The Ethics of Web Design

2008 ◽  
pp. 3805-3823
Author(s):  
Jack S. Cook ◽  
Laura Cook
Keyword(s):  
Web Sites ◽  
Web Site ◽  
World Wide ◽  
Web Design ◽  
Web Accessibility ◽  
The World ◽  
Technological Issue ◽  
Accessibility Issues ◽  
Web Designers ◽  
Complete Access

Web accessibility is really not a technological issue but rather a cultural problem. A Web site is said to be Web accessible if anyone, regardless of capabilities or disabilities, using any kind of Web browsing technology to visit the site has full and complete access to the site’s content and has the ability to interact with the site if required. If properly planned from the start, a Web site can be functional, accessible and aesthetically pleasing. This chapter focuses on ensuring access to information available on the Internet. The overall objective is to increase awareness of Web accessibility issues by providing rationale for why Web designers should be interested in creating accessible sites. Specifically, this chapter identifies some of the emerging digital barriers to accessibility encountered by those with disabilities. Current efforts to address these barriers legally are identified and their effectiveness for breaking down barriers is discussed. The World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C’s) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) is discussed, followed by a study of the 50 most visited Web sites. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the importance of this topic and future developments.

The Ethics of Web Design

2008 ◽  
pp. 3410-3429
Author(s):  
Jack S. Cook ◽  
Laura Cook
Keyword(s):  
Web Sites ◽  
Web Site ◽  
World Wide ◽  
Web Design ◽  
Web Accessibility ◽  
The World ◽  
Technological Issue ◽  
Accessibility Issues ◽  
Web Designers ◽  
Complete Access

Web accessibility is really not a technological issue but rather a cultural problem. A Web site is said to be Web accessible if anyone, regardless of capabilities or disabilities, using any kind of Web browsing technology to visit the site has full and complete access to the site’s content and has the ability to interact with the site if required. If properly planned from the start, a Web site can be functional, accessible and aesthetically pleasing. This chapter focuses on ensuring access to information available on the Internet. The overall objective is to increase awareness of Web accessibility issues by providing rationale for why Web designers should be interested in creating accessible sites. Specifically, this chapter identifies some of the emerging digital barriers to accessibility encountered by those with disabilities. Current efforts to address these barriers legally are identified and their effectiveness for breaking down barriers is discussed. The World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C’s) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) is discussed, followed by a study of the 50 most visited Web sites. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the importance of this topic and future developments.

The Ethics of Web Design

2011 ◽  
pp. 73-101
Author(s):  
Jack S. Cook ◽  
Laura Cook
Keyword(s):  
Web Sites ◽  
Web Site ◽  
World Wide ◽  
Web Design ◽  
Web Accessibility ◽  
The World ◽  
Technological Issue ◽  
Accessibility Issues ◽  
Web Designers ◽  
Complete Access

Web accessibility is really not a technological issue but rather a cultural problem. A Web site is said to be Web accessible if anyone, regardless of capabilities or disabilities, using any kind of Web browsing technology to visit the site has full and complete access to the site’s content and has the ability to interact with the site if required. If properly planned from the start, a Web site can be functional, accessible and aesthetically pleasing. This chapter focuses on ensuring access to information available on the Internet. The overall objective is to increase awareness of Web accessibility issues by providing rationale for why Web designers should be interested in creating accessible sites. Specifically, this chapter identifies some of the emerging digital barriers to accessibility encountered by those with disabilities. Current efforts to address these barriers legally are identified and their effectiveness for breaking down barriers is discussed. The World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C’s) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) is discussed, followed by a study of the 50 most visited Web sites. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the importance of this topic and future developments.

Accessibility Issues of Educational Web Sites

2012 ◽  
pp. 277-286
Author(s):  
Serhat Kurt
Keyword(s):  
Web Sites ◽  
World Wide ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Web Accessibility ◽  
Current Status ◽  
The World ◽  
Accessibility Issues ◽  
Accessibility Guidelines ◽  
Practical Recommendations ◽  
The Web

The World Wide Web (Web) has become an essential part of our daily life. Web accessibility remains an important issue because many people have limited access to the Web. It is essential to make this content accessible to all people. This chapter provides an overview of the importance of web accessibility. It explains the current status of the issue, accessibility guidelines and techniques to evaluate and achieve web accessibility. Useful resources and practical recommendations to increase accessibility are also included.

Increasing Web Accessibility and Usability in Higher Education

2011 ◽  
pp. 1069-1075
Author(s):  
Barbara A. Frey ◽  
Ashli Molinero ◽  
Ellen Cohn
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
World Wide ◽  
Web Design ◽  
Web Accessibility ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Web Pages ◽  
Wheelchair Users ◽  
Technical Requirements ◽  
The World ◽  
Web Designers

Just as wheelchair ramps and elevators provide access to wheelchair users, good Web design provides “electronic curb ramps” to the Internet for individuals with visual or other disabilities (Waddell, 1997). Research shows it is easier and less expensive to initially construct accessible Web pages rather than to retrofit the pages with corrections. Most of the technical requirements for accessible Web design can be met if Web designers adhere to the straightforward principles suggested by the World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Accessibility Initiative.

Increasing Web Accessibility and Usability in Higher Education

2011 ◽  
pp. 3020-3027
Author(s):  
Barbara A. Frey ◽  
Ashli Molinero ◽  
Ellen Cohn
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
World Wide ◽  
Web Design ◽  
Web Accessibility ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Web Pages ◽  
Wheelchair Users ◽  
Technical Requirements ◽  
The World ◽  
Web Designers

Just as wheelchair ramps and elevators provide access to wheelchair users, good Web design provides “electronic curb ramps” to the Internet for individuals with visual or other disabilities (Waddell, 1997). Research shows it is easier and less expensive to initially construct accessible Web pages rather than to retrofit the pages with corrections. Most of the technical requirements for accessible Web design can be met if Web designers adhere to the straightforward principles suggested by the World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Accessibility Initiative.

Accessibility Issues of Educational Web Sites

2013 ◽  
pp. 54-62
Author(s):  
Serhat Kurt
Keyword(s):  
Web Sites ◽  
World Wide ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Web Accessibility ◽  
Current Status ◽  
The World ◽  
Accessibility Issues ◽  
Accessibility Guidelines ◽  
Practical Recommendations ◽  
The Web

The World Wide Web (Web) has become an essential part of our daily life. Web accessibility remains an important issue because many people have limited access to the Web. It is essential to make this content accessible to all people. This chapter provides an overview of the importance of web accessibility. It explains the current status of the issue, accessibility guidelines and techniques to evaluate and achieve web accessibility. Useful resources and practical recommendations to increase accessibility are also included.

Web Accessibility and the Law

2011 ◽  
pp. 1-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Holly Yu
Keyword(s):  
Web Sites ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Web Design ◽  
Web Accessibility ◽  
Legal Responsibility ◽  
Web Pages ◽  
State Laws ◽  
Section 508 ◽  
Rehabilitation Act ◽  
Accessibility Issues

Through a series of federal and state laws and standards, the legal foundation concerning Web accessibility that impact people with disabilities and their ability to fully overcome digital barriers and participate in the Web environment has been established. Currently, the concept of accessible design or universal design is increasingly becoming an important component of Web design. However, the unanswered questions in laws, the absence of the obligation in fulfilling legal requirements, and the general unawareness of the need to make Web pages accessible have created barriers in implementing the Americans with disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act as amended in 1998, and others. In many cases, the absence of obligations is due to unfamiliarity with legal responsibility of creating accessible Web sites. As a result, the response to Web accessibility concerns frequently comes about only on an ad hoc basis. Identifying these barriers is the first step toward solutions. There are legal and practical approaches for addressing Web accessibility issues in policies, education, research and development, and technology and tools.

A Service Oriented Ontological Framework for the Semantic Validation of Web Accessibility

2011 ◽  
pp. 522-540
Author(s):  
Rui Lopes ◽  
Konstantinos Votis ◽  
Luís Carriço ◽  
Spiridon Likothanassis ◽  
Dimitrios Tzovaras
Keyword(s):  
Web Sites ◽  
Web Site ◽  
Web Design ◽  
Web Accessibility ◽  
Scale Free ◽  
Service Oriented ◽  
Development Processes ◽  
Accessibility Guidelines ◽  
Post Hoc ◽  
Ontological Framework

The Web serves as the principal mediator for information sharing and communication on a worldwide scale. Its highly decentralized nature affords a scale free growth, where each endpoint (i.e., Web site) is created and maintained independently. Web designers and developers have the onus of making sure that users can interact without accessibility problems. However, coping with users with disabilities poses challenges on how to ensure that a Web site is accessible for any kind of user. When (and if) this is done, designers and developers do it in a post-hoc way, (i.e., verify and tweak Web sites according to guidelines such as WCAG). In this Chapter the authors present SWAF, the Semantic Web Accessibility Framework, a base framework for supporting the integration of accessibility services into Web design and development processes. SWAF affords both tailoring accessibility to user needs and specifying the semantic validation of accessibility guidelines in different application situations.

A Proposed Template for the Evaluation of Web Design Strategies

2009 ◽  
pp. 293-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dimitrios Xanthidis ◽  
David Nicholas ◽  
Paris Argyrides
Keyword(s):  
Web Sites ◽  
Web Site ◽  
Web Design ◽  
International Literature ◽  
Design Strategies ◽  
The World ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Work Done ◽  
The Web

This chapter is the result of a two years effort to design a template aiming at standardizing, as much as such a task is feasible, the evaluation of Web sites. It is the product of a few publications in international conferences and journals. A thorough review of the international literature on the subject led the authors to conclude there is a very large number of opinions, thoughts and criteria from different professionals involved, directly or indirectly, with the process of designing a good Web site. To make matters even more complicated there are a number of different terms used by various scholars, scientists and professionals around the world that often refer to similar, if not the same, attributes of a Web site. However, it seems that all these differences could boil down to a systematic approach, here called evaluation template, of 53 points that the design strategies of the Web sites should be checked against. This template was tested on a significant number (232) of Web sites of Greek companies and proved it can be used to evaluate the quality of Web sites not only by technology experts but by non-experts alike. The evaluation template, suggested here, is by no means the solution to the problem of standardizing the process of evaluating a Web site but looking at other work done on the subject worldwide it is a step ahead.

Introducing introductory advertising students to the World Wide Web

1996 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beth E. Barnes
Keyword(s):  
World Wide Web ◽  
Web Sites ◽  
Web Site ◽  
World Wide ◽  
The World ◽  
Computer Labs ◽  
The Web

While students at major universities may have access to the World Wide Web via campus computer labs, many have yet to take advantage of the Web's offerings. Regular demonstrations of Web sites were incorporated into an introductory advertising course to pique students’ interest in the Web. This paper discusses how Web site visits were incorporated into lectures and the students’ evaluation of the Web site component of the course.

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