Disability and the Web: Why Website Accessibility Matters

With Australia now transitioning to WCAG 2.0, accessibility has become a critical area requiring a far greater emphasis in the next couple of years. The Australian Human Rights Commission has argued that all Australian websites should meet WCAG 2.0 AA by December 2014. In this presentation, Vivienne will discuss important findings from her study of public library web site accessibility. She will also provide insights into her current PhD investigation and give a first hand account of the Hyderabad conference and global efforts on web site accessibility

Website accessibility in Australia and the national transition strategy: Outcomes and findings

In the most recent statistics, published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2012, it was reported that slightly under one in five people stated they had a disability. A further twenty-one percent of the population (4.7 million people) reported that they had a long-term health condition that did not restrict their everyday activities. This total group of people who suffer either a disability or a long-term health condition numbers 8.9 million people, or over thirty-nine percent of the Australian population. Of the people reporting a disability, 3.7 million or eighty-eight percent of that group experienced limitations in the activities of self-care, mobility or communication, or were restricted in their education or employment. (W3C, 2013c) In 2010, the Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO) reported that an estimated one in five Australians or 3.95 million people experienced long term impairment. Of this figure, 2.6 million, or roughly fifteen percent of the population, of people with long term impairments are under the age of 65. At that time it was stated that eighty-six percent report that they experience a core limitation, which involves their mobility or communication and may restrict either their schooling or employment. (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2010; Begbie, 2010) According to these figures, it would appear that the number of people with disabilities that restrict their daily lives has grown in line with population growth. In June 2010,the Australian Government released the Web Accessibility National Transition Strategy (NTS) (Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO), 2010a). This document outlines the plan for the adoption and implementation of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Version 2.0 (W3C, 2008d). This plan provides a strategy for all government websites to conform to WCAG 2.0 Priority Level A by December 2012 and Australian Government sites to WCAG 2.0 Priority Level AA by December 2014. In Australia, the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is responsible for administering the Disability Discrimination Act of 1992 (DDA) (Australian Government, 2013a) In order to assist organisations in complying with the DDA, the AHRC has produced the World Wide Web Access: Disability Discrimination Act Advisory Notes Version 4.0 (Advisory Notes). (Australian Human Rights Commission, 2010). These Advisory Notes reinforce the NTS, but also advise all non-government website holders to ensure their websites are compliant to WCAG 2.0 (W3C, 2008d). New non-government websites must adhere to WCAG 2.0 AA, and existing website owners have until December 31, 2013 to comply with this same level. (Australian Human Rights Commission, 2010) Australians have clearly embraced using the Web as their preferred method of dealing with the various levels of government. It is estimated that there are over 4600 registered domains in the gov.au space, with more than 4.2 million documents. Australians enter the federal government web space through ‘www.australia.gov.au’ which has led the transition to WCAG 2.0 by declaring their site compliant to WCAG 2.0 AA, with some elements complying with the AAA level. (Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO), 2009). The purpose of this research was to determine whether such a mandated approach by way of a federal government strategy would accomplish the goal of achieving compliance with WCAG 2.0. In order to accomplish this research goal, a selection of websites from government websites was assessed on a regular basis to observe their accessibility changes during the period of the NTS. In addition, this study included websites from non-government sites in order to observe their accessibility changes and also to compare these results with the government website results. The websites were selected in a targeted sample approach in an attempt to choose websites that would enable comparison of the accessibility results. For instance, the same category of websites from each state was selected including the state library, health, disability services, job search, emergency services and business development. Federal government websites were chosen to reflect these same categories plus additional websites with which it was considered Australians had the most contact, including but not limited to broadcasting, tax, health, and information services. The not-for-profit websites chosen represented those considered most well-known, while those selected for the government-affiliated category included a university from each state plus two utilities. The corporate website category included representatives from large corporations such as banks, airlines, mining companies and major shopping as well as representatives selected from organisations such as telecommunications, travel, public transportation, telecommunications and multimedia. In the local government category, the capital city and next largest city in terms of population was chosen from each state. The selection of websites was done in consultation with academic supervisors, members of the W3C as well as in consultation with staff at the Australian Government Information Management Office. Barriers in achieving compliance with WCAG 2.0 and critical success factors for those organisations which achieved the greatest level of compliance were identified both through the evaluation data and also through the surveys conducted throughout the research. The lack of a unified methodology for testing the websites for accessibility was highlighted as an area which needs to be addressed if the Government is to be able to conduct checks on agencies to monitor their progress toward achieving compliance with these accepted standards. The results of this research demonstrate that very few organisations succeeded in meeting even Level A of WCAG by the deadline of December 31, 2012. It is clear however that the government websites achieved greater compliance scores than non-government. In particular, the federal government websites both started as the most accessible and retained that position to the end of the data collection period. While very few websites in this research were successful in achieving compliance with WCAG 2.0 to even Level A, the NTS was successful in the raising of awareness of the issues and requirements of website accessibility, particularly for government agencies. Conversely, this means that the gap between the accessibility of government and non-government websites has widened which is clearly demonstrated by the results of this research

Web Accessibility Issues with Blackboard at Edith Cowan University

Website accessibility is a very real and pressing issue in Australia and 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). This paper is the result of research conducted into the website accessibility of Blackboard as implemented at Edith Cowan University. This well-known commercial Learning Management System is used for e-learning access and content delivery. Testing was conducted to determine the level of adherence of Blackboard to internationally-recognized best practice web accessibility guidelines. An analysis of the results of this research demonstrate that while Blackboard scores “better than average”, this still constitutes a failing grade in terms of overall usability for people with visual disabilities. Incorporation of the features of the WCAG 2.0 would ensure that Blackboard meets current best practice guidelines

Website Accessibility in Western Australian Public Libraries

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has established international standards for website accessibility which attempt to ensure that everyone has the same opportunities to use materials published on the World Wide Web (Web). This article provides a summation of the research conducted into the accessibility of public library websites in Western Australia. A discussion is provided of the website audit methods used and results obtained. The research demonstrates the level of compliance with Australian and International standards as well as results of surveys used to determine the perceived willingness to comply with those standards, barriers to compliance and benefits of an accessible website

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

Digital Accessibility: Perceptions, Expectations and Reality

The aspect of equal access to the Web has always been a critical driving factor in the development of this digital medium. Indeed, it was Sir Tim Berners-Lee who stated “The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect”. (World Wide Web Consortium: Web Accessibility Initiative (W3C WAI) 2019). The question before us is why, when universal access is considered such an essential aspect, do we continue to observe a low rate of adoption of digital accessibility principles? The authors look at the current issues regarding digital accessibility, the different focus between organisations providing websites and applications, and the users who require these services. They examine the disparity between the perception of the organisation of how accessible their information is, and the experience of the user trying to obtain access to this same information

Web Accessibility in Corporate Australia: Perceptions versus Reality

In this paper we describe the results of website audits and survey responses for organizations involved in the Australia Web Awards for 2011. 160 organizations entered their sites or sites they had developed as part of the awards, and in doing so were required to select the level of WCAG compliance for their site. Audits conducted on these sites after the awards completion showed that very few of the entrants actually met their selected level of accessibility compliance, regardless of the organization type. Survey responses from participating entrants in the AWA indicated that they were aware of the WCAG guidelines and various levels of compliance, and had experience in accessible design. Entrants also indicated knowledge of accessibility tools and methodologies, yet failed to produce sites with even rudimentary levels of accessibility. The paper concludes that whilst the Australian government is moving towards a framework of mandatory accessibility, the developers and designers involved in this study still see accessibility as largely optional

The 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey: stochastic relative biasing between galaxy populations

It is well known that the clustering of galaxies depends on galaxy type. Such relative bias complicates the inference of cosmological parameters from galaxy redshift surveys, and is a challenge to theories of galaxy formation and evolution. In this paper we perform a joint counts-in-cells analysis on galaxies in the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey, classified by both colour and spectral type, η, as early- or late-type galaxies. We fit three different models of relative bias to the joint probability distribution of the cell counts, assuming Poisson sampling of the galaxy density field. We investigate the non-linearity and stochasticity of the relative bias, with cubic cells of side 10 =L = 45 Mpc (h = 0.7). Exact linear bias is ruled out with high significance on all scales. Power-law bias gives a better fit, but likelihood ratios prefer a bivariate lognormal distribution, with a non-zero ‘stochasticity', i.e. scatter that may result from physical effects on galaxy formation other than those from the local density field. Using this model, we measure a correlation coefficient in log-density space (rLN) of 0.958 for cells of length L = 10 Mpc, increasing to 0.970 by L = 45 Mpc. This corresponds to a stochasticity of 0.44 ± 0.02 and 0.27 ± 0.05, respectively. For smaller cells, the Poisson-sampled lognormal distribution presents an increasingly poor fit to the data, especially with regard to the fraction of completely empty cells. We compare these trends with the predictions of semi-analytic galaxy formation models: these match the data well in terms of the overall level of stochasticity, variation with scale and the fraction of empty cell

The 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey: stochastic relative biasing between galaxy populations

It is well known that the clustering of galaxies depends on galaxy type. Such relative bias complicates the inference of cosmological parameters from galaxy redshift surveys, and is a challenge to theories of galaxy formation and evolution. In this paper we perform a joint counts-in-cells analysis on galaxies in the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey, classified by both colour and spectral type, η, as early- or late-type galaxies. We fit three different models of relative bias to the joint probability distribution of the cell counts, assuming Poisson sampling of the galaxy density field. We investigate the non-linearity and stochasticity of the relative bias, with cubic cells of side 10 ⩽ L ⩽ 45 Mpc (h = 0.7). Exact linear bias is ruled out with high significance on all scales. Power-law bias gives a better fit, but likelihood ratios prefer a bivariate lognormal distribution, with a non-zero ‘stochasticity’, i.e. scatter that may result from physical effects on galaxy formation other than those from the local density field. Using this model, we measure a correlation coefficient in log-density space (r_(LN)) of 0.958 for cells of length L = 10 Mpc, increasing to 0.970 by L = 45 Mpc. This corresponds to a stochasticity σ_b/bˆ of 0.44 ± 0.02 and 0.27 ± 0.05, respectively. For smaller cells, the Poisson-sampled lognormal distribution presents an increasingly poor fit to the data, especially with regard to the fraction of completely empty cells. We compare these trends with the predictions of semi-analytic galaxy formation models: these match the data well in terms of the overall level of stochasticity, variation with scale and the fraction of empty cells

The 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey: the nature of the relative bias between galaxies of different spectral type

We present an analysis of the relative bias between early- and late-type galaxies in the Two-degree Field Galaxy Redshift Survey (2dFGRS) - as defined by the η parameter of Madgwick et al., which quantifies the spectral type of galaxies in the survey. We calculate counts in cells for flux-limited samples of early- and late-type galaxies, using approximately cubical cells with sides ranging from 7 to 42 h−1 Mpc. We measure the variance of the counts in cells using the method of Efstathiou et al., which we find requires a correction for a finite volume effect equivalent to the integral constraint bias of the autocorrelation function. Using a maximum-likelihood technique we fit lognormal models to the one-point density distribution, and develop methods of dealing with biases in the recovered variances resulting from this technique. We then examine the joint density distribution function, f(δE, δL), and directly fit deterministic bias models to the joint counts in cells. We measure a linear relative bias of ≈1.3, which does not vary significantly with ℓ. A deterministic linear bias model is, however, a poor approximation to the data, especially on small scales (ℓ≤ 28h−1 Mpc) where deterministic linear bias is excluded at high significance. A power-law bias model with index b1≈ 0.75 is a significantly better fit to the data on all scales, although linear bias becomes consistent with the data for ℓ≳ 40h−1 Mp