Implications for Improving Accessibility to E-Commerce Websites in Developing Countries

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arunasalam Sambhanthan ◽  
Alice Good
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Web Accessibility ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
User Centered Design ◽  
Web Content ◽  
Design Elements ◽  
Accessibility Issues ◽  
Accessibility Guidelines ◽  
Hotel Websites

This research explores the accessibility issues with regard to the e-commerce websites in developing countries, through a study of Sri Lankan hotel websites. A web survey and a web content analysis were conducted as the methods to elicit data on web accessibility. Factors preventing accessibility were hypothesized as an initial experiment. Affecting design elements are identified through web content analysis, the results of which are utilized to develop specific implications for improving web accessibility. The hypothesis tests show that there is no significant correlation between accessibility and geographical or economic factors. However, physical impairments of users have a considerable influence on the accessibility of web page user interface if it has been designed without full consideration of the needs of all users. Poor readability and less navigable page designs are two observable issues, which pose threats to accessibility. The lack of conformance to W3C accessibility guidelines and the poor design process are the specific shortcomings which reduce the overall accessibility. Further enhancements are suggested with adherence to principles, user – centered design and developing customizable web portals compatible for connections with differing speeds. Re-ordering search results has been suggested as one of the finest step towards making the web content accessible for users with differing needs.

scholarly journals Comparing Web Accessibility Evaluation Tools and Evaluating the Accessibility of Webpages: Proposed Frameworks

Information ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdullah Alsaeedi
Keyword(s):  
Web Accessibility ◽  
Web Content ◽  
Evaluation Tools ◽  
Wcag 2.0 ◽  
Web Contents ◽  
Accessibility Evaluation ◽  
Accessibility Issues ◽  
Accessibility Guidelines ◽  
Content Accessibility ◽  
Web Developers

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.

An Inclusive Method to Support the Web Accessibility Assessment and Awareness-Raising

2020 ◽  
pp. 27-49
Author(s):  
Maria Alciléia Alves Rocha ◽  
Gabriel de Almeida Souza Carneiro
Keyword(s):  
Web Applications ◽  
Web Accessibility ◽  
Web Pages ◽  
Web Content ◽  
Awareness Raising ◽  
Accessibility Issues ◽  
Accessibility Guidelines ◽  
Content Accessibility ◽  
Fine Tune ◽  
The Web

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.

Examination of the electronic educational resources accessibility on the university Moodle platform

2021 ◽  
pp. 5-22
Author(s):  
Ye. A. Kosova ◽  
A. S. Gapon ◽  
K. I. Redkokosh
Keyword(s):  
Web Accessibility ◽  
Educational Resources ◽  
Web Content ◽  
Evaluation Tool ◽  
Screen Readers ◽  
Video Lectures ◽  
Expert Analysis ◽  
Accessibility Guidelines ◽  
The University ◽  
The Web

The purpose of the article is to assess the accessibility of electronic educational resources (EER) published in the university Moodle Learning Management System (LMS). The analysis involved 22 EERs in mathematical and information technology disciplines, located in the Moodle LMS of the V. I. Vernadsky Crimean Federal University. The examination algorithm included analysis using the Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool (WAVE) and expert analysis of web accessibility using visual, auditory and manual methods based on 89 checklist attributes. In the result of the analysis, multiple accessibility errors of the Moodle platform and the EERs hosted on it were found. The most serious platform problems include: lack of compatibility with text browsers; errors of reproduction by screen readers; errors of content reproduction on mobile devices. The list of accessibility errors made by the authors of EERs includes: incorrect design of hyperlinks (22.7 % of the EERs); lack of subtitles (13.6 %), transcripts (22.7 %), synopses of video lectures (27.3 %); lack of alternative descriptions for figures (68.2 %); time limit for tests (9.1 %); lack of special markup for mathematical notation (36.4 %) and program code (13.6 %), etc. Results of the survey show need in training of EERs’ authors in technologies for developing accessible educational web content. It is advisable to familiarize web developers deploying an LMS at universities with the basics of web accessibility, LMS accessibility functions and modules in order to select the most suitable platform, determine and install the required set of accessibility tools. Before launching all EERs should be subject to mandatory examination for compliance with the web accessibility guidelines.

scholarly journals Evaluating the web accessibility of IIT libraries: a study of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 121-145
Author(s):  
Subhajit Panda ◽  
Rupak Chakravarty
Keyword(s):  
Disabled Persons ◽  
Mean Value ◽  
Web Content ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Severity Scores ◽  
The Status ◽  
Accessibility Issues ◽  
Accessibility Guidelines ◽  
Library Websites ◽  
Content Accessibility

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate and identify the status of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) conformance levels (A, AA, AAA) and accessibility status in terms of Severity (Error, Warning and Review) and Responsibility (Editor, Webmaster and Developer) of Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) Library websites based on Siteimprove Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform.Design/methodology/approachThe library websites of IITs were tested using Siteimprove web-tool to gather details pertaining to W3C's WCAG 2.1 standards. The data thus obtained were then visualized using spreadsheet software for greater insight. A partial correlation test was also done to assess the relationship between the three conformance levels.FindingsThe study could identify significant accessibility-related limitations of the IIT library websites concerning the three WCAG 2.1 conformance levels A (max IIT Bombay), AA (max IIT Dhanbad (ISM)) and AAA (max IIT Gandhinagar and IIT Varanasi (BHU)), Severity and Responsibility. A positive linear relationship exists amongst these conformance levels. The mean value of conformance levels were found to be 18.3 (A), 2.2 (AA) and 3.1 (AAA); Severity scores were found to be 14.4 (Error), 3.9 (Warning) and 5.2 (Review); and Responsibility scores were found to be 6 (Editor), 9.3 (Webmaster) and 8.3 (Developer), respectively.Practical implicationsThe study highlights the comparative picture of accessibility issues and conformance levels of the IITs' library website homepage with the help of results derived/based on Siteimprove Accessibility Checker. The findings of the study reveal that though the library website of IITs' in India possess a well-designed and easily navigable website homepage as far as their accessibility for VIPs is concerned, there are several issues that are still to be resolved.Social implicationsWorld Intellectual Property Organization's (WIPO) Marrakesh VIP Treaty (MVT) and the W3C's WCAG cater to the requirements and rights of the persons with vision-related disability of accessing information and knowledge building a steeper and deeper knowledge divide. Identifying and rectifying the shortcomings in the library websites will bridge the accessibility-divide and make the society more inclusive.Originality/valueNo previous study could be identified evaluating the accessibility issues of the library website of Indian IITs focussed on vision-disabled persons using Siteimprove. The methodology and approach of this paper have value in terms of reusability and reproducibility facilitating future studies.

Code in action: Closing the black box of WCAG 2.0, A Latourian reading of Web accessibility

First Monday ◽  
2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Kreps ◽  
Mhorag Goff
Keyword(s):  
Web Accessibility ◽  
Web Content ◽  
Wcag 2.0 ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Heterogeneous Nature ◽  
Version 2.0 ◽  
Accessibility Guidelines ◽  
Content Accessibility ◽  
Web Developers ◽  
The Web

The focus of much academic work on Web accessibility has been concerned with the lack of implementation of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. There seems, as yet, however, to have been little critical reflection on the Guidelines themselves — save perhaps some awareness of the heterogeneous nature of the Web, and the difficulties facing Web developers trying to ensure their work displays true to their intentions across a wide range of different browsers and devices, making use of continually evolving and contested code. Yet, as this paper highlights, the long drawn out process by which version 2.0 of the WCAG came into being hides many skeletons, including aspects of the process of developing standards that bear closer scrutiny, and reveal much when viewed through Latourian eyes. The findings of this paper suggest that the WCAG2.0 are almost irrelevant today — to the detriment of those for whom they were made — and that the process of creating them was at fault.

scholarly journals Improving accessibility of CMS-based websites using automated methods

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Balázs Csontos ◽  
István Heckl
Keyword(s):  
Data Entry ◽  
Content Management ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
Web Content ◽  
New Methods ◽  
User Groups ◽  
Accessibility Issues ◽  
Accessibility Guidelines ◽  
Content Accessibility ◽  
Automated Methods

AbstractNew methods of identifying and fixing accessibility issues on websites are presented in this article. The websites taken into consideration by the research are created with content management systems (like WordPress or Joomla!). Our main goal was to develop different methods to improve accessibility that may be used by various user groups (website creators, operators, content editors). Some of our methods are easy to use, some need more proficiency. The three methods we have developed (CSS/SCSS class override, MVC-based extension override, HTML output override) are described in detail. The use of an already existing method (Data entry checking) is also introduced, as well as some development options of this method. Each method is introduced in general, furthermore an example of their usage is also presented. Using the proposed methods, websites can fulfil the recommendations of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) in order to make the content of the websites more accessible.

Effects of Web Accessibility on Search Engines and Webometrics Ranking

2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-94
Author(s):  
Media Anugerah Ayu ◽  
Mohamed Ahmed Elgharabawy
Keyword(s):  
Search Engines ◽  
World Wide ◽  
Web Accessibility ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Higher Learning ◽  
Web Content ◽  
Accessibility Guidelines ◽  
Learning Institutions ◽  
Content Accessibility ◽  
Ranking Position

Previous researches have highlighted the importance of web accessibility of a website. Its importance has made the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) come up with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) as a guideline for developing an accessible website. Amongst websites available in the web wide world, many of them are fall under the education institution website category. These education institution websites are mostly the first door that people will go to visit to get information about education services and courses provided by the institution. Thus, to be accessible is an essential issue for these websites. Another issue that gets much attention in the current competitive internet world is to be visible by popular search engines and ranked at their top lists. For higher learning institutions there is an online ranking that they like to be in the top list, i.e. Webometrics. This paper attempts to address those two issues of web accessibility and being at the top list. It presents a study that investigates whether web accessibility has a contributing effect to ranking position in Webometrics and popular search engines. The research covers websites from higher learning institutions and education domains. Three popular search engines are used in this research, i.e. Google, Yahoo! and Bing. The study produces interesting results that would be useful as a guide for higher learning institutions that want to improve their online ranking.

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.

Strategic Advantage in Web Tourism Promotion

2016 ◽  
pp. 597-618 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arunasalam Sambhanthan ◽  
Alice Good
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Organizational Factors ◽  
Web Content ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Tourism Promotion ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Process Level ◽  
Trust Information

This research informs the means to develop an e-commerce strategy for web based tourism promotion of hotels located in developing countries. The study explored the aspects related to the use of information systems in web based tourism promotion, along with a focus on the organizational factors affecting the use of e-commerce strategy. Interviews were conducted with the managers of selected five sample hotels located in Sri Lanka. A structured web content analysis was undertaken for all five sample hotels to trace process level data on the e-commerce web content. Specific aspects of web content analysis include interactivity, trust, information and value adding features. Instrument for web content analysis was developed by the researcher. The outcome of research produces an outline for developing an e-commerce strategy for hotels located in developing countries to achieve strategic advantages in web based tourism promotion.

scholarly journals Combined Method for Evaluating Accessibility in Serious Games

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (18) ◽  
pp. 6324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis Salvador-Ullauri ◽  
Patricia Acosta-Vargas ◽  
Mario Gonzalez ◽  
Sergio Luján-Mora
Keyword(s):  
Serious Games ◽  
Web Content ◽  
Combined Method ◽  
University Of Colorado ◽  
Accessibility Barriers ◽  
Accessibility Issues ◽  
Accessibility Guidelines ◽  
The University ◽  
Content Accessibility ◽  
Future Work

Nowadays, one of the learning resources in the educational area are serious games, also called training games; they are games designed with a different purpose than fun, whose main objective is to reinforce the new concepts more creatively. However, not all existing serious games are accessible in a way that allows access to a more significant number of users. Therefore, this research proposes to apply a combined method to evaluate accessibility in serious games, considering the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1. As a case study, we evaluated the accessibility of 82 serious games developed by Physical Education Technology Interactive Simulations at the University of Colorado. We propose to replicate this combined method for users with various types of disabilities, considering the various accessibility barriers. As future work, we suggest generating an accessibility heuristic evaluation focused on serious games, based on the accessibility issues identified. Finally, we believe it is essential to strengthen accessibility policies in each country, as well as implement best practices that generate innovation by incorporating diversity in building and designing more inclusive serious games.

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