posts. An online version of the questionnaire was also administered. The questionnaire link was e-mailed to tourists, as some of them did not have enough time to complete them during their stay in Zimbabwe and agreed to do so via email. The data was analysed in two phases - structured coding and thematic analysis. . Key factors were identified through structural coding and thematic analysis. Country-specific, sector-specific and organisationalspecific factors were identified for tourists, the government, the regulator and service providers. After a further analysis of the results, those that pointed to the same factors were grouped together and a deduction was made as a diagnosis of the problem was identified. The identified problems were synthesised into seven diagnostics: (i) lack of infrastructure and enabling services; (ii) e-customer relationship management; (iii) lack of collaboration and poor systems integration, (iv) policy and regulation; (v) lack of financial resources; (vi) poor ICT governance and (vii) poor human resource development. A guiding policy was then identified for each of the diagnostics, leading to a set of coherent actions. The research also showed the implementation of this set of actions that consisting of three layers, namely, government, regulator and service providers. This research contributes to the existing body of knowledge by providing a clear strategy formulation model and showing how the implementation will be rolled out. The ICT-related challenges were diagnosed, guiding policies formulated to address the situation and required coherent actions suggested. This research is deemed to be significant for understanding the future of ICT use in developing countries like Zimbabwe