scholarly journals Requirements for Large Scale Web Accessibility Evaluation

Author(s):  
Fabio Paternò ◽  
Francesca Pulina ◽  
Carmen Santoro ◽  
Henrike Gappa ◽  
Yehya Mohamad

Abstract The recent European legislation emphasizes the importance of enabling people with disabilities to have access to online information and services of public sector bodies. To this regard, automatic evaluation and monitoring of Web accessibility can play a key role for various stakeholders involved in creating and maintaining over time accessible products. In this paper we present the results of elicitation activities that we carried out in a European project to collect experience and feedback from Web commissioners, developers and content authors of websites and web applications. The purpose was to understand their current practices in addressing accessibility issues, identify the barriers they encounter when exploiting automatic support in ensuring the accessibility of Web resources, and receive indications about what functionalities they would like to exploit in order to better manage accessibility evaluation and monitoring.

Information ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdullah Alsaeedi

With the growth of e-services in the past two decades, the concept of web accessibility has been given attention to ensure that every individual can benefit from these services without any barriers. Web accessibility is considered one of the main factors that should be taken into consideration while developing webpages. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2.0) have been developed to guide web developers to ensure that web contents are accessible for all users, especially disabled users. Many automatic tools have been developed to check the compliance of websites with accessibility guidelines such as WCAG 2.0 and to help web developers and content creators with designing webpages without barriers for disabled people. Despite the popularity of accessibility evaluation tools in practice, there is no systematic way to compare the performance of web accessibility evaluators. This paper first presents two novel frameworks. The first one is proposed to compare the performance of web accessibility evaluation tools in detecting web accessibility issues based on WCAG 2.0. The second framework is utilized to evaluate webpages in meeting these guidelines. Six homepages of Saudi universities were chosen as case studies to substantiate the concept of the proposed frameworks. Furthermore, two popular web accessibility evaluators, Wave and SiteImprove, are selected to compare their performance. The outcomes of studies conducted using the first proposed framework showed that SiteImprove outperformed WAVE. According to the outcomes of the studies conducted, we can conclude that web administrators would benefit from the first framework in selecting an appropriate tool based on its performance to evaluate their websites based on accessibility criteria and guidelines. Moreover, the findings of the studies conducted using the second proposed framework showed that the homepage of Taibah University is more accessible than the homepages of other Saudi universities. Based on the findings of this study, the second framework can be used by web administrators and developers to measure the accessibility of their websites. This paper also discusses the most common accessibility issues reported by WAVE and SiteImprove.


Author(s):  
Christian Bühler ◽  
Helmut Heck ◽  
Olaf Perlick ◽  
Annika Nietzio ◽  
Nils Ulltveit-Moe

Author(s):  
Alexander Hambley

The project intends to produce a novel, accurate and holistic system that assesses the accessibility of an entire website based on a sample of webpages. The project also strives to bring statistical rigour to the sampling and clustering of webpages. By orchestrating pre-existing evaluative tools, alongside developer testing, we can produce a combined accessibility assessment. A major benefit to the accessibility field is the effective, large-scale evaluation of large websites. The approach strives to improve automated testing coverage by combining evaluative tools, and minimise inaccuracy through effective clustering and sampling.


Author(s):  
Maria Alciléia Alves Rocha ◽  
Gabriel de Almeida Souza Carneiro

Web content should suit both a general audience and visually-impaired individuals. Therefore, Web applications should be assessed against accessibility standards as Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and the Brazilian e-Government Accessibility Model (eMAG). This chapter presents MIAV's development process and the obtained results. The MIAV complies with the WCAG and eMAG, combining automated and user-opinion-based assessment approaches. First, a pilot test was run to fine-tune MIAV. Next, participants were asked to identify and report several accessibility issues on IFFluminense's Portal, Q-Academico, and Moodle. They then suggested enhancements for better browsing experience. AccessMonitor was run and tested the same Web pages to generate two indicators: the average accessibility index and the percentage of nonconformities by accessibility level. Results showed that none of the evaluated applications met all the accessibility criteria. These experiments allowed IFFluminense's IT degree students to raise an awareness of the significance of Web accessibility.


2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arif khan ◽  
Haroon Idrees ◽  
Khan Mudassir

Purpose – This study aims to assess the accessibility of library Web sites of top ten universities of Pakistan. The study also explores commonly identifies accessibility barriers in the subject Web sites. Accessibility analysis of library Web sites has been conducted using Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool (WAET) to examine compliance of the library Web site with Web Content Accessibility Guideline 2.0. The study also attempts to rank each Web site according to number of quality issues identified. Based on literature review, the study also proposes a framework to conduct Web accessibility evaluation of library Web sites. Web accessibility encompasses all disabilities that affect access to the Web, including visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive and aging (old-age). Design/methodology/approach – This study examines accessibility of subject Web sites using automated accessibility evaluation tool based on Library Web site Accessibility Evaluation Framework (LWAEF). Commercial WAET SortSite® was used to assess accessibility issues in library Web sites. The tool was also tested to validate components of the LWAEF. Findings – Result shows that 70 per cent of library Web sites do comply with World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standards. It means that compliance to essential guidelines of priority A level of WCAG 2.0 are finely met by 70 per cent library Web sites of Pakistan. However, important accessibility issues still exist in the subject Web sites. Moreover, in terms of accessibility issues, overall quality of university library Web sites in Pakistan is in better condition. Originality/value – Equal access to information by all citizens is an important UN charter supported by all developing countries. Assessing the needs of all citizens has been of great importance and value to developing countries like Pakistan, with 19.2 per cent population consisting of disabled people. The paper presents the overall status of accessibility to information and is conducted to focus the library Web sites of Pakistan for the first time. Focusing the library Web sites for accessibility evaluation, this research study will help improve accessibility elements of library Web sites in other developing countries also.


Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 141
Author(s):  
Firoza Akhter ◽  
Maurizio Mazzoleni ◽  
Luigia Brandimarte

In this study, we explore the long-term trends of floodplain population dynamics at different spatial scales in the contiguous United States (U.S.). We exploit different types of datasets from 1790–2010—i.e., decadal spatial distribution for the population density in the US, global floodplains dataset, large-scale data of flood occurrence and damage, and structural and nonstructural flood protection measures for the US. At the national level, we found that the population initially settled down within the floodplains and then spread across its territory over time. At the state level, we observed that flood damages and national protection measures might have contributed to a learning effect, which in turn, shaped the floodplain population dynamics over time. Finally, at the county level, other socio-economic factors such as local flood insurances, economic activities, and socio-political context may predominantly influence the dynamics. Our study shows that different influencing factors affect floodplain population dynamics at different spatial scales. These facts are crucial for a reliable development and implementation of flood risk management planning.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Shashank Kumar ◽  
Jeevitha Shree DV ◽  
Pradipta Biswas

BACKGROUND: Web accessibility is one of the most important aspects of building a website. It is important for web developers to ensure that their website is accessible according to WCAG standards for people with different range of abilities. There is plethora of tools for ensuring conformance to WCAG standards but not many studies compared performance of automatic WCAG tools. OBJECTIVE: This paper compares a set of ten WCAG tools and their results in terms of ease of comprehension and interpretation by web developers. We proposed a Common User Profile format to help personalize contents of website making it accessible to people with different range of abilities. METHODS: We selected ten WCAG tools from World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to evaluate landing pages of two popular websites. For each webpage, we identified accessibility issues and recommended alternate suggestions to help developers improve accessibility. Further, we highlighted accessibility issues that cannot be captured only through conformance to WCAG tools; and proposed additional methods to evaluate accessibility through an Inclusive User Model. We then demonstrated how simulation of user interaction can capture usability and accessibility issues that are not detected through only syntactic analysis of websites’ content. Finally, we proposed a Common User Profile format that can be used to compare and contrast accessibility systems and services, and to simulate and personalize interaction for users with different range of abilities. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: After careful evaluation of two websites using the ten tools, we noted that, both websites lacked color contrast between background and foreground; lack of sign language alternatives; opening of pop-ups without proper warnings and so on. Further, results from comparative analysis of selected web accessibility tools noted that, there is no single tool that can be found ideal in all aspects. However, from our study, Utilitia Validator by Utilitia SP. z O.O was considered the most feasible tool. By rectifying and incorporating issues and alternate suggestions by simulation study and Common User Profile format respectively, developers can improve both websites making it accessible to maximum audience.


2021 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-119
Author(s):  
Xinming Xia ◽  
Wan-Hsin Liu

AbstractThis paper analyses how China’s investments in Germany have developed over time and the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in this regard, based on four different datasets, including our own survey in mid-2020. Our analysis shows that Germany is currently one of the most attractive investment destinations for Chinese investors. Chinese state-owned enterprises have played an important role as investors in Germany — particularly in large-scale projects. The COVID-19 pandemic has had some negative but rather temporary effects on Chinese investments in Germany. Germany is expected to stay attractive to Chinese investors who seek to gain access to advanced technologies and know-how in the future.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document