An Assessment of the Quality of the Romanian Urban Web Sites

The local authorities are giving increasing prominence to provision of information online through websites. Seen in a wider perspective, the urban web sites play a key role in allowing every citizen to achieve their full potential and to participate fully in society. Conversely, citizens' awareness and expectations of Internet based online public services have also increased. Although the numbers of the different urban web portals have increased rapidly in the last years, the success of these sites will largely depend on their accessibility and quality. The purpose of this report is to present the results from a comprehensive assessment of the urban web sites across Romania. An instrument has been developed for evaluating the quality of the websites. It is based upon approaches to evaluation that have been documented in the published literature, interviews of people responsible for websites, and testing of websites at different levels of local government. Results show that not only are there wide variations in the spectrum of information and services provided by these urban web sites, but that significant work still needs to be undertaken in order to make these sites examples of "best practice" e-Government services. The overall picture shows that there is still much work to be done, but the study identifies key areas of concern which, if dealt with, would lead to the situation improving significantly.urban web sites, e-government, quality

A Review of Selected E-Recruiting Websites: Disability Accessibility Considerations

Ten job boards1 and 31 corporate E-recruiting websites were evaluated for accessibility for people with disabilities. The examination was performed using both an automated accessibility testing software (Bobby v3.2) and an examination of a sub-sample of the sites through a “simulated” application process. The simulated application process was performed utilizing only the information available to a screen reader and navigating the site using only keyboard commands, duplicating how a blind individual would typically navigate the web. The purpose of this second method was to see if it would be possible to successfully proceed through the entire multi-step job search and application process. None of the job board pages (home, job search, signup, or resumé submittal pages) evaluated by Bobby were found to be accessible. The vast majority of corporate E-recruiting sites also failed Bobby’s tests. The simulated application process evaluation was slightly more promising, but still only three of the nine job boards and three of the twelve corporate sites evaluated were accessible enough to work through the entire process of registration, job searching, resumé submittal, and application for a position. Many of the issues encountered could easily be corrected through the consistent use of alternative text for essential submit image buttons (i.e. “apply,” “post resumé”)

Being Online Is Not Enough: State Elections Web Sites

Assesses state elections Web sites on the availability and accessibility of information on voter registration, registration status, and polling places. Lists the ten best and worst sites and suggests ways to make helpful information easy to find and use

Issues in Evaluating Health Department Web-Based Data Query Systems: Working Papers

Compiles papers on conceptual and methodological topics to consider in evaluating state health department systems that provide aggregate data online, such as taxonomy, logic models, indicators, and design. Includes surveys and examples of evaluations

Rating the Web Sites of Land Grant Universities and State Departments of Agriculture

For at least ten years, educational and government organizations have used the Internet to communicate with their respective clienteles. Land grant universities, departments of agricultural economics, and state departments of agriculture have launched web sites to achieve various communication goals, including, among others: to disseminate research results, to generate positive publicity among various constituencies, to promote agricultural activities, and to recruit employees. This report is the result of an effort to systematically evaluate, rate, and comment on the web sites of land grant universities, departments of agricultural economics, and state departments of agriculture. A panel of reviewers rated the web sites of these organizations. The results of reviews of a total of 177 web sites are presented. The following aspects were rated for each site: loading time, visual appeal, ease of navigation, quantity of useful information, and overall effectiveness. Individuals responsible for web sites should strive to achieve visual appeal and accessibility, and to avoid broken links and the under construction phenomenon. Three web sites in each category are identified as being highly effective, exemplary sites. Web designers and other representatives may use the results to plan new web page designs and to improve current pages/sites.land grant universities, departments of agricultural economics, state departments of agriculture, web sites, web pages, web design, Internet, e-commerce, electronic communication, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Q000, Q100, Q160, Q190,

Information Outlook, April 2000

Volume 4, Issue 4https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/sla_io_2000/1003/thumbnail.jp

Improving Screencast Accessibility for People with Disabilities: Guidelines and Techniques

Screencast video tutorials are increasingly popular in libraries, but may present access problems for people with disabilities unless specific accessibility features are added during screencast creation. This article reviews existing standards for accessible web-based multimedia and gives guidelines on how to create accessible screencasts based on these standards

Seafloor characterization using airborne hyperspectral co-registration procedures independent from attitude and positioning sensors

The advance of remote-sensing technology and data-storage capabilities has progressed in the last decade to commercial multi-sensor data collection. There is a constant need to characterize, quantify and monitor the coastal areas for habitat research and coastal management. In this paper, we present work on seafloor characterization that uses hyperspectral imagery (HSI). The HSI data allows the operator to extend seafloor characterization from multibeam backscatter towards land and thus creates a seamless ocean-to-land characterization of the littoral zone