It is important that university websites and services offered through their sites are used effectively, efficiently and satisfactorily by the whole target group of the university, including disabled users. However, universities in many countries are still unable to meet the criteria for web accessibility. This study aimed to test the websites of the top universities in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Turkey using automated assessment tools. The results showed that university websites are more popular in Turkey, and in Turkish universities developers pay more attention to the performance of websites, followed by websites of Azerbaijani, Kyrgyz and Kazakh universities. The majority of the university websites in the study did not meet the WCAG 2.0 accessibility criteria. Only two Kyrgyz and two Kazakh university websites attained conformance level A, and only three, one Kyrgyz and two Kazakh, achieved accessibility conformance level AAA. Based on the results, it was determined that universities included in the present study need to devote more effort to making their websites more accessible for their users.

Accessibility evaluation of top university websites: a comparative study of Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkey

Today, the web constitutes an essential segment of higher education institutions. Using their websites, universities can effectively, efficiently, and satisfactorily provide information and services to their target groups, regardless of disabilities. As the number of disabled students in higher education rises, universities have to make the necessary design modifications to ensure web content accessibility. This paper presents an evaluation of accessibility, usability, quality performance, and readability aspects of all Turkish state and private university websites. The majority did not meet WCAG 2.0 accessibility criteria. Out of 110 state university websites and 69 private university websites, only 10 state and four private university websites attained conformance Level A. These results indicate low usability, quality performance, and readability that highlights the need for Turkish universities to devote more resources for making their websites more accessible, usable, high-quality performance, and readable for all their potential users.

Accessibility, usability, quality performance, and readability evaluation of university websites of Turkey: a comparative study of state and private universities

Checking the accessibility of a website is a significant challenge for accessibility experts. Users who suffer from age-related changes, such as low vision, poor hearing, and diminishing motor skills, among others, have problems accessing the services offered by the web. Currently, there are qualitative and quantitative methods to check if a website is accessible. Most methods apply automatic tools because they are low cost, but they do not present an ideal solution. Instead, heuristic methods require manual support that will help the expert to assess accessibility by establishing severity ranges. This research used a modification of the Barrier Walkthrough method proposed by Giorgio Brajnik considering the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1. The modification consisted of including persistence to determine the severity of an accessibility barrier. This method enabled the measurement of the accessibility of websites to test a new heuristic process and to obtain sample data for analysis. The method was applied to 40 websites, including those of 30 universities in Latin America, according to the Webometrics ranking, and 10 websites among the most visited, according to Alexa ranking. With this heuristic method, the evaluators concluded that although a website is in a high-ranking position, this does not imply that it is accessible and inclusive. However, the manual method takes too long, and it is therefore too costly to solve accessibility problems. This research can serve as a starting point for future studies related to web accessibility heuristics.

/pdf/a-heuristic-method-to-evaluate-web-accessibility-for-users-knbbud4itc.pdf

A Heuristic Method to Evaluate Web Accessibility for Users With Low Vision

With the shifting demographics of societies such as the United States and Canada, access to higher education presents a variety of challenges to ensure that universities are able to meet the challenges associated with increased student diversity on campus. The current paper reviews first the literature on the linkages between social inequality and education, before turning to an examination of Canadian data with respect to access issues and the possible barriers to increasing diversity among postsecondary institutions. The evidence reveals that first-generation students and those whose parents did not attend university, Aboriginal peoples, and students with disabilities (among others) continue to be underrepresented in postsecondary education. At the same time, the paper argues that while institutions of higher learning can facilitate improved access, they must commit to developing support services and a more welcoming and inclusive environment in order to ensure student retention and success among an increasingly diverse student population. The paper concludes with a discussion of “best practices” from the perspective of a predominantly undergraduate, liberal arts institution in southern Ontario.

https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1011&context=hjsr

The Diversity Challenge for Higher Education in Canada: The Prospects and Challenges of Increased Access and Student Success

In recent years online shopping has grown significantly worldwide. As the technology advanced, new techniques such as (HTML 5 and Flash-based content, JavaScript etc.) are used in e-commerce websites to visually present information. However, these new techniques have accessibility problems for people with disabilities when accessed using assistive technology. Therefore, it is also important to adopt web accessibility such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0) in business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce websites to increase the consumer’s satisfaction of all ages and with disabilities. This study analyses 30 Australian B2C websites in accordance to WCAG 2.0 using an automated web service. The result shows that B2C websites in Australia are not paying attention to web accessibility for people with disabilities. However, e-commerce will succeed in meeting WCAG 2.0 by making B2C e-commerce websites accessible to consumer of all ages and with disabilities. Recommendations are proposed in order to improve web accessibility for people with sensory (hearing and vision), motor (limited use of hands) and cognition (language and learning) disabilities in B2C e-commerce websites.

E-Commerce Web Accessibility for People with Disabilities

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), people with disabilities are guaranteed access to all postsecondary programs and services. The purpose of this study, conducted by the Center for Excellence in Disabilities, was to evaluate the current status of a major university’s web accessibility. The results indicated that in 2011 only 51% of 509 web pages (sample) at a large public university in the northeastern United States passed automated web accessibility tests with Cynthia Says for Section 508 compliance (WCAG 1.0). Only 35% passed using the WAVE Accessibility Tool for the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0 Level A) Priority 1 compliance, which is a more rigorous evaluation level. The stricter the level of testing, the more university web pages failed. Stricter web accessibility requirements may be legally imposed instead of Section 508 in the future. Universities will succeed in meeting an important mandate of the ADA by making institutional websites accessible to current and future students and employees with disabilities.

/pdf/monitoring-for-accessibility-and-university-websites-meeting-52gh7xc4jv.pdf

Tatiana I. Solovieva

Papers

Monitoring for Accessibility and University Websites: Meeting the Needs of People with Disabilities.