Evaluating Web Accessibility of University Web Sites in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

In the current age of information and communication technology, a university website plays a pivotal role as information portal not only for the prospective and current students and staff but also for the general public at a national and international level. It is therefore crucial for a university...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of technology, knowledge and society knowledge and society, 2011-01, Vol.7 (3), p.1-16
Main Authors: Rana, Mukhtar M., Fakrudeen, Mohammed, Rana, Uzma
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Access
Accessibility
Adaptive technology
Alternative Approaches
College Students
Colleges & universities
Communications technology
Consciousness
General Public
Handicapped accessibility
Human technology relationship
Human-computer interaction
Human-computer interface
Information Technology
Internet
People with disabilities
Policy Making
Saudi Arabia
Seminars
Social participation
Telecommunications
Universities
Web portals
Websites
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Summary:In the current age of information and communication technology, a university website plays a pivotal role as information portal not only for the prospective and current students and staff but also for the general public at a national and international level. It is therefore crucial for a university website to be accessible at all levels. Those that are not accessible may exclude people with disabilities from participation in educational, social and professional activities. We have evaluated the web accessibility of 25 universities’ websites in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Multi-method analysis was performed. Each website was analyzed for compliance with the World Wide Web consortium accessibility standards with respect to image and alternative text, alternative-language, and text only contents. A qualitative approach was also used to test the accessibility issues and to study the Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) of the websites. Research was carried out by accessing the websites using assistive technologies such as JAWS and Supernova. The research revealed that 80% of universities have low accessibility standards and could not achieve minimum A conformance. In addition, it is also found that web designers, developers and policy makers in the KSA do not have any awareness about website accessibility standards and their importance. It is therefore necessary to raise awareness about the web accessibility standards by introducing accessibility courses and conducting seminars in the universities.
ISSN:1832-3669
DOI:10.18848/1832-3669/CGP/v07i03/56204