Multi-tool accessibility assessment of government department websites:a case-study with JKGAD

• Published in: Disability and rehabilitation: Assistive technology 2018-08, Vol.13 (6), p.504-516
• Main Authors: Ismail, Abid, Kuppusamy, K S, Nengroo, Ab Shakoor
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Access; Analysis; Barriers; Blindness; Comparative analysis; Government agencies; Government Programs - organization & administration; Government Programs - standards; Guidelines as Topic; Humans; India; Internet; Internet - standards; Rehabilitation; Vision Disorders - rehabilitation; Visual impairment; Visually Impaired Persons - rehabilitation; Websites; World Wide Web
• ISSN: 1748-3107; 1748-3115
• DOI: 10.1080/17483107.2017.1344883

Nature of being accessible to all categories of users is one of the primary factors for enabling the wider reach of the resources published through World Wide Web. The accessibility of websites has been analyzed through W3C guidelines with the help of various tools. This paper presents a multi-tool accessibility assessment of government department websites belonging to the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. A comparative analysis of six accessibility tools is also presented with 14 different parameters. The accessibility analysis tools used in this study for analysis are aChecker, Cynthia Says, Tenon, wave, Mauve, and Hera. These tools provide us the results of selected websites accessibility status on Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 1.0 and 2.0. It was found that there are variations in accessibility analysis results when using different accessibility metrics to measure the accessibility of websites. In addition to this, we have identified the guidelines which have frequently been violated. It was observed that there is a need for incorporating the accessibility component features among the selected websites. This paper presents a set of suggestions to improve the accessibility status of these sites so that the information and services provided by these sites shall reach a wider spectrum of audience without any barrier. Implications for rehabilitation The following points indicates that this case study of JKGAD websites comes under Rehabilitation focused on Visually Impaired users. Due to the universal nature of web, it should be accessible to all according to WCAG guidelines framed by World Wide Web Consortium. In this paper we have identified multiple accessibility barriers for persons with visual impairment while browsing the Jammu and Kashmir Government websites. Multi-tool analysis has been done to pin-point the potential barriers for persons with visually Impaired. Usability analysis has been performed to check whether these websites are suitable for persons with visual impairment. We provide some valuable suggestions which can be followed by developers and designers to minimize these potential accessibility barriers.Based on aforementioned key points, this article helps the persons with disability especially Visually Impaired Users to access the web resources better with the implementation of identified suggestions.