Improving the Accessibility of Web Sites for Visually Impaired Individuals

by Childres, Daphne J

Daphne J. Childres. Improving the Accessibility of Web Sites for Visually Impaired Individuals. A Master’s paper for the M.S. in I.S. degree. April, 2007. 62 pages. Advisor Deborah Barreau.

This study explores accessibility issues related to Web sites and people with visual impairments. A large number of individuals have these impairments and these individuals should have equal access to information, resources, and services. Guidelines exist that help web designers develop sites that are accessible. One of these set of guidelines is the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 1.0. Universal design principles should be used in order to help make sites as accessible to as many individuals as possible.

This study examined the Web sites of Protection and Advocacy (P&A) agencies. In this study, the current Web sites of these agencies were compared to the sites of these agencies from 2001. The results of this study show that the accessibility of the current P&A Web sites had improved in the last five years. However, there are still issues related to creating accessible Web sites that need to be explored further.

Headings:

Computers and the handicapped

Web sites -- Evaluation

Web sites -- Design

Handicapped, Library services for -- Blind and partially sighted

Handicapped -- Internet resources