Empirical Studies on Web Accessibility of Educational Websites: A Systematic Literature Review

Web accessibility means that people with some type of disability can make use of the Web in the same conditions as the rest of the people. When we talk about web accessibility, we refer to a web design and development that allows these people to perceive, understand, navigate and interact with the Web. Web accessibility also benefits other people, including elderly people whose abilities have declined as a result of age. The Web is an essential resource in human activity: education, employment, government, commerce, health, entertainment and many others benefit of the power of the Web. The aim of this systematic literature review is to analyze the empirical methods of evaluating accessibility to educational websites, disabilities and their errors described in a total of 25 selected studies. The results show that in 20 of the 25 papers, web accessibility was evaluated with automatic tools, in 2 papers it was evaluated with real users and in the other 3 papers with automatic tools, real users and experts. There is also evidence that all the educational websites analyzed in the papers need to correct errors. In conclusion, educational websites do not meet any version of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and their conformance levels. According to the results, the empirical evaluation methods used for web accessibility could be improved by adopting automatic evaluation tools for website construction and manual mechanisms with web accessibility experts. The challenge for educational institutions is to carry out web accessibility projects to comply with WCAG and other web accessibility standards and current laws of educational inclusion.This work was supported in part by the Catholic University of Cuenca and in part by the EduTech Project co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union under Grant 609785-EPP-1-2019-1-ES-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP

Middle Level Education Aims for Equity and Inclusion, but Do Our School Websites Meet ADA Compliance?

An often-overlooked component of a middle school website is the necessity for that website to be accessible to those with disabilities, while following the guidelines of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 508 of the Workforce Rehabilitation Act. In support of the belief that support the belief that inclusive education and respect for diversity should be integrated throughout the school, this study investigated the accessibility of middle school websites in Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio by selecting a random sample of 150 schools and analyzing their homepages using WAVE (Web Accessibility Versatile Evaluator), which reports accessibility violations by annotating a copy of the page that was evaluated and presenting embedded icons and indicators to disclose breaches with ADA. Out of 150 districts, 54% had errors that need immediate attention and all 150 schools had alerts of likely violations that ranged from alt-text omissions and empty or confusing links to issues with color contrast and keyboard-only navigation. The article proceeds to give practical suggestions for eliminating many of the errors, even for those shareholders with less than sophisticated technological expertise

Measuring and comparing the reliability of the structured walkthrough evaluation method with novices and experts

Effective evaluation of websites for accessibility remains problematic. Automated evaluation tools still require a significant manual element. There is also a significant expertise and evaluator effect. The Structured Walkthrough method is the translation of a manual, expert accessibility evaluation process adapted for use by novices. The method is embedded in the Accessibility Evaluation Assistant (AEA), a web accessibility knowledge management tool. Previous trials examined the pedagogical potential of the tool when incorporated into an undergraduate computing curriculum. The results of the evaluations carried out by novices yielded promising, consistent levels of validity and reliability. This paper presents the results of an empirical study that compares the reliability of accessibility evaluations produced by two groups (novices and experts). The main results of this study indicate that overall reliability of expert evaluations was 76% compared to 65% for evaluations produced by novices. The potential of the Structured Walkthrough method as a useful and viable tool for expert evaluators is also examined. Copyright 2014 ACM

Web-Based Student Processes at Community Colleges: Removing Barriers to Access

Colleges and universities are making extensive use of the Internet for collecting admission and financial aid applications. Benefits from online application services are enjoyed by both the educational institution and the prospec¬tive student who applies online. It is vital that web sites offering these services be made accessible so that students with disabilities are afforded the same benefits of online applications as their non-disabled peers. Cornell University’s Employment and Disability Institute was funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) to conduct a project with the following three objectives: 1) survey student services professionals at community colleges to examine the extent of use of the internet for providing services and the awareness of internet accessibility issues, 2) evaluate a sample of community college websites for accessibility and usability by students with and without disabilities, and 3) develop a toolkit for improving access to internet-based services at community colleges

Extent Of Service: Minnesota Libraries Disability Services And Quality Of Websites: Assessing Public & Academic Libraries

This article addresses the availability of software/hardware and other sources for all persons with disabilities in Minnesota libraries, and also the navigability of websites of these libraries for those who are visually impaired. Many electronic resources are prohibitively difficult or impossible for the Blind to access. On a practical level, the article surveys and evaluates what is available and what works for people with disabilities at present. I surveyed all Academic Libraries and Public Library Systems in Minnesota as to their disability services, and evaluated the accessibility of library websites through the help of people with visual disabilities. The websites chosen were those of public Academic Libraries/Learning Resource Centers, and those of Public Libraries or Library Systems. To evaluate Minnesota library web sites, I was able to recruit 5 volunteers, and using their personal screen readers (JAWS 4. 0 or later), evaluated 20 Public Library and 40 public Academic Library web sites. Existing legislation concerning persons with disabilities is overviewed as well as issues and concerns that arose during the course of my writing and surveying. The work provides timely information and raises questions for further research

Users' trust in information resources in the Web environment: a status report

This study has three aims; to provide an overview of the ways in which trust is either assessed or asserted in relation to the use and provision of resources in the Web environment for research and learning; to assess what solutions might be worth further investigation and whether establishing ways to assert trust in academic information resources could assist the development of information literacy; to help increase understanding of how perceptions of trust influence the behaviour of information users

Can user recommendations be useful for improving MOOCs accessibility? A project for inclusive design and profitable feedback

At present there are no applications which include accessibility revisions for Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), neither in the context of MOOCs provider institutions nor from the point of view of any Open Educational Resource (OER) initiative. In this paper an approximation to this problem is presented, in the form of a specific web portal which will offer the possibility for any user to freely judge the accessibility of a certain course and advice about the missing means of meeting user needs or required adaptations. This kind of user feedback can be of great value for the future development of MOOC platforms, courses and the educational resources. The development of this web tool will gather valuable information directly from the users themselves to improve the educational quality and accessibility of these learning environments

Accessibility of Vendor-Created Video Tutorials for People with Disabilities

Many video, screencast, webinar, or interactive tutorials are created and provided by vendors for use by libraries to instruct users in database searching. This study investigates whether these vendor-created database tutorials are accessible for people with disabilities to see whether librarians can use these tutorials instead of creating them in-house. Findings on accessibility were mixed. Positive accessibility features and common accessibility problems are described, with recommendations on how to maximize accessibility

The accessibility of administrative processes: Assessing the impacts on students in higher education

Administrative processes that need to be completed to maintain a basic standard of living, to study, or to attain employment, are perceived to create burdens for disabled people. The navigation of information, forms, communications, and assessments to achieve a particular goal raises diverse accessibility issues. In this paper we explore the different types of impacts these processes have on disabled university students. We begin by surveying literature that highlights the systemic characteristics of administrative burdens and barriers for disabled people. We then describe how a participatory research exercise with students led to the development of a survey on these issues. This was completed by 104 respondents with a diverse range of declared disabilities. This provides evidence for a range of impacts, and understanding of the perceived level of challenge of commonly experienced processes. The most common negative impact reported was on stress levels. Other commonly reported impacts include exacerbation of existing conditions, time lost from study, and instances where support was not available in a timely fashion. Processes to apply for disability-related support were more commonly challenging than other types of processes. We use this research to suggest directions for improving accessibility and empowerment in this space