Accessibility Compliance and Assessments for Gateway Websites in Life Sciences: Toward Inclusive Design

Abstract

Information architects and accessibility experts examined the accessibility of 50 randomly selected gateway websites in the Life Sciences category in the Science Gateways Community Institute (SGCI) catalog, using both manual and automated methodologies. None of these sites produced an accessible website as per W3C, WCAG 2.1, and Section 508 standards. The most common accessibility success in these websites was URL structure, which enables web browsers and search engines to access content. Both manual and automatic methodologies are needed to fully assess website accessibility. For example, a website can meet W3C accessibility standards and not be fully accessible. However, automated tools are useful for identifying and troubleshooting accessibility issues for expert reviews