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Re: How Web Developers use the Web Content AccessibilityGuidelines

for

From: Katharine Whitelaw
Date: Oct 10, 2008 7:20AM

1. Webmaster
2. a
3. c
4. a
5.
6. It's laid out in a clear simple manner.
7. Sometimes it doesn't offer truly useful information - some links in the navigation section are broken, writing for the web could be more informative (write semantic html)
8. none

>>> "Rehema Baguma" < <EMAIL REMOVED> > 10/10/2008 6:37 AM >>>
Hello,

We are proposing an approach for filtering accessibility guidelines such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) according to different contexts e.g. type of disability, content/navigation/user interface, stage of development, etc. but first wish to find out how developers use the WCAG guidelines.The aim of the proposed approach is to make the guidelines easier to use for Web developers.

We would like your quick views on how you use WCAG by answering the following questions. There are only 8 questions and it should be possible to answer them in less than 5 minutes.
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1. What is your main interest in regard to the web e.g. Web Developer, Software Developer, IT Procurement et cetera (Please write your answer in the space provided)





2. What version of WCAG do you use?

(a) WCAG 1.0

(b) WCAG 2.0

(c) Both

(d) Don't use WCAG (state why.......................)





3. How do you refer to WCAG?

a) Carry details in my head

b) Refer to printed copy

c) Refer to online copy

d) Ask someone else





4. Do you find WCAG easy to navigate?

a) No problems

c) Could be improved





5. If you think it could be improved, how might it be improved?

a) Better navigation

b) Search facility

c) Reorganized

d) Other (specify.............)





6. What do you like most about WCAG? (write in the space provided &specify the version in question)







7. What don't you like about WCAG (write in the space provided &specify the version in question)









8. Please provide any other comments you may have (please write in the space provided)











Thank you. Please send completed questionnaire to both <EMAIL REMOVED> , <EMAIL REMOVED>



Background:

Accessibility Guidelines:

Accessibility guidelines are intended for use by those involved in the procurement and development of information technology products and services. So far, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) is the most recognized set of accessibility guidelines. The WCAG have formed the basis of Web accessibility policy of many organizations across the world e.g. in UK and USA, are referred to in court cases concerning accessibility and are used as evaluation criteria by most automated evaluation tools (Mline et al. 2005; Sloan et al. 2005).



However reports such as Donnelly and Magennis (2005) and Asakawa (2005) show that many members of the target audience still find WCAG difficult to use which results into products with in-built accessibility barriers. One of the main reasons given is difficulty in understanding or interpreting the guidelines (Donnelly and Magennis, 2005). E.g. WCAG 1.0 has been criticized for being difficult for much of its potential audience to understand. Consequently, the new version (WCAG 2.0) has been drafted with a provision for understanding by a wider, less technical audience, less ambiguous and technology neutral (Kleihm, 2006). However the yet in draft WCAG 2.0, has also been criticized for being 'overlong', unreadable and impossible to understand (Clarke, 2007, Kleihm, 2006). Some have recommended continuing with WCAG 1.0, notwithstanding corrections, given that it remains adequate for most Web sites (Clark, 2007). We hope that approaches such as the proposed one can improve the usa
bility of the WCAG guidelines.






About the Author: My name is Rehema Baguma, a PhD student at Makerere University, Uganda. My research area is web accessibility focusing on usability of accessibility guidelines so that they can be more useful to developers to address both technical and human aspects of accessibility

Supervisors: Dr. Jude T. Lubega, Makerere University, Faculty of Computing & IT, Uganda

Dr. Roger Stone, Loughborough University, Department of Computer Science, UK



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Rehema Baguma,
Department of Information Systems,
Faculty of Computing & IT,
Makerere University, Uganda.

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is not an event. It is a habit. " - Aristotle