AN ANALYSIS OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ACCESSIBILITY TOOLS ON WEBSITES
Marcin Cieśla
Lublin University of Technology, Department of Computer Science (Poland)
https://orcid.org/0009-0004-5736-5948
Mariusz Dzieńkowski
m.dzienkowski@pollub.plLublin University of Technology, Department of Computer Science (Poland)
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1932-297X
Abstract
The websites of higher education institutions, due to the fact that they are addressed to multiple stakeholder groups, not only need to have an appropriately designed information structure but must also be useful. Additionally, in the case of public universities, their services are expected to be accessible to the widest possible audience, especially for people with disabilities. The accessibility tools used on websites should be quickly located, easily identifiable and user-friendly. So far, no standards have been developed regarding these issues, and therefore, there are various solutions on the web. The objective of this study is to analyze various implementations of accessibility tools on university websites in terms of their location, form of presentation and ways that enable access to them. A study was conducted in which web interfaces were evaluated with the participation of users. The experiment consisted of two parts: the first one used the eye tracking technique, whereas in the second one, a survey was conducted. The research material was prototypes of websites from four different universities. Each website had two versions differing in implementation of accessibility tools. In the study, 35 participants were divided into two groups of people. Each group was shown one of the two sets of website prototypes and the users were tasked with finding and activating a specific accessibility tool. After exploring the websites, each participant completed a questionnaire that pertained to their opinions regarding aspects such as appearance, placement and a way to access tools dedicated to people with disabilities. The obtained data, processed to the form of heatmaps and fixation maps, were subjected to a qualitative analysis. The survey results and eye tracking data were analyzed quantitatively. On the basis of performed analyzes it can be concluded that the following factors have an impact on the reduction in efficiency and productivity of users: placement of accessibility tools on university websites in a place other than the upper right corner, an indirect access to these tools or their non-standard appearance.
Keywords:
web accessibility, web usability, eye tracking, A/B testsReferences
Akram M., Bt Sulaiman R.: An Empirical Study to Evaluate the Accessibility of Arabic Websites by Low Vision Users. 8th International Conference on Information Technology and Multimedia (ICIMU), 2020, 206–211.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/ICIMU49871.2020.9243565
Google Scholar
Algül Y.: Web Accessibility of MOOCS for elderly students: the case of Turkey. Journal of life economics V(4), 2018.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15637/jlecon.266
Google Scholar
Ehmke C., Wilson S.: Identifying web usability problems from eye-tracking data. 21st British HCI Group Annual Conference on People and Computers: HCI...but not as we know it – Volume 1, 2007, 119–128.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.14236/ewic/HCI2007.12
Google Scholar
Esmeria G. J., Seva R. R.: Web Usability: A Literature Review. DLSU Research Congress, 2017.
Google Scholar
Insfran E., Fernandez A.: A Systematic Review of Usability Evaluation in Web Development. Web Information Systems Engineering – WISE 2008. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2008.
Google Scholar
Ma H., Zhao H.: Construction of High-Availability Teaching Website. International Conference on Management and Service Science, 2010, 1–4.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/ICMSS.2010.5575660
Google Scholar
Martin-Hammond A., Patil U., Tandukar B.: A Case for Making Web Accessibility Guidelines Accessible: Older Adult Content Creators and Web Accessibility Planning. 23rd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility, 2021, 1–6.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3441852.3476472
Google Scholar
Matera M., Rizzo F., Carughi G. T.: Web Usability: Principles and Evaluation Methods. Mendes E., Mosley N. (eds): Web Engineering. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 2006, 143–180.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-28218-1_5
Google Scholar
Rodrigues S. S., Scuracchio P. E., de Mattos Fortes R. P.: A support to evaluate web accessibility and usability issues for older adults. 8th International Conference on Software Development and Technologies for Enhancing Accessibility and Fighting Info-exclusion, 2018, 97–103.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3218585.3218597
Google Scholar
Thoma V., Dodd J.: Web Usability and Eyetracking. Klein C., Ettinger U. (eds): Eye Movement Research. Studies in Neuroscience, Psychology and Behavioral Economics. Springer, Cham, 2019, 883–927.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20085-5_21
Google Scholar
Țichindelean M. et al.: A Comparative Eye Tracking Study of Usability-Towards Sustainable Web Design. Sustainability 13, 2021, 10415 [http://doi.org/10.3390/su131810415].
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su131810415
Google Scholar
Vieritz H., Schilberg D., Jeschke S.: Merging Web Accessibility and Usability by Patterns. Computers Helping People with Special Needs. 12th International Conference ICCHP 2010. Procedings 12. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2010, 336–342.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-14097-6_54
Google Scholar
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1. https://www.w3.org/Translations/WCAG21-pl/ (available: 29.11.2022).
Google Scholar
Authors
Marcin CieślaLublin University of Technology, Department of Computer Science Poland
https://orcid.org/0009-0004-5736-5948
Authors
Mariusz Dzieńkowskim.dzienkowski@pollub.pl
Lublin University of Technology, Department of Computer Science Poland
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1932-297X
Statistics
Abstract views: 74PDF downloads: 77
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Most read articles by the same author(s)
- Dominik Choma, Kinga Chwaleba, Mariusz Dzieńkowski, THE EFFICIENCY AND RELIABILITY OF BACKEND TECHNOLOGIES: EXPRESS, DJANGO, AND SPRING BOOT , Informatyka, Automatyka, Pomiary w Gospodarce i Ochronie Środowiska: Vol. 13 No. 4 (2023)
