Accessibility-Checking on the Websites of Publicly Funded Universities in Ontario and Pennsylvania: A Comparative Study

• In Event: Salient Issues in Web-Based Learning

Abstract

This study examines the number of potential accessibility barriers found on the primary homepages of publicly-funded universities in the jurisdictions of Ontario, Canada, and Pennsylvania, U.S.A. We use two automated tools (AChecker, 2013; WebAIM, 2013) in our evaluation for compliance with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.0 Level AA (W3C WCAG 2.0, 2008). Our findings show that there is no statistically significant difference in the average number of accessibility errors reported between groups, while also showing a large variance in the accessibility errors within groups. These findings demonstrate the continued existence of potential accessibility barriers on the homepages of many universities, and emphasize the need to remove accessibility barriers in order to provide equitable access for all students. 

Authors

• Kenneth Howard Anderson, York University

• Kari Lynne Kumar, University of Manitoba

• Ronald D. Owston, York University