E-Government Web Accessibility: WCAG 1.0 versus WCAG 2.0 Compliance

Most e-governments have traditionally used version 1.0 of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) as a basis to ensure that their websites are accessible by people with disabilities. This was reflected in their design guidelines, accessibility evaluations, policy-making and legislations. Recently, WCAG 2.0 emerged as an ISO/IEC International accessibility standard that has been recommended for adoption by the W3C WAI. This paper seeks to examine if there is a need for e-governments to reassess their web accessibility conformance, in light of the latest WCAG 2.0 standard. A case study related to the 21 Dubai e-government websites is presented whereby accessibility is evaluated based on the WCAG 1.0 and WCAG 2.0 guidelines and using automated accessibility testing tools. We found that WCAG 2.0 conformance testing identified some notable accessibility issues that were not revealed by WCAG 1.0 conformance testing. Hence we recommend that egovernments should develop and update their web content and accessibility policies to conform to the latest WCAG 2.0 guidelines and success criteria. Additional implications for practice and academic research are also provided

Assessment of web accessibility and technical specifications conformance of web sites from four EU member states

The Internet is playing an important part in our day to day life, through its power of making information universally available. Provided that web content is designed with accessibility in mind, the Internet can bring immense benefits to people with restricted access to different aspects of life due to various types of disability. An important source for accessible web design resources is the W3C’s Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). WAI published the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 1.0)[1] in May 1999, which is now a reference point in web accessibility related policies in many different jurisdictions. An automated web accessibility surveying system investigating W3C WCAG 1.0 and HTML technical conformance of large samples of web sites, was implemented at the eAccess laboratory at RINCE, D.C.U.,Dublin, Ireland. In order to evaluate the practical results of the efforts invested in promoting web accessibility in Ireland, the conformance level of a sample of subjectively selected Irish web sites was monitored between April 2002 and December 2004. In order to place the web accessibility conformance level of Irish web sites at EU level, conformance levels of samples of randomly selected Irish, UK, French and German web sites were also monitored between May 2003 and December 2004. The findings of the study show that the general level of web accessibility guidelines and HTML standards conformance in all the web samples studied is very poor and there were no clearly distinguishable improvements in the time interval considered. More than that, although the web samples differ greatly through the number of web sites considered, the results show a high similarity in the failures detected in the five web samples, over the entire time interval in which the investigations were carried out. These findings show that the efforts invested in promoting web accessibility until now have had a small impact in reality. The findings also suggest the need for a different, more firm, approach in promoting web accessibility guidelines compliance on the web

Analysis of UK Parliament Web Sites for Disability Accessibility

The growth of the Internet has led to an increase in the number of public services offered by U.K. government entities on their Web sites. A variety of consumers use e-government sites, and those individuals with disabilities are guaranteed the same access government sites under the U.K.’s Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) of 1995. This law provides equality in access, and implements penalties for non-adherence to the law. Industry standards also exist which helps site developers to create better site accessibility. However, despite both standards and legal regulations, total openness of sites for people with disabilities is still not widespread. The purpose of this study is to examine the level of accessibility of a randomly selected sample of 130 members of the U.K. House of Commons. Each site was analyzed using an online software tool –Truwex - to determine if they met industry Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) levels 1.0 and 2.0 standards and DDA law. The results showed that the majority of the sites did not meet either guidelines or legal mandates. Many of the sites displayed similar precedents when it came to the types of non-compliance, and could easily improve compliance with minor changes

Evaluación de accesibilidad en sitios web oficiales

En este en el artículo se presentan los resultados de realizar una evaluación preliminar de los sitios Web oficiales de la provincia de Catamarca sobre el cumplimiento de las normas de accesibilidad Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). Las normas WCAG 1.0 son directrices de diseño general definidos por la Web Accessibility Iniciative (WAI) para crear contenido Web accesible, están dirigidas a un grupo de usuarios heterogéneo con requerimientos de accesos probablemente diferentes. Los principales resultados muestran que buena parte de los sitios oficiales del gobierno hace caso omiso a la WAI.In this in the article the results are presented of carrying out a preliminary evaluation of the places official Web of the county of Catamarca on the execution of the norms of accessibility Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). The norms WCAG 1.0 are guidelines of design general defined by the Web Accessibility Iniciative (WAI) to create contained accessible Web, they are directed to a heterogeneous group of users with requirements of probably different accesses. The main results show that good part of the government's official places pays remiss attention to the WAI.Presentado en el Congreso GeneralRed de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

Evaluación de accesibilidad en sitios web oficiales

En este en el artículo se presentan los resultados de realizar una evaluación preliminar de los sitios Web oficiales de la provincia de Catamarca sobre el cumplimiento de las normas de accesibilidad Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). Las normas WCAG 1.0 son directrices de diseño general definidos por la Web Accessibility Iniciative (WAI) para crear contenido Web accesible, están dirigidas a un grupo de usuarios heterogéneo con requerimientos de accesos probablemente diferentes. Los principales resultados muestran que buena parte de los sitios oficiales del gobierno hace caso omiso a la WAI.In this in the article the results are presented of carrying out a preliminary evaluation of the places official Web of the county of Catamarca on the execution of the norms of accessibility Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). The norms WCAG 1.0 are guidelines of design general defined by the Web Accessibility Iniciative (WAI) to create contained accessible Web, they are directed to a heterogeneous group of users with requirements of probably different accesses. The main results show that good part of the government's official places pays remiss attention to the WAI.Presentado en el Congreso GeneralRed de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

Actual Accessibility: A Study of Cultural Institution Web Content

In 1998, the United States Congress amended Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act to require federal agencies to make electronic and information technology accessible. The first accessibility guidelines from the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Accessibility Initiative, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0, were published in 1999. This study tests the usable accessibility of cultural institution web sites. Four cultural institution web sites were selected, two that were WCAG 1.0 compliant and that were not, were selected for evaluation. A combination of qualitative and quantitative analysis was conducted. Significant differences were found in the perceived usability of the guideline-compliant web sites; significance was found for one of three tasks. Overall, the guideline-compliant sites received higher usability ratings, but the task completion rates did not support a claim of greater usability

Accesibilidad web: el portal de la Biblioteca Nacional del Perú

El documento digital no refiere asesorEvalúa la accesibilidad web del portal de la Biblioteca Nacional del Perú a través del cumplimiento de las pautas establecidas por el World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). La evaluación se realizó utilizando las herramientas de accesibilidad HERA y TAW; que permiten analizar de acuerdo a las Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 1.0 y 2.0 la existencia de barreras de acceso a la web. Como resultado el portal web no alcanzó un nivel aceptable de accesibilidad requerido para las instituciones públicas del Perú. Concluye en la necesidad de un conjunto de mejoras para el rediseño del portal empleando las Web Content Accessibility Guidelines o Pautas de Acceso al Contenido Web (WCAG).Trabajo de suficiencia profesiona

Website accessibility issues in Western Australian public libraries

Website accessibility is a very real and pressing issue for public libraries internationally. Tim Berners-Lee credited with founding the Web, states The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect. (Henry & McGee, 2010). There is wide-spread support for adherence to the Web Content Advisory Guidelines Version 1.0 and 2.0 (WCAG) throughout Federal, State and Local levels of government in Australia. The Guidelines have also been affirmed by the Australian Human Rights Commission, disability advocacy groups such as Vision Australia, and the Australian Library and Information Association. The Australian Government issued a press release in February 2010 which mandates conformance with WCAG 2.0 by 2015 for all government sites. In order to accommodate this, a new transition strategy has been provided by the Australian Government. While adherence to the Guidelines is clearly mandated, the level of adherence within the public libraries in Western Australia has not been tested until now. Public libraries, by their very nature, should be providing an equality of access to their collections and services. This research assesses the level of adherence to the Web Content Advisory Guidelines (Version 1.0 and 2.0) of public libraries within Western Australia. Through on-line website accessibility evaluation tools, manual checklists, surveys and interviews, this research identifies the level of compliance to these Guidelines as well as the implementation barriers and level of understanding within Western Australia. The assessment of the website accessibility of public libraries in Western Australia operated as a case study methodology incorporating both quantitative and qualitative assessment tools. An analysis of the research methods and findings is provided in this dissertation. The findings of the research demonstrate that at present no public library website in Western Australia with an on-line catalogue link, other than the State Library of Western Australia, conforms to the WCAG Version 1.0 or 2.0 at any level of compliance. Libraries identify a number of barriers to implementation of the guidelines including lack of understanding of the necessity of compliance, lack of understanding of the benefits of compliance, time and cost. The theoretical framework suggested in this research suggests that with increased understanding of the issues and increased support, libraries should be in a better position to work toward website accessibility

Hacia una herramienta de soporte para el modelado web con accesibilidad

Web Accessibility is a basic attribute of quality in use and a player to a successful Web application. The principles of design called for all or universal design, are aimed at product design and user-friendly environments for as many people as possible, without the need to adapt or redesign it so specially. There are different tools and approaches to assist to the Accessibility evaluation of existing Web applications. In contrast, there are no similar efforts for the early design with Accessibility principles in mind. Designing Web applications to improve Accessibility implies the analysis of different concerns that can be linked through the use of techniques from Aspect-Oriented Software Development (AOSD). In this work we propose a tool’s architecture based on AOSD design concepts and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 (WCAG 1.0) to support building accessible user interfaces.VI Workshop Ingeniería de Software (WIS)Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

Hacia una herramienta de soporte para el modelado web con accesibilidad

Web Accessibility is a basic attribute of quality in use and a player to a successful Web application. The principles of design called for all or universal design, are aimed at product design and user-friendly environments for as many people as possible, without the need to adapt or redesign it so specially. There are different tools and approaches to assist to the Accessibility evaluation of existing Web applications. In contrast, there are no similar efforts for the early design with Accessibility principles in mind. Designing Web applications to improve Accessibility implies the analysis of different concerns that can be linked through the use of techniques from Aspect-Oriented Software Development (AOSD). In this work we propose a tool’s architecture based on AOSD design concepts and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 (WCAG 1.0) to support building accessible user interfaces.VI Workshop Ingeniería de Software (WIS)Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI